Bob Glauber Glauber has been Newsday's national football columnist since 1992. He was Newsday's football writer covering the Jets and PITTSFORD, N.Y. - It is a few minutes after a two-hour-plus practice session, and Rex Ryan has just ended his daily news conference with another vintage Rex performance. This time he hams it up for the cameras for a good cause: Asked if he would eat a dog biscuit to show his support for the Erie County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Ryan happily obliged. In fact, he ate two, and then challenged his boss, Bills owner Terry Pegula, to munch on a biscuit himself. But when the cameras stop rolling and Ryan is asked about his time with the Jets, especially the way it ended in a 4-12 nightmare season in 2014, his mood suddenly changes. The smile is gone, his eyes narrow and he points a finger for emphasis. He is not happy with how it went down, and looking back on it now, he sees where he went wrong. He now believes he should have gone to Woody Johnson and let the owner know that Ryan's relationship with general manager John Idzik was not working and was doomed to fail. "Oh, it was brutal," Ryan said as we stood a few feet outside the team's training camp locker room at St. John Fisher College. "I knew I had the commitment from the players and I had the commitment from the coaches. But I don't think you can say that across the board organizationally." Ryan never mentioned Idzik by name, but it was simple to connect the dots. With the general manager and coach working at cross purposes -- Idzik trying to build for the future and likely intending to hire another coach, and Ryan coaching for his job with a woefully incomplete roster -- Ryan understood it could never work. "I get it. I know what it means. It wasn't my first rodeo, and I knew what it meant, that they were going to move away from me and the coaches," Ryan said. "But it [ticked] me off because I thought the team was a hell of a lot closer and, if given the opportunity, we could have done something. It's behind me now and I move on, but am I hurt by it? Oh, hell yeah. I hate to [expletive] lose, and I also don't like the fact that the commitment wasn't across the board." "From top to bottom in this organization, we are lined up," Ryan said. "And if a guy's not lined up, he ain't gonna be here. It's as simple as that. If that means me going to the owner myself, I will absolutely do that, regardless of who it is. We are going to be on board with this football team." No need to worry about his relationship with Bills general manager. Doug Whaley, who grew up in Pittsburgh, worked for the Steelers and first came to appreciate Ryan during his days as a Ravens defensive coach, is in lockstep with his coach. "The basis of what we believe in as a football team are congruent," Whaley said. "And that's play good defense, run the ball and protect the ball. Those three things, from the beginning of football, have always been proven to win. So Rex and I have a great relationship. I can't speak on the Jets, but him and I, we can finish each other's sentences when it comes to football." Ryan likes what he sees from his team, even if he inherits a murky situation at quarterback (E. J. Manuel, Matt Cassel and Tyrod Taylor are battling for the job). He has a terrific defense, a franchise running back in LeSean McCoy, a difference-making tight end in Charles Clay and a solid offensive line. Ryan is not making any Super Bowl guarantees, as he often did with the Jets, but there is big talk about what he believes his team can do.
It was a bad situation from the start. Rex Ryan had to win games to keep his job and Idzik was spending 75% of the cap not even trying to contend. That staff did deserve better IMO but both them and us are better off starting fresh.
Idzik's draft was a fucking disaster. 1 pick that is about to be suspended, and nobody else. Good fucking riddance. Jets got rid of him 2 years too late.
Typical Rex.... it wasn't that my team was underprepared for a game that the opposing team had to travel to the airport on fucking snowmobiles or I made bad decisions on playing my starting QB in the 3rd quarter of a preseason game behind a 3rd string line or my starting guard had more holding penalties than my QB had TD passes. Was it also Idzik's fault that your team was blown off the field by the Steelers in the 1st half of an AFC Title game you probably win if they show up? Or how your vaunted D got torched by Peyton Manning in the 2nd half of an AFC title game? Is it Idzik's fault that the D gave up a 98 yard TD to pass to Victor Cruz setting the franchise into an unrecoverable tailspin? It's all somebody else's fault, I liked Rex and I think he is a good coach but I don't think he is an elite coach and I don't think he can win the Super Bowl unless everything goes his way.
They should've either gave Tanny and Rex one last shot in 2013, or fired them both. They tried to half ass it and it failed. Idzik was rebuilding while Rex was coaching for his job, just an odd situation, glad that's over with now though. At least Bowles and Mac are on the same timeframe.
Time will tell on that. So I guess if Rex goes on and wins a Super Bowl and Bolwes doesn't work out? Will u be saying the same?
For a guy who said "I take for responsibility for that" every single fricken week, he sure doesn't take any responsibility for anything.
Idzik wasn't even around during the playoff run. And the sabotage from the front office last year was more than crystal clear. Jets literally had boatload of cash to spend - and Idzik sat on his ass. On top of that, Idzik blew his draft big time. Hell - I would have been pissed if I had been at the HC spot.
Exactly, Idzik wasnt around. So whats his excuse for underperforming? It happened plenty of times during both seasons and the jets backed into the playoffs when they should have sprinted in. Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
Probably cause if he wins it would be with the Buffalo Bills, not the New York Jets. Whole 'nother franchise.
Izdik No shit. But people on here will be saying we should had never let Rex go. I'm already saying it. Last 2 seasons was all on Idzik.
That's exactly my point... Idzik wasn't around so it's not like Rex won 2 Super Bowls before Idzik was hired. Both times in the AFC title game his team came out of the locker room flat. Once in the 1st half (in a game they were probably the better team) and the 2nd half against the Colts (in which they were likely not the better team) so that's not because of Idzik. It falls on Rex, it wasn't the bad players. That team was bad but they weren't 4-12 bad. Probably 7-9 win team. Getting boatraced by the Bills after they had to ride fucking snowmobiles to the airport is inexcusable regardless of who your GM is, having San Diego kick your teeth down your throat is inexcusable. I'm not making excuses for Idzik, he sucked and he had to go but Rex is going to ride the it's not my fault for all he can while he absolutely deserves some blame in the clusterfuck that was last season.
Looking forward to those Bills vs Jets games...let's be honest no one in the AFC considered the Bills a rival ....Jets, Dolphins, and Patriots all hate each other. The bills? Meh.....now that's gonna change