I saw Rex interviewed the other day maybe after the game. When pressed on his firing he went out of his way to mention that it was Woody who hired him (and I think he said or it led to the conclusion that Woody is the one making the decision on firing him). There was no mention at all by Rex about Idzik.
. . . So? All that means to me is that he has a particularly large amount of experience participating in a fundamentally dishonest organization (the collective national sports media). I have no respect for beat reporters (or, reporters in general for that matter). The problem with these type of stories is that they are essentially based on a clandestine, undefined game of telephone. Without quotes attributed to verifiable sources, that's all this story is. It may mean a lot to you, but it really doesn't mean much to me.
The story isn't believable to me because it simply isn't logical. As several others have already astutely noted, if Idzik was so dead-set against the idea of Rex being the long term answer here, then why didn't he fire him after last season? At the end of last season, Rex was coming off his third straight non-winning, non-playoff year. I, like many other Jets fans, wanted to see Rex get one more chance. But, it certainly wouldn't have been outrageous for Idzik to pull the plug. Why would he waste a year to start implementing his true plan to get the franchise back on track???? Wouldn't he be taking the obvious risk that the team collapses and he takes the brunt of the blame (Which is exactly what has happened)???? After all, this season is just as much on his resume as it is on Rex's. What guarantee would Idzik have that Woody wouldn't hold HIM (at least partially) accountable????? How in the fuck would it help Idzik to waste a year???? Sorry, but it just makes no fucking sense.
It is to those of us who can think logically. Because Woody didn't want to pay Rex for not coaching and Idzik's top choices weren't available to interview. If Idzik planned on tanking this season -- which he did by not spending $20 MM in cap space -- it certainly looks like it. Bring Rex back and win, take the credit. Bring Rex back and stink, fire Rex and get another roll of the dice with another coach. You never know how bad you will be, but you don't NOT spend $20,000,000 in cap space and claim you are 'going for it.'
Again the $20 million is not a factor. It was never not going to be spent. The Jets did make offers to two cornerbacks, Rogers-Cro and Davis. They signed with other teams. Not every player wants to play on the Jets. There is competition in signing players. They signed Vick, Chris Johnson, Breno and Decker plus re-signed players like Cumberland and Pace. Because they had cap money they were able to sign Harvin. And contracts like Wilkerson are coming up. And you have to sign draft picks. It's not bad strategy to underspend esp if there weren't great players to sign in the first place. None of these players they signed were a good fit for the Jets. A lot of it because of the coaching or lack of.
Bulkshit article. They knew they were gonna fire him so they extended him a year, through 2015 sonWoody has to pay him for a year that he knew rex wouldn't be here? GTFOH
And yet, you haven't explained how it would have, in any way, shape or form, been even remotely logical for Idzik to opt for not firing Rex when he wanted to, and instead, sabotage the team's record under Rex's (and his) watch, wasting a year in the process. Very logical. So, Idzik's "top choices" (whoever these mythical figures actually are) happened to not be available, so he decided to bring back a coach he knew wasn't his long term answer??? But . . . why? Do you really believe that the only logical explanation for a GM saving cap space is that he plans to tank the season? Seriously? But again, this is utterly moronic. How could Idzik have known he wouldn't have taken a large portion of the blame if the team stunk (which is, of course, precisely what happened)? What GM in his right mind would waste a year on a coach he was convinced wasn't the long term answer? These guys have an incredibly small window of opportunity to win. NO GM in his right mind is going to waste a season with a guy he thinks won't be the very best for the team. Why? Because the team's record IS ALSO his record. Your argument would only make sense if Idzik had a guarantee'd get out of jail free card from Woody. But, there is no evidence to suggest that this is the case, and furthermore, due to the fact that Woody has made it abundantly clear over the years that he loves Rex, this also doesn't make much sense. And again, why not just fire Ryan in the first place? Isn't "Bring back Rex and win, take the credit" or "Bring Rex back and stink, fire Rex and get another roll of the dice with another coach" a lot more convoluted and uncertain than simply "hire the coach who I think gives this team the best chance to win, win, and take the credit?" This has been discussed ad nauseum, but the purpose of saving the cap space was two-fold: 1) Idzik thought a lot of the free agents available were going to have to be grossly overpaid and he was very hesitant to doll out big contracts to guys he didn't think were quite worth it. 2) Correspondingly, the money that wasn't invested in guys deemed not worth it could be used as rollover money for next year to: A) resign guys like Wilkerson and Richardson and B) Pay guys who are deemed worth it in the future. There are plenty of fair criticisms of this plan, but the delusionally paranoid and conspiratorial notion that the only logical explanation for Idzik's frugality is that he was purposefully sabotaging the performance of his own team is just . . . .really dumb.
