The New York Jets officially fired head coach Rex Ryan on Monday after a fourth consecutive season missing out on the playoffs.
Ryan will reportedly head to television if he isn't offered a head coaching position, as he seems uninterested in being a defensive coordinator. But Ryan's last winning season was back in 2010. Is it realistic to expect him to be offered top-notch coaching opportunities? NFL.com's Adam Schein doesn't think so.
"I chuckle upon hearing folks talking about Rex offering fire and swagger to seemingly dead situations like Atlanta and Chicago," Schein wrote. "Oh, he'll bring energy. But how about the wins?
"Ryan went 46-50 in six seasons as Jets head coach, before being officially relieved of his duties on Monday. After the back-to-back AFC title game appearances that highlighted his first two years on the job, Rex's regime was filled with bluster...and blunder."
It's not exactly a secret that New York's quarterback situation has been mismanaged for some time now. And while Ryan has done a good job with the defense considering how many holes it has, there's only so much you can say to defend a 4-12 season.
"For the second year in a row, Rex had a bucket of Gatorade dumped on his head at the end of a non-playoff season," Schein wrote. "The love affair his players - and some members of the media - had with him routinely overshadowed how bad of an in-game coach Ryan was. As I wrote two years ago, the coach should've been fired with the GM who hired him (Mike Tannenbaum)."
It's true that Ryan has always had a strong command of his locker rooms. His players love him and that's to be commended. It's not an easy task to galvanize 53 grown men under a common goal. But Ryan's tenure with the Jets has been marked by repeated media slip ups and unmet expectations. Does he really deserve another shot so soon?
"Now there's a lot of buzz about Ryan ending up in Atlanta, in the wake of the Falcons' firing of Mike Smith. Don't get me wrong: Smith needed to go...But why would Atlanta now hire an inferior head coach? Rex mismanaged the quarterback position throughout his Gang Green tenure. Why would the Falcons - or especially any team without an established stud under center - see this guy as the answer.
"They shouldn't."
