Gutty Ryan would welcome firing if "Woody" doesn't fix offense. (From the YeahOKGuy Dept.)

[T0mShane]

NY Jets coach Rex Ryan would welcome firing if Gang Green fails to make over offense

http://m.nydailynews.com/1.1228741

Rex Ryan may be staging his exit after a second consecutive forgettable season if Jets owner Woody Johnson isn’t willing to invest more money into revamping the team’s struggling offense.

The Daily News has learned that Ryan, the swashbuckling point man who dominated the headlines for the past four seasons, has intimated to “anyone who will listen” that he would be better off getting fired if Johnson isn’t willing to rectify player personnel and coaching issues on offense, according to sources.

It’s unlikely that Johnson would fire Ryan, who has two years and more than $6 million remaining on his contract. However, sources told The News that Ryan has not been given assurances about his job security three days before the season finale against the Bills on Sunday.

Ryan declined comment about his future when reached by The News. “If Woody’s not willing to do what it takes to fix the team, then (Ryan) knows he’s better off being fired,” a team source said. “If Woody is willing to eat some money and spend to get us out of this mess, then it’s worth staying.”

Ryan’s recommendations to Johnson would almost certainly include replacing first-year offensive coordinator Tony Sparano with a new play-caller. However, it’s unclear whether Johnson is willing to pay off the remaining portion of Sparano’s deal.

“The million-dollar question is how much dead money is Woody willing to absorb for 2013 with front office, coaches and players?” a league source familiar with the situation said. “If Woody’s not willing to spend, then (Ryan) would want out. He’d be a lame duck. Anybody would want out.”

Sources confirm that Ryan prefers to stay with the Jets if his owner is willing to pour in all the necessary resources to breathe life into one of the most anemic passing offenses in the league. Although Johnson’s bottom-line budget is unknown, sources said that Ryan won’t simply resign if the owner isn’t willing to make sufficient changes.

“He won’t quit,” a team official said.

At that point, one plausible scenario beneficial to Johnson would be to buy Ryan out of his contract with an agreed-upon financial settlement.

Otherwise, Ryan would essentially be coaching for his job next season. Without a significant upgrade in offensive talent, the Jets would be a borderline playoff team at best.

If Ryan were to part ways with the Jets, he would be an attractive candidate for several head coaching jobs expected to be available as early as Monday. He would also be amenable to taking a one-year hiatus and working in television, according to sources.

It would be a stunning end to an entertaining and mildly successful four-year run with the Jets.

With his penchant for brash and daring statements, Ryan quickly transformed the Jets into the most polarizing team in the league. He wasted little time placing a bull’s-eye on the franchise by claiming at his introductory press conference in 2009 that the Jets would be paying a post Super Bowl-victory visit to the White House to meet the President “in the next couple years.”

The Jets dominated the headlines in 2009 and 2010 with their style and substance. Gang Green’s back-to-back AFC Championship Game appearances coupled with Ryan’s supreme confidence made the Jets the toast of the town.

But the Jets, who are 14-17 over the past two years, went into a tailspin after their early success.

“I’m always going to keep searching because I’m trying to win,” Ryan said after a 27-17 loss to the Chargers on Sunday ensured his first losing season as a head coach. “Whatever it takes, that’s what I’m here to do. Obviously, it’s been a bad season. There’s no question about that, but I’m going to keep competing. I want to win. I came here to win a championship.”

It may make perfect sense for Ryan to leave if Johnson isn’t willing to take the necessary steps to revamp the offense. The dearth of offensive talent on the roster would likely be too much to overcome next season. Ryan could realistically be fired if the Jets miss the playoffs for a third consecutive year. Moreover, Ryan’s market value could dip. It may behoove him to make a move to greener pastures now. Potential openings include the Eagles, Chargers, Chiefs, Browns and Cardinals.

Ryan has deflected questions about his future in the past couple of weeks, but acknowledged on several occasions that this season has been a disappointment.

