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Bill Cowher calls Rex Ryan's coaching this season "awesome"


JustInFudge

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http://www.newsday.com/sports/columnists/neil-best/bill-cowher-calls-rex-ryan-s-coaching-this-season-awesome-1.6229942

 

A week ago, Bill Cowher was being discussed as a potential successor to Rex Ryan. On Wednesday, he found himself being asked about Ryan's suddenly resurgent coaching career.

First, the CBS analyst and former Steelers coach told WFAN that Ryan's work with the Jets so far in 2013 has been "awesome.'' Later, in an interview with Newsday, he said he believes Ryan "has grown as a coach.''

"To me, it takes all kinds, and you have to be yourself,'' Cowher said when I asked about Ryan's image within the coaching fraternity, given a persona a tad less conventional than that of, say, Tom Coughlin. Or Bill Cowher.

"But the one thing I'll say about Rex: The longer you stay in this profession, the more you grow as a professional . . . He loves the game, coaches with a passion, and I respect that. I feel like that's how I used to coach. And at the same time, players love to play for him.''

The trick for Ryan has been walking the fine line between the public brashness that marked his early seasons and pulling back to the point he is not being true to himself.

"As opposed to making predictions about where they're going, he's talking about where they are,'' said Cowher, who will join Jim Nantz and Phil Simms as an analyst for Sunday's Steelers-Jets game.

Let's stop for a moment and keep it real here. Everyone understood during Ryan's first two seasons that his act would grow stale when the Jets started missing the playoffs, and sure enough, that's what happened.

Then he toned himself down, and that also didn't go over well as the losses piled up. Now, with the Jets officially overachieving, Ryan is smiling again and people like me are writing columns like this celebrating the occasion.

Further helping Ryan's image is that Coughlin and the lordly Giants are 0-5, causing folks to notice that Ryan now is 37-32 in the regular season and Coughlin is 36-33 in the same span. Both have four playoff wins in that time, but Coughlin had the foresight to secure all of his in the same season.

Anyway, the Monday night victory over the Falcons jazzed up everyone in Jets Nation, especially those who work here. But players were careful to balance feeling good about themselves and not getting carried away.

Ryan was on his best behavior with reporters, especially on the delicate, complex subject of Mark Sanchez. He finally showed a flash of the old Rex after someone asked him to sum up Sanchez's legacy now that he is on IR and likely finished as a Jet. "We're acting like he's dead,'' Ryan said, exasperated.

Behind the scenes, Ryan seemingly has been energized by his return to a more hands-on approach to the defense, a unit that has been more reliable than an offense enduring the downs and ups of a rookie quarterback.

Linebacker Calvin Pace, an 11-year veteran, said he has watched Ryan go into teaching mode with young players.

"I think Rex coming back in our room has helped him out,'' Pace said. "That's his roots. He's a defensive guy, so it's been good for everybody. He just comes in and installs a defense like we've never seen it before, and it's helping everybody.''

Along those lines, Cowher said one of the Jets' best moves of the offseason was bringing in Marty Mornhinweg to run the offense, which "allowed Rex to go back to what he does best.''

There is plenty of time for it all to go horribly wrong, but so far, not bad for a guy for whom nothing was expected to go right, and who seven weeks ago was so out of sorts he was holding a news conference standing sideways.

"He looks very relaxed,'' Cowher said. "A little of that swagger is back.''

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5 year extension. Only conclusion

 

Cool how you deleted the rest of Slats post.  You've been taking classes from Bit haven't  you?

 

But I agree with your conclusion.

 

Where the heck is Bit BTW?  He seems to have taken Smith's good game personally 

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If the Jets fire Rex at the end of the season it will be their biggest mistake since passing on Marino

 

Hiring Herm Edwards, who then brought in Paul Hackett to run a WCO with Testaverde at QB, and Ted Cottrell (a strict 3-4 "expert" to match our ideally-suited 3-4 base personnel) on the other side of the ball, and install Dungy's cover-who base defense, would still rank as a worse move than firing Ryan.  That we still made the playoffs a few times only exacerbates just how much talent the team had and therefore just how bad of a move it was.  I'm not for it (at least not right now), but one can easily justify why he'd want Ryan fired, with legitimate points.  One cannot justify the hiring of Herm Edwards.

