Here's the link to Hutchinson's article: http://www.nj.com/jets/index.ssf/2009/01/baltimore_ravens_rex_ryan_new.html Baltimore Ravens' Rex Ryan New Front-runner For New York Jets Coaching Job by Dave Hutchinson/The Star-Ledger Monday January 12, 2009, 12:02 AM Rob Carr/Associated Press Rex RyanThe Jets have a new front-runner in their search for a head coach. Jets owner Woody Johnson and general manager Mike Tannenbaum met with Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Rex Ryan for five hours Sunday in Baltimore and the two sides hit it off in a big way, according to a person with knowledge of the meeting. That person spoke on the condition of anonymity because he's not authorized to speak for Ryan or the Jets. Ryan, whose 3-4 defense has forced eight turnovers in two postseason games and ranked second in the NFL this past season, also interviewed with the Rams Sunday. He's the eighth candidate interviewed by the Jets. "Rex likes the owner," the person said. "He was impressed that the owner flew down to meet with him. The Jets were very serious. I can tell you that Rex is leaning toward the Jets and the Jets are leaning toward Rex. "In fact, the Jets told Rex that they're prepared to wait until after the Super Bowl to hire him if they have to." The Ravens play the Steelers next Sunday in Pittsburgh for the AFC Championship. The Jets, who fired Eric Mangini on Dec. 29, have been eager to speak with Ryan for some time. They requested permission to interview him more than a week and a half ago. If the Jets hire Ryan, it'll be interesting to see what happens to offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, who was the previous front-runner. The Jets like Schottenheimer and will likely try hard to keep him. Going with Ryan instead of Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo makes sense because the Ravens play a 3-4 scheme and the Jets won't have to change their defense. Thus far, the Jets have interviewed in-house Schottenheimer and Bill Callahan, Spagnuolo, Ryan, Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh, former Boston College head coach Jeff Jagodzinski, Cardinals assistant head coach Russ Grimm and Colts defensive coordinator Ron Meeks. Former Ravens head coach Brian Billick is a longshot candidate and may not even get an interview with the Jets, the person said.
It takes 5 hours when you find your guy. The only prob is we might have to wait until the super bowl and some of you might completely loose your mind if it takes that long
Ryan... also interviewed with the Rams Sunday. The even bigger question is, where did Ryan find the time to interview with the Rams yesterday? What did he do, have coffee with them in the hotel lobby before going to the Jets meeting?
i think thats good news, you dont hear any stories about Ryan meeting with Rams brass for 5 hours and them being enamored with eachother. Rex Ryan's been my number 1 candidate since Cowher told us to kick rocks. Everyones argument against him is they have quite possibly the best person to ever play LB captaining their defense and a safety who just might be the best DB since Jim Thorpe. the plus to this is Rex Ryan knows talent and intangibles when he sees it and wont accept scrubs on our team. hope he gets the job otherwise we have some pretty solid but not as attractive or logical options.
For the job I currently have, I interviewed 6 times for a grand total of 4 1/2 hours of total interview time... and I work in an IT department. They are considering Rex Ryan to coach a franchise that's close to being worth a billion dollars.
lol, good point. i think people are overeacting and the fact we spent five hours with him is a good thing. you never hear how long these typical HC interviews last but for it to be emphasized obviously means a few things 1)he was prepared and gave a good presentation and said all the right stuff to keep jets brass interested. the longer they talk, the better. 2)he probably actually wants this job, as hard as it is for Jets fans to believe. I couldnt imagine staying anywhere 5 hours if i didnt seriously want the position especially if i had another interview that day. nobody would listen/ or talk to someone for 5 hours if they werent interested, as an act of courtesy. lol 3)considering no big stories about Ryan and the Rams hitting it off youd have to think this is more than beat talk blurb that this story is legit.
If they only spent an hour to interview someone who potentially could be running this operation for years to come, I would really question our guys up top. They may have a lot of background info on him but if your going to be around this guy day in and day out and they are getting the keys to the front door, 5 hours sounds like they covered quite a bit and they got a good feel for him. I think Rex would be a better fit here and I have no problem waiting a few more weeks to get him.
The Jets scored the third most points in the AFC without a true #1 wide receiver and with Brett Favre ostensibly trying to turn the ball over as often as he could throughout the season. If you want B-Schott gone, you better name a replacement who's obviously better. Here's a clue: There isn't one.
We scored a lot of defensive and ST TDs...and there are better. The only question is whether Schotty sucked as badly at playcalling as it seemed, or if he was handcuffed by an overzealous HC. The latter being the only argument for keeping him. Either way, I leave it up to the new HC to make that decision. If the FO won't let him, then the whole organization is fuct.
I would think that we'd be a much more attractive option for Ryan than the Rams. We're pretty solid across the board(especially in the trenches) and just need to fill in acouple needs and some slight adjustments in philosophy...rather than the Rams who need a complete overhaul. Here's a question no one is considering...if Rex does indeed land the job..do you think his Bro Rob becomes DC?
I think Rob is already the DC in Cleveland, unless reports were incorrect. Can't say I'm disappointed after seeing his defenses for the past 2 seasons.
^I think he was already hired in cleveland. edit: Yeah, it's pretty official. http://blogs.nfl.com/2009/01/07/ryan-hired-as-browns-defensive-coordinator/
With the offensive line and running backs we had this year there was absolutely no reason to run on 3rd and 4th and short as often as we did. Schotty also seemed to give up on the run game way to quickly when we fell behind by the smallest of margins and go into pass heavy mode. He does an excellent job with the first drive of the game, but if that doesn't go his way and the team falls behind he seems to panic and get away from whatever plan was in place going into the game without making good adjustments. He's come up with some great game plans, but also some real stinkers. If someone could reel him in and force him to commit to the run and make better adjustments when the original plan doesn't work I think he could be very good. The 3rd most points scored doesn't tell the whole story though. He was not a good OC this season IMO for the reasons above.
I remember thinking that about half the bad-ass Tampa defense when Herm came here. Instead we got Damien Robinson.
We will know in the next couple days, If we don't have a HC hired by say Wednesday it is a pretty safe bet Ryan is the choice and most likely a done deal. Now on to the coordinators, I would hope he keeps the offensive staff, Shottenheimer and Callahan, no idea who would be the DC. Mike Nolan seems to be a logical choice but will most likely be gone by the time Ryan gets the job, he has been rumored to be the DC in just about every opening, not sure that he has decided yet.
