Turbulence is norm for Jets
WOODY Johnson’s decision to retain Rex Ryan after he fired GM Mike Tannenbaum has created a season-long drama and distraction revolving around Ryan’s future and added to the instability of a franchise that has always lacked continuity.
The 14-year anniversary of Johnson’s $635 million purchase of the Jets is coming up next month and if he fires Ryan, it means he will be hiring his fifth coach since 2000: Al Groh left after one season for Virginia; Herm Edwards was essentially traded to Kansas City in a mutual parting after five seasons; Eric Mangini’s three-year run ended after a late-season collapse by Brett Favre combined with Johnson feeling that Mangini’s secret ways made him uncomfortable; and, now Ryan could be a goner after five seasons.
Strong leadership up top — along with an elite quarterback — is what wins in the NFL. The scorecard on the Steelers beginning with the 1969 season: Three coaches and six Super Bowl titles. The Jets during that time: 13 coaches (not counting two interims) and no Super Bowls.
Does Ryan deserve to be fired? No. Will he be fired? I believe that’s the decision Johnson and GM John Idzik, who was forced to inherit Ryan when he replaced Tannenbaum in January, will ultimately announce Monday. Ryan’s contract runs through 2014. If Johnson and Idzik elect to keep Ryan, they must give him more than a one-year extension or they will go through the same nonsense next season. I just don’t anticipate Idzik wanting to link his future to a coach he didn’t hire, even if they have gotten along fine. One source told me Monday that he doesn’t believe Johnson loves Ryan anywhere near the extent that has been portrayed. “I think there is only one reason Woody kept Rex after last season — he didn’t want to pay him,” the source said. “Otherwise it makes no sense that you fire the general manager and don’t fire the head coach. You know the track record of that working? There is none. Why make a decision like that when history tells you it doesn’t work?”
The source believes that Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, 43, is at the top of Idzik’s list if Ryan gets fired. They worked together in Seattle in 2009-10 before Quinn left to become defensive coordinator for the University of Florida. He returned to the Seahawks this season as the defensive coordinator replacing Gus Bradley, who was hired as the head coach of the Jaguars. Quinn was previously an assistant under Mangini with the Jets in 2007-08, so Johnson is familiar with him.
Of course, if the Jets fire Ryan and hire another defensive coach — that would be five in a row for Johnson — then it’s likely to be criticized because Ryan is among the elite defensive coaches in the league. But it would go beyond which side of the ball Quinn has coached. It’s all about Idzik having his own guy. General managers consider that essential to success. “No more important than you have to trust your wife,” the source said. “You spend more time with the coach than you do with your wife. It’s a very volatile business. Not enough is made of how important it is to have a coach you can trust.”
Ryan has squeezed seven victories out of a team that has 4-12 or 5-11 talent. He’s breaking in his second rookie quarterback in Geno Smith, but at least he had a veteran team around Mark Sanchez in 2009.
Sources say Ryan was angry and animated when he spoke to his players at the Saturday night meeting. He is also said to be upset because he heard that the Jets have already reached out to potential replacements. When he was asked Monday if he was disgruntled about being in limbo, Ryan insisted, “I’m not disgruntled about anything.”
Edwards was on Tony Dungy’s staff in Tampa when Idzik was in the Bucs’ front office. “John is a football guy,” he said. “He’s going to look at the overall situation. He’s smart enough to know he’s going to get the best guy going forward. He’s been around Rex a whole year. He respects Rex. I don’t know what they are going to do.”
He believes Ryan deserves to stay. “I just think the guy has done a really good job,” Edwards said. “The more you look around our league and you think change is needed, you end up going backwards when you start over.”
Edwards made the playoffs in three of his five seasons with the Jets, but departed after they were 4-12 in 2005. He said he wanted to stay and that he wasn’t fired by Johnson. “We had a mutual agreement,” he said. “I respect the man. He was kind enough to give me my first opportunity and I will never forget that. I still consider him a friend and I wish the organization nothing but the best.”
Even so, in less than one week, Johnson could be starting over again in a league that requires stability to win.