 

Also letting Parcells stay on as GM, which then led to Belichick moving on to New England, was a worse move. FAR worse.

Also extending Mark Sanchez was also a worse move.

Also giving a 29 year-old RB a $50M contract extension was a worse move.

Also giving Chad Pennington a $63M contract was a worse move.

Also giving Santonio Holmes over $20M guaranteed was a worse move.

Also drafting Kyle Brady over Warren Sapp was a worse move.

 

Know what? I'm going to stop here before I spend the next 17 hours listing the moves this franchise made that were worse than firing Rex Ryan would be.

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Hiring Herm Edwards, who then brought in Paul Hackett to run a WCO with Testaverde at QB, and Ted Cottrell (a strict 3-4 "expert" to match our ideally-suited 3-4 base personnel) on the other side of the ball, and install Dungy's cover-who base defense, would still rank as a worse move than firing Ryan.  That we still made the playoffs a few times only exacerbates just how much talent the team had and therefore just how bad of a move it was.  I'm not for it (at least not right now), but one can easily justify why he'd want Ryan fired, with legitimate points.  One cannot justify the hiring of Herm Edwards.

 

Also letting Parcells stay on as GM, which then led to Belichick moving on to New England, was a worse move. FAR worse.

Also extending Mark Sanchez was also a worse move.

Also giving a 29 year-old RB a $50M contract extension was a worse move.

Also giving Chad Pennington a $63M contract was a worse move.

Also giving Santonio Holmes over $20M guaranteed was a worse move.

Also drafting Kyle Brady over Warren Sapp was a worse move.

 

Know what? I'm going to stop here before I spend the next 17 hours listing the moves this franchise made that were worse than firing Rex Ryan would be.

 

Edwards and his co-conspirators I agree with.  The others not so much.  Stupid mistakes, you bet.  Firing Rex with this potential great  DL in place would be very stupid

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Cool how you deleted the rest of Slats post.  You've been taking classes from Bit haven't  you?

 

But I agree with your conclusion.

 

Where the heck is Bit BTW?  He seems to have taken Smith's good game personally 

What else is there to consider? The Jets are 3-2. Nobody knows what they are, other than inconsistent. Which has been the hallmark of the RR era.

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Edwards and his co-conspirators I agree with.  The others not so much.  Stupid mistakes, you bet.  Firing Rex with this potential great  DL in place would be very stupid

 

Every one of those things I listed was worse than firing Ryan would be.  And this is from someone who isn't lobbying for him to get the ax.  You'd have a hard time finding people who thought any of those moves were good (except Martin, maybe, from people who still think he was better than he was).  But you would find a lot more people who think letting Ryan go would be a GOOD move.  I think it's convenient to say the defense wouldn't miss a step, and we have a real OC so Rex doesn't meddle in that, and all he really needs is a clock coach.  The players like him, and it keeps him here coaching the defense, so I don't want him fired (as of now).  But he's not exactly a great head coach.  Letting Belichick go to NE and watch this division rival basically become the most dominant NFL team since then (cheating or not), just so we could keep Parcells on as GM-only for another year, was 1000000x worse.

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Every one of those things I listed was worse than firing Ryan would be.  And this is from someone who isn't lobbying for him to get the ax.  You'd have a hard time finding people who thought any of those moves were good (except Martin, maybe, from people who still think he was better than he was).  But you would find a lot more people who think letting Ryan go would be a GOOD move.  I think it's convenient to say the defense wouldn't miss a step, and we have a real OC so Rex doesn't meddle in that, and all he really needs is a clock coach.  The players like him, and it keeps him here coaching the defense, so I don't want him fired (as of now).  But he's not exactly a great head coach.  Letting Belichick go to NE and watch this division rival basically become the most dominant NFL team since then (cheating or not), just so we could keep Parcells on as GM-only for another year, was 1000000x worse.

