Rex can do job, but Neil needs to help him

Rex Ryan was in the news today for his comments to Newsday’s Kimberley Martin. Let’s take a look at what he said, and break it down . . .

When the Jets’ veteran minicamp concluded, coming off the practice field, Ryan did a one-on-one interview with Martin.

During this interview, Ryan went off on a tangent about his own coaching ability.

“I’m a hell of a lot better football coach than I’m given credit for,” Ryan said. “I don’t care. I don’t need the credit. But I can tell you one thing, when it’s said and done, they’ll look back and say, ‘Oh man, this dude can coach his butt off.’ And you know what? It’s true. And I’ll let the people that know best talk on my behalf about the kind of coach I am.”

It’s very unusual for a coach to go down this road.

It seems like the non-stop media narrative of Ryan being on the hot seat, finally got to him.

It’s like he snapped – he couldn’t take it anymore.

Why go there? It makes him look insecure.

Is this really going to sway John Idzik’s decision in the future whether to keep him or hire a different coach?

Probably not.

And when he says, “let the people that know best talk on my behalf about the kind of coach I am,” he really needs to let us know who some of these people are.

I’m not saying those people don’t exist, but make a blanket statement like that, doesn’t help advance his narrative.

And that list certainly doesn’t include the Baltimore Ravens.

I don’t mean that to be a cheap shot in any way, but we all know the Ravens by-passed Ryan, the in-house candidate, and hired the Philadelphia Eagles special teams coach, John Harbaugh, to be their coach.

Is Rex a good coach?

Let me say this, I think he can win again with the Jets, like he did in his first two years. I do think, in his defense, quarterback play has really hurt him.

For the most part, the defense under him has been solid, but the offense has consistently let the defense down.

I’ve always said, if you give Rex a very good quarterback, we’d be criticizing him a lot less,  and we’d be talking about him in an entirely different light.

Tom Brady’s brilliance certainly helps Bill Belichick’s coaching reputation.

This is a quarterback-driven league. If you don’t have good play at that position, you can be Vince Lombardi or Chuck Noll, and you aren’t going very far.

While on the topic of the Jets’ quarterback position, Rex didn’t’ help himself by going back to Mark Sanchez last year after the Arizona game. That was mindboggling, and he paid for it with that Tennessee debacle.

It seems like he let his personal feelings about Greg McElroy cloud his judgement. Let it go. Stop holding a grudge.

I think this constant criticism of Rex about not being more involved with the offense is bogus. I have no issue with him hiring a good coordinator, and letting that person run the offense. Last year, he clearly didn’t hire the right guy. You get the sense that Marty Morhinweg will do a better job.

Honestly, how on earth would Rex being more hands on with the offense really help? Since when did he become Bill Walsh? This whole angle is overrated.

So what I’m saying is Rex can be a good head coach with better quarterback play. There is no question in my mind.

Also, he needs to do a better job with his player utilization. He has to play the best players, and stop being “loyal to the point of defiance.”

While Rex was probably misguided praising himself to Newsday, I do think he can do the job.

Aside from being an outstanding defensive coach, which has contributed to that side of the ball doing a terrific job, players play hard for him – they really do. Most of the players really like him a lot, and like the fact that he takes care of their bodies and is fun to be around. To use a terrible football cliche, “they would run through a brick wall for him.”

I really think he can win.

But like I said, he needs better quarterback play, and needs to constantly play the best players (not just say it, do it).

He also needs to get some media training.

Dealing with the press, especially in New York, can be very difficult. You need a strategy, a philosophy – you can’t just wing it.

He is often guilty of missteps (like what he said in the Newsday interview).

Neil Glat, Woody Johnson and Ira Akselsrad need to go out and hire somebody like Ari Fleisher to coach Rex, they really do. He needs some help with the media. He’s hurting himself on this front.

June 14, 2013

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