“Obviously, if you don’t make the playoffs, you’re not going to win a championship this year, but we’ll see what happens,” Ryan said after losing to the Chargers. “I know one thing: I’m always going to keep believing, I’m going to keep working and I’m going to keep trying to search for answers.”

Twitter.com/MMehtaNYDN

[T0mShane]

Shorter: "Daaaaaaad, I crashed the caaaaarrrrrr. Buy me a new carrrrrrrrrrrrrr.. Daaaaaaad."

[JFtoLong]

This sounds like, and I hope, posturing for another team.

Sounds like Ryan wants to lay blame for the offense on Tanny.

I am sure when we were picking all those Dlineman, he was yelling at Tanny, we need offensive skill players!

And, it was Tanny who wanted Sparano, not Rex, Rex had his eye on the next young offensive genius, but Tanny overruled him and said he must hire Sparano, and then make it sound like it was Rex who wanted him.

This is a joke, get this clown out of here.

[Jet27]

Let me go back 4 years......I said it was a bad decision to bring him in then. I welcome the thought of him leaving now. And with that said, to all the Rex lovers out there....take a good look at your coach. I said he was a dirt bag then and he still is a dirt bag now.

GTFOOH........!

[rillo]

Welp, that was fun.

[unbanmadmike1]

Fire this fool. The idea that he's trying to offload blame for his joke of an offense shows all you need to know about his ability to be a head coach and not just a DC with a bigger paycheck.

[SoFlaJets]

Wait, so Woody Johnson is the guy who has been making personnel decisions? OMG, this is even worse than I thought...I'm really trying to break this (Jets football) habit that I have, this monkey on my back has grown to the size of King Kong and it's not easy. It was weird though, last week all I had to do was go "CLICK" and the game was gone. Next season starts with the whole I'm-not-wasting-my-hard-earned-money-on-the-DTV-Sunday-Ticket, and that will be a good start. Kind of like staying out of the bars so you don't get tempted to drink...

[slats]

Rex is probably coming back. Next year is gonna be pretty ugly regardless of who's sitting in the big chair. Hopefully they put a couple building blocks in place for the future, but I don't see the QB issue being anywhere close to fixed next season.

[unbanmadmike1]

Rex is refusing to take responsibility for the offense. Thats his original sin and it's the reason he doesn't belong as a HC.

[Lizard King]

Best sources in the league

[SoFlaJets]

Rex is probably coming back. Next year is gonna be pretty ugly regardless of who's sitting in the big chair. Hopefully they put a couple building blocks in place for the future, but I don't see the QB issue being anywhere close to fixed next season.

This is a gigantic setback for this franchise Slats. The Jets aren't a "lucky" team to begin with where a starting QB goes down and some nobody comes in to be THE guy for years to come like NE with Brady and Kurt Warner when Green got hurt. This is the New York Jets we're talking about here and of course Greg McElroy would get almost killed in his first start-just like I (for one) predicted he would and that Mark Sanchez would end up the starter again-just like I predicted.

We all thought what a big mistake and hurtful to the club the Gholston pick was. well this one is 10X worse. We thought we HAD out franchise QB set at that position for the next 10 years, now it's looking like he won't even BE a Jet next year. I do blame this on the front office whether it's Woody Johnson or whether it's Tannenbaum or maybe (as I suspect) Rex Ryan's fault that caused it by never really seeming to care about the offensive side of the ball. I mean look at the drafts-it's always about some defensive player with this regime, now who does THAT sound like to you?

Not to defend Sanchez but when he had a real NFL caliber WR corps of Braylon, Holmes, Cotchery, and Keller the kid did pretty good. Compare that with what we were seeing this year? Oh my GAWD, it was like watching a mid-level USF team out there. Who knows, with Sanchez' big numbered contract and IF the FO decides to make the offense a priority this winter we may actually not be in as bad a shape as we right now think we are...then again...this IS the New York Jets we're talking about here and luck and us just never seems to go together well does it?

[Pac]

lol @ Manish's short stories.

Ryan declined comment but he's going to write a whopper of an article anyway. The Manish way.

[Lizard King]

Would love to know if Manish has the balls to ask him at the presser.

