It's because he had reasonable success with the worst QB situation in the league of any team over that 6 year period.
I was listening to bills fans and media today too and boy are they in for a rude awakening... I heard things thrown around like "he gets the most out of his players every week" "He will lure top FAs" "He will hold players accountable with his brash personality" "He will bring consistency" I scratching my head wondering how they can think those things. Fans are one thing as they might just be being dumb and positive because they are fans but the media there? They saw first hand perhaps more than any team how maddeningly inconsistent Jets teams were in his tenure.... How they came out flat more times than they should've and didn't bring it every week... How players could continue to make the same mistakes week after week, year after year and NOT be held accountable... And exactly what top FAs were lured to NY specifically because of Rex? Bart Scott about the only one! There are certainly positives about Ryan but consistency and accountability are NOT his strong suits and it is weird to see people have different perceptions on him than what reality shows. I think Rex's personality lends itself to false pretenses.
Even if I agreed that he had the very worst QB situation in the league over the last six years (I don't), I still don't believe his teams were particularly well-coached, week in and week out. Rex's track record is anywhere from average to slightly above average, depending on how much weight you give his first two seasons. He's had two really good years and four disappointing ones. His record is simply not indicative of him being the top coach his fanboys like to make him out to be.
Meh, it's just the Bills fan FO homers coming out in droves to approve their hiring Ryan. My only disagreement with your post is shouldn't we add Jim Leonhard to your mention of Bart Scott?
Did people really think that we were just firing Rex and that the rest of the coaching staff would come back?
Yes. The first repots were that he was staying. I never figured he would. I was puzzled by it. Made no sense for Rex to keep him. Now I am no longer puzzled.
I think it was more Schwartz wanting to leave. I think Rex sincerely wanted to keep Schwartz considering how well he has coached that defense. I think those reports were very true. But in the end, I think Schwartz realized he needs to start fresh elsewhere and asked to be let go. Rex did say that they decided to let Schwartz pursue other opportunities. Sounds to me like Schwartz wanted out.
It depends. We (you, me, the media, etc) have no idea just how much of an influence Rex had on who the team acquired to play QB - he might have insisted on getting (and then playing) Sanchez and Geno. He is certainly responsible for getting maximum performance out of the people that are acquired; but who's to say that he didn't. Sanchez was the same turnover machine in Philly as he was here (you'll notice that HC "genius" Chip Kelly missed the playoffs once the Sanchize got to play) and Geno hasn't had a chance to ruin some other team yet for a year. And it certainly appears it was Idzik that mandated Geno play over Vick - the Miami game being Exhibit A.
Time will tell if it was Rex's fault or the people Idzik gave Rex to coach were the problem. It seemed to me that your team kept getting worse on the personnel side each year Rex was the coach. Did Rex make those personnel calls or was it the FO? Do the Jets have a great scouting department? It will all change for you now, but what about in the Tannenbaum/Idzik years? My understanding was that the ability to have strong input on personnel, unlike he had at the Jets was big in Rex deciding Buffalo. That and the (sans QB) the Buffalo cupboard is full of players and the Bills FO really made Rex feel the love.