This article is bogus. Idzik didn't sabotage his team intentionally...he's just incompetent. Didn't you see the tears in his eyes during the presser as he lamented the death of "Jetnation?" WTF is Jetnation anyway - a purgatory where we are rooting for a team that gets a delay of game after a timeout or a qb with >30 rating?
I've followed Mark for 25+ years. The mans stories pan out. I remember in 1996 he and Serby were on to Bill Parcells coming to the Jets. The Post got ROASTED by local TV, ESPN, and WFAN 'experts' -- including 1 host on good terms with Parcells -- for saying he was likely to be out of New England and the Jets would have interest. Guess who Parcells gave his 1st interview with when he got hired by Leon Hess ??????????
I do not believe Idzik deliberately sabotaged the team. I think he thought it was a legit 8-8 and with a bit of tinkering and more experience for Geno they could stretch to 10-6 this year. In reality, the team was probably a 6-10 team last year that stretched to 8-8 and Idzik's bad drafts + no FA impact destroyed the team. I do think Idzik cares. I actually like the guy. I just haven't heard 1 f******* explanation from him, Woody, or Rex -- or anybody else -- for why we left $20 MM in cap on the table. Don't tell me to sign guys NEXT year. Every SB contender this year is close to the cap. They worry about NEXT year NEXT year. There were no great choices last year, no sure-fire college or pro coaches. No Jim Harbaughs in the wings. No, I believe it's more likely the owner 'suggested' they save this year and spend the $$$ next year because the owner/team is taking a bath on PSL's and has lost tens of millions to reduced pricing and no sales. Again, it goes back to the cap: what team goes 8-8....wants to contend the next year....and then doesn't spend up to the max to give it their best shot ? Because Woody wanted to save $$$, I believe. Right, so he thought Dmitri Patterson was worth it ? The guy suckered and conned the Jets into a million-dollar payday for spending 1 month in the gym. 2 words: restructured contracts. I never said he deliberately sabotaged the team. I am saying that the personnel and salary cap choices give that APPEARANCE and they were stupid in their right mind. You want logic, here's the question I would ask Idzik if I were a reporter and you can answer it for me: "John, you said that you wanted to save cap space for future FAs and the Jets own players. But the time-honored way to compete AND be a player in FA is to spend to the cap max and then restructure contracts to sign one's own players and FAs. Why are the Jets the only team in recent history to need to cut back in 1 year to spend in another when everybody else can spend in both years ?"
Knowing ... 1. That Mehta makes things up, and 2. That Pettine was his "anonymous" source for years, and 3. That Pettine is still friends with Rex. My guess is that Rex honestly believes Idzik intentionally sabotaged him this year ... that Rex told this to Pettine (AFC Coach) ... and Pettine subsequently told it to Mehta ... and that Idzik wasn't really intentionally sabotaging the team, he's just incompetent.
I haven't read the Post in years but when I did I considered Cannizarro to be a lightweight. To me it sounds like a story planted by Rex's pals. And the reason I say it is because this kind of thing has happened many times before. When things go against Rex like the brouhaha he had with Tebow all of a sudden things are leaked. You can put 2 and 2 together.