 

If Smith becomes Brady, Rex becomes a HOF HC of the NYJ

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I've always been a fan of Rex and want him to stay, so I'm not going to try to change anyone's opinion on that.  However, the most glaring piece of information to come away from this entire article is the quote from Cowher about himself: "But the one thing I'll say about Rex: The longer you stay in this profession, the more you grow as a professional . . . He loves the game, coaches with a passion, and I respect that. I feel like that's how I used to coach. And at the same time, players love to play for him.''  For any fanbase that wants Cowher to come back in any capacity to coach their team, that is a pretty damning admission. I just don't believe guys who've done it for the decade plus and won the big game really will ever have that drive again, especially after taking time off and coaching a new team. Just don't see it.  

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Oh, is that all it will take? Sounds easy.

 

I think it was more a suggestion that losing Belichick was no great loss, and only seems so because of Tom Brady.  Personally I think it's ridiculous, but I have opinions others find ridiculous as well.

For all we know, since Brady dink & dunked his way to that early success, Chad Pennington might have had a superbowl ring here.

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Those that embrace mediocrity are forever doomed to live with mediocrity.

 

Im not embracing anything.  I'm watching a guy coach my team who has won more games than he has lost since he has been in here.,  I'm also watching him over achieve with a rookie QB nobody thought much of and a team that was supposed to be the WORST in the league. 

 

I'm enjoying the ride and your whining like your vagina is full of sand.

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I think it was more a suggestion that losing Belichick was no great loss, and only seems so because of Tom Brady.  Personally I think it's ridiculous, but I have opinions others find ridiculous as well.

For all we know, since Brady dink & dunked his way to that early success, Chad Pennington might have had a superbowl ring here.

Matt Cassel led the 2008 Patriots to an 11-5 record

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Im not embracing anything.  I'm watching a guy coach my team who has won more games than he has lost since he has been in here.,  I'm also watching him over achieve with a rookie QB nobody thought much of and a team that was supposed to be the WORST in the league. 

 

I'm enjoying the ride and your whining like your vagina is full of sand.

I didn't know having an opinion was whining. If it counters your opinion, I guess that must be the case.

 

Food sucks!

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Amazing that he is consistently so lucky, yet the Jets are not. The roulette game of football seems stacked against the Jets.

 

When you pick up a QB who  perhaps is a candidate for  the GOAT, in the 6th round, yeah, you hit the lotto.

 

He wasn't so lucky in Clevland

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When you pick up a QB who is perhaps is a candidate for  the GOAT, in the 6th round, yeah, you hit the lotto.

 

He wasn't so lucky in Clevland

I would say that the support that he had in Cleveland from ownership was a weeee bit different than what he has in NE. They were actually building something in Cleveland, until they pulled the franchise out from under them.

 

I would say that BB subscribes to the "luck" factor in drafting as well. Look at how many picks he stockpiles, improving his chances to get "lucky". 

 

Wish the Jets had thought like that.

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Thinking this interview worth +2 or +1.  Must axe monkey or Tomshane. 

 

Do we take other players/coaches into the equation?  Cotch said he's a great HC, LT says it all the time, many players love him. Cowher apparently thinks he's awesome.  I heard Charlie Casserly say the other day he's the biggest strength in the organization.  I'm not sure how the equation works but I'm guessing the random dude on internet part of the equation weighs the heaviest. 

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Do we take other players/coaches into the equation?  Cotch said he's a great HC, LT says it all the time, many players love him. Cowher apparently thinks he's awesome.  I heard Charlie Casserly say the other day he's the biggest strength in the organization.  I'm not sure how the equation works but I'm guessing the random dude on internet part of the equation weighs the heaviest. 

My way would seem a little outdated-results.

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I would say that the support that he had in Cleveland from ownership was a weeee bit different than what he has in NE. They were actually building something in Cleveland, until they pulled the franchise out from under them.

 

I would say that BB subscribes to the "luck" factor in drafting as well. Look at how many picks he stockpiles, improving his chances to get "lucky". 

 

Wish the Jets had thought like that.

 

Belichick is a terrific coach but awful at drafting.  We don't need to stockpile picks now that we have a GM who looks like he's hit more than half of his out of the park already.  Richardson and Geno alone are making this draft look like a win already.

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