Rex Ryan wants it bad. Mind if I start with the recruiting story? And Bart Scott's two German shepherds, Mater and McQueen? Free agency began Friday morning, a second after midnight, and Scott's agent, Harold Lewis, told him he might be getting a call or two in the wee hours of the morning. At 12:15, at the same time he heard his dogs barking wildly outside his Owings Mills, Md., home, Scott's cell phone rang. "Man, come get these damn dogs!'' Jets secondary coach Dennis Thurman said into the phone. Thurman was outside in the driveway with two other unannounced visitors -- Rex Ryan and defensive coordinator Mike Pettine. Scott knew them from their days on the Baltimore Ravens' coaching staff, and he absolutely could not believe they were sitting in his driveway, about to get attacked by his security dogs if they ventured out of the car. After Scott secured the dogs ("I'm just glad Mater and McQueen didn't take a bite out of those guys,'' Scott said Sunday night. "I'd have had to spend a chunk of my signing bonus for stitches.'') Ryan walked into the house, looked at Scott and said: "We want you. We're here for you. We're not leaving without you.'' There was a plane coming at 8 in the morning to take Scott to the Jets' facility in Florham Park, N.J., and Ryan told him he had to be on it. "Talk about taking it back old-school!'' Scott said. "I was getting recruited! They were recruiting me big-time! Can you see the precedent they're setting? Remember Jerry McGuire? You're going to have players asking their coaches now, 'Why don't we have that kind of relationship?' '' I asked Scott about the reports that after he'd made his deal with the Jets on Friday, he tried to get the Ravens to match it, or at least come within a few bucks. "I made no bones about it,'' he said. "I owe a lot of loyalty to the Ravens. They're the ones who gave me my chance seven years ago. And I was going to have to uproot my family, and we love Baltimore. If it was close, the home team would win.'' At the end, the Ravens were at least $3 million off the total package of the Jets, who signed Scott for six years and $48 million, most of which he actually should see. Seems close to me, but it wasn't close enough for Scott. There was another factor too -- the Ray Lewis factor. As long as Scott played on the same defense as one of the all-time greats, he knew he'd forever be second- or third-fiddle to Lewis. "It would have been great to walk back into that locker room, but in a way, I would have had training wheels on the rest of my career," said Scott. "I'd always wonder if I could have done it by myself, if I could have actually been the leader of a good defense. In a lot of ways, our defense was like the Bulls, and Ray was Michael Jordan. We had a lot of Craig Hodgeses on our team, but we had a few Scottie Pippens too.'' In other words, Scott, Ed Reed and Terrell Suggs are better than average. And Lewis, though it's not his fault, is going to suck so much air out of the room that the others will never get to fully emerge as leaders and players. Now we'll see if Scott can do what he never had the chance to do in Baltimore. Lead. And be great. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/peter_king/03/01/freeagency/index.html?eref=T1
For once in my life I'm feeling good things about the Jets head coach. I haven't felt this way since Parcells was in town. I have a feeling Ryan is going to be here for a long time. Now if we can just surpass New England in the next few years I'd be sooooo happy.
About time we get a real coach! He has been making all the right moves this off season. Now let's hope he does well in the draft.
the funny thing is that he's been compared to Parcells this entire time. things are looking really good for this team.
I'm a strong believer that DefenseWinsChampionships and Rex Ryan is really trying to build a great defense here in NY with the additions of Litto Sheppard and Bart Scott and thats something that I'm excited about. I thought Sheppard was atleast 30 years of age, only because he's been such a solid player for a long time now, but you know what? The man is only like 27 or 28 years of age and should have a good 4-5 elite years left in the tank. I honestly feel that Revis and Sheppard as our 1-2 punch @ the corner position should be one of the best combo's around for years to come... We all know that Kerry Rhodes is one of the best safetys in all of football, and with a solid pass rush, our secondary is starting to look really tough. And I LOVE the fact that Lowery will play the Nickel/Dime because this kid can play. All in all...Revis, Sheppard, Lowery and Rhodes should be one hell of a secondary for years to come and who knows? Abram Elam may come into his own but I wont lie, and upgrade over Elam would be exciting but I will always keep hope that Elam will become a top safety in the league, only because I like his aggressive style of play and @ times...I really like this kids game. If Gholston can come into his own, this Jets LB core can be one of the best around because I see nothing but solid players up and down this unit in Calvin Pace (A true 3-4 OLB), David Harris (A natural 3-4 MLB), Vernon Gholston (A player who has the talent of a Suggs or even a Ware, this kid has the potential to be a nasty OLB rushing from the outside), and now Bart Scott...(This man has proven over the years that he can play the MLB position under a 3-4 Defense, I'm just glad that David Harris and now Bart Scott will be playing alongside eachother behind Kris Jenkins, one of the best 3-4 NT's in the game today) Lets not forget about players like Ellis and Bryan Thomas because these are the types of players every Defense needs... And thats simply players who play the game in a "Solid" type of way. I have always loved Ellis and will continue to root for Bryan Thomas because I love the deph this guy brings to the team. You can never have enough LB's when running the 3-4 and thats the reason why I wouldnt mind another solid pickup during free agency. Great job Rex Ryan...You landed two really good players who WILL help improve this Jets Defense over the next couple of years
Did Mangini have a hard time recruiting last year? The bottom line is it comes down to money, he would still be w/ Bal if they made a similar offer. I just hope Rex is careful, we don't need him getting torn apart by attack dogs.
Um...almost ashamed to admit this ( but I do have 2 young kids) Bart Scott must really love the Pixar movie Cars, to name his 2 dogs after characters from the movie...
That's nice and all, but the actual recruiting did nothing as Bart admitted that he would've returned to Baltimore had there been a similar offer. Didn't Mangini bring anyone from New England?
