Ranting Rex says GM Mac should take the fall, too
Rex Ryan said what other observers are starting to think: Todd Bowles shouldn’t be the only one on the chopping block.
The former Jets and Bills coach let it rip on ESPN’s “Get Up” Monday morning, calling Sunday’s 41-10 loss to the Bills and previously out-of-work quarterback Matt Barkley “one of the most humiliating defeats” in team history.
While Ryan hammered Bowles, he pointed the finger at general manager Mike Maccagnan, who has escaped plenty of the vitriol as the team is headed to its third straight poor season.
“Oh, ‘Todd Bowles is gonna get f ired.’ You’re damn right he’s gonna get f ired. So is everybody else,” Ryan said. “I love the fact the GM is sitting back talking about the future. That’s all he talks about — the future. What future do you have? Do you honestly think you have?
“I look at it this way: The Johnsons [owner Woody and his brother in charge, Christopher] are unbelievable people, and they’re gonna give you the benefit of the doubt,” added the 2009-14 Johnson employee. “Todd Bowles is not gonna get f ired now. He’s gonna coach the rest of the season. Why? That’s the appropriate way to do things. But we all know he’s gone. Todd knows he’s gone, but so is the GM. They’ve already given you a chance. You had all the money and all that type of stuff. Didn’t we have that like four years ago when Todd took over, when they saved all the money when I was there?”
Ryan was let go after a 4-12 2014 campaign. Maccagnan was hired the following offseason and spent $170 million to overhaul the defense, inking players such as Darrelle Revis, Antonio Cromartie, Buster Skrine and Marcus Gilchrist. The Jets have not reached the playoffs in Maccagnan’s tenure.
Ryan, who led the Jets to two AFC Championship games, also came at Bowles, ripping his performance as the team’s coach.
“I mean, as a coach, as a leader of an organization, you represent your fan base and everybody that works and all that and that’s passion,” he said. “That’s toughness. That’s work ethic. That’s all these type of things. You don’t just go out there and lay your jock out there on the f ield like they did here. There was one or two guys playing with any kind of freaking fire and all that. That was awful.”