[T0mShane]

Rex is probably coming back. Next year is gonna be pretty ugly regardless of who's sitting in the big chair. Hopefully they put a couple building blocks in place for the future, but I don't see the QB issue being anywhere close to fixed next season.

I think he's going to shoot his way out of town instead of going down with the ship.

[Pac]

I think he's going to shoot his way out of town instead of going down with the ship.

or he's posturing for an extension by being dismissive when asked about his future. We're talking about Manish Mehta. Fool me once shame on me, fool me twice shame on the Mehtasource.

[Jolot]

41 year old jet fan here,.Richard Todd finding Bill Simpson of the bills wide open in the end zone to end our wild card game when I was 10 should've clued me in on what was to come. Been reading jet nation for about 5 years now but never posted, had to sign up for this one it's too infuriating too pass up. What Rex has done by leaking this is cowardly and disgraceful, wow,.he's coming out and throwing tannenbaum under the bus in an effort to save his own sorry hide before black Monday. Meanwhile he has bragged in the past about having picked all of these players...didn't this clown say he was against drafting a wide receiver in the 2 nd round? Don't get me wrong tannenbaum needs to go Monday also but I stress ALSO,.Rex trying to distance himself from tanny now is a typical coward move from this bully clown.Rex your the HEAD coach you clown, so it's not your reposnsibilty at all to develop an offense? Not at all? So if the owner and the GM magically get you a big time offense then you'll win games? Oh ok thanks..one last thing,..it's apparent now that our HEAD COACH is manish's anonymous source,.that alone should get him fired Monday. Great site max..thanks.

[unbanmadmike1]

lol @ Manish's short stories.

Ryan declined comment but he's going to write a whopper of an article anyway. The Manish way.

It's beyond clear that he's getting quotes from people in Rex's camp. Why shouldnt he write it?

[Pac]

It's beyond clear that he's getting quotes from people in Rex's camp. Why shouldnt he write it?

I disagree man.

If you think about it logically there is nothing for Rex to gain by leaking this type of nonsense on the heels of a disasterous season. Crap like this is usually leaked by people that actually have leverage. I don't see the end game.

And not for nothing but when has Woody exhibited penny pinching on the offensive side of the ball??? They have the highest paid center and one of the highest paid LT's and WR's. The article stinks.

[The Crusher]

Sad. Rex had a nice run with Mangnini's roster. Defense was stellar and the offense did enough. Sad to see him go like this but it's time. Him leaving will be ugly. He will probably go to another team gain back 225 pounds and win a couple Superbowls. At this point nobody can argue fat rex > skinny rex.

[T0mShane]

Ryan declined comment but he's going to write a whopper of an article anyway. The Manish way.

Writing long-form diatribes in defiance of the facts? We call that "going full Pac."

[Matt39]

I've been saying all along Rex was getting canned. It was too obvious.

[Joe Jets fan]

I am thinking it just might be possible that he is talking about woody firing Tanny. It would be possible that Tanny, a Parcells guy, forced Sparano, a Parcells guy, on Rex.

With that said, as long as Sparano, Tanny and the QB are all fired, not get tittle change but FIRED. Then I am ok with REX staying

Need to hire a OC that has a clue

[JustInFudge]

Are you people actually taking this article seriously?

And all these "I told you so 4 years ago" people about Rex are killing me. Like you're proud the team is struggling and didnt absolutely love Rex's first 2 years here.

lulz - Jets fans are the worst.

[unbanmadmike1]

Are you people actually taking this article seriously?

And all these "I told you so 4 years ago" people about Rex are killing me. Like you're proud the team is struggling and didnt absolutely love Rex's first 2 years here.

lulz - Jets fans are the worst.

You really find out about people when they go through adversity. And he's a rat running from a sinking ship.

[dbatesman]

Are you people actually taking this article seriously?

And all these "I told you so 4 years ago" people about Rex are killing me. Like you're proud the team is struggling and didnt absolutely love Rex's first 2 years here.

lulz - Jets fans are the worst.

stoicJiF

[dbatesman]

In re: Sourcegate, Rex is the source. Mehta's been carrying water for him for months. He's not trying to shoot his way out of town, he's giving Woody a me-or-Tannenbaum ultimatum to save his own skin.

[JustInFudge]

You really find out about people when they go through adversity. And he's a rat running from a sinking ship.

What have you found out?

stoicJiF

Why? Because I'm not taking this ridiculous article seriously and I can admit that I thoroughly enjoyed Rex's first 2 seasons here?

[unbanmadmike1]

What have you found out?

That he has no idea how to coach an offense other than rely on ground and pound losing football. That he refuses to take responsibility for that side of the ball, and that he'll keep playing horrible players without any threat of benching until the season is over.

[JustInFudge]

That he has no idea how to coach an offense other than rely on ground and pound losing football. That he refuses to take responsibility for that side of the ball, and that he'll keep playing horrible players without any threat of benching until the season is over.

Pretty sure he can only play who he has available. And he's not the only coach that knows nothing about offense in the NFL. This team is totally different with a QB.

I've said it before, I'm fine with Rex being fired if thats what it takes to turn this around, but I dont blame him for the fall of this team. I blame Tanny and Woody. And I'm not going to act like 09 and 10 werent 2 of those most exciting years for this team in my life time (not saying much, but still) and I'm not going to sit here and do the, I told you so game about him when nobody was doubting him after 2010.

And the fact people are taking any of these recent, completely bogus articles serious is laughable.

[#27TheDominator]

That he has no idea how to coach an offense other than rely on ground and pound losing football. That he refuses to take responsibility for that side of the ball, and that he'll keep playing horrible players without any threat of benching until the season is over.

Who didn't he bench? Sanchez? Can't you see now why he wasn't benched? The other two are worse. Considerably worse. The mistake is having three sh*tty QBs, not failing to bench one for a guy that can't throw the ball 15 yards. The highlight of the year for Tebow and McElroy was a questionable roughness penalty that got McElroy a W.

[SoFlaJets]

What this latest UNPROVEN Jets head coach experiment has shown us is this: You actually NEED a guy running the ship that cares about running the WHOLE ship. Ryan told us himself 3 years ago that he needed to pop his head into the OC meeting room more-He never did, and it showed. As to JiF, yea of course we all loved Rex when he was winning with Mangini's personnel while adding two of his own guys (Scott, Leonhard) and giving a nodded "HELL YES" to Tannenbaum's Santonio query. Other than that he really has done a horrible job especially as head coach of the offensive side of the ball. And his vaunted Rex defenses never COULD make the crucial game-winning stops in the most important games

[faba]

A;ll the stories comingt out about this team has gotten out of control- please end the season and fire them and start new

[RutgersJetFan]

Learning how to coach it might have been a good start Rex. What a tool.

[SoFlaJets]

Who didn't he bench? Sanchez? Can't you see now why he wasn't benched? The other two are worse. Considerably worse. The mistake is having three sh*tty QBs, not failing to bench one for a guy that can't throw the ball 15 yards. The highlight of the year for Tebow and McElroy was a questionable roughness penalty that got McElroy a W.

Wait, and you consider Sanchez an accurate passer?

[Jetsfan80]

Pretty sure he can only play who he has available. And he's not the only coach that knows nothing about offense in the NFL. This team is totally different with a QB.

I've said it before, I'm fine with Rex being fired if thats what it takes to turn this around, but I dont blame him for the fall of this team. I blame Tanny and Woody. And I'm not going to act like 09 and 10 werent 2 of those most exciting years for this team in my life time (not saying much, but still) and I'm not going to sit here and do the, I told you so game about him when nobody was doubting him after 2010.

And the fact people are taking any of these recent, completely bogus articles serious is laughable.

Hard Knocks 2010, followed by that season, made the Rex tenure worth it on its own. Has any HC in football history beaten two HOF QBs in a row on the road in the playoffs with a sh*tbag QB AND simultaneously helped make one of the greatest TV shows ever? I think not.