Reading Collision Low Crossers (finally). Reads like the preface to a eulogy. My egomaniacal thoughts.

[T0mShane]

Rex haters and defenders should buy this immediately. $10 on Kindle right now.

This is the first passage that really blew me away. Tannenbaum falling in line behind the Cult of Ryan, where he essentially concedes agency to the coach, and starts tying the noose that would hang him.

He was also a potential disadvantage. Tannenbaum supervised the Jets’ entire football operation, everyone from Jeff Bauer, the Jets college scout based in Ankeny, Iowa, to Sara Hickmann, the team’s Upper West Side psychotherapist who once told me that in a world where everyone walks around with anger and aggression, football appeals “to an unconscious wish that we could drill somebody.” Tannenbaum was the sort of boss who tried to keep up with the lives of all one hundred and twenty people who worked at the facility— he would ask how their renovations were going, remembered birthdays and significant life events. Yet it was Ryan who preoccupied the GM.

Before the Jets owner Woody Johnson and Tannenbaum hired Ryan, Tannenbaum compiled reports on potential coaching candidates, enough to fill a big black binder. What those reports told him about Ryan fascinated Tannenbaum and also had given him pause— and Tannenbaum wasn’t the only one. Over the years, Ryan had interviewed for several head- coaching jobs, including one with his own team, the Ravens, and always he’d been considered too big of a risk. His appearance suggested a lack of control, and so did a police report describing the bloody pulp Ryan had made of a Maryland neighbor’s face after an argument on the man’s front porch. Was Ryan too emotional to be an effective head coach? Was Ryan sufficiently organized? Could he, a defensive specialist, manage a game when the Jets offense had the ball? Did the pleasure he took in getting along with his players mean he’d be unable to draw the line at recalcitrant behavior?

It was one thing for Ryan to urge players not to take football too seriously, but nothing was more serious to Tannenbaum. Tannenbaum worried about everything; would Ryan worry enough? In Ryan’s first months with the Jets came an event that Tannenbaum considered of defining, if inexplicable, significance in their relationship. These being men, it involved a road trip and many hamburgers. Ryan; Tannenbaum; the Jets offensive coordinator, Brian Schottenheimer; and the quarterbacks coach, Matt Cavanaugh, were going to Kansas to scout a potential draft choice: Kansas State quarterback Josh Freeman. Ryan dutifully appeared wearing a spread- collar shirt and pressed trousers, as he had for the many business dinners he’d attended since being hired. This time Tannenbaum told his new coach: “Rex, he’s a draftable player. He has to impress us .”

Ryan’s eyes grew big. He disappeared back into his office and reemerged in a flowing garment that he referred to as “the dress sweats.” The four men flew west, landed, and got their rental car, a pickup truck. Ryan drove, Tannenbaum rode shotgun, Schottenheimer and Cavanaugh sat knees to chest in the back. Ryan told stories of the Great Plains. Soon all four were dusty. Nobody minded. They watched Freeman throw and run. Then, on the way back to the airport, Ryan suggested a visit to a Sonic Drive- In for some refreshments. Most of the items on the menu were ordered, including, for Ryan, a cup of limeade the size of Topeka. The truck shook. Nobody can say why. Possibly it was the many men feasting. The result was that Ryan’s cup began to tip. Freshets of limeade poured everywhere. “Oh, no!” Ryan cried. “The dress sweats!” It became an iconic line, and every time Tannenbaum remembered those words, he felt happiness. When he came out from behind his desk to sit facing Ryan in one of the matching off- white chairs, Tannenbaum thought of himself as being in partnership with Ryan, not so much a supervisor as a buttress providing the core support that allowed the coach to stand tall against lateral pressures.

Reinforcing Ryan was such a significant part of Tannenbaum’s job that on days when Tannenbaum arrived at the Jets facility parking lot and could read the painted word Rex on the space adjacent to his because Ryan’s green- and- black extended- cab Ford pickup wasn’t there, Tannenbaum developed a ritual. “I walk around his name. It’s my way of reminding myself I have his back, I have him covered.” To Tannenbaum, Ryan was like “chocolate. He makes everyone feel better.” He was also “the ultimate musician. He won’t sit still for long or read binders full of statistical studies, but his game plan for beating Tom Brady is second to none. He’s a football savant.”

[Bugg]

I read it too. Pettine, who the author lived with and clearly likes, comes off as a much sharper guy than Ryan. Simple fcat-Ryan is too nice, doesn't like confrontation.  Ryan basically indulged his college buddy, Jeff Weeks,  by keeping him on staff despite the fact he did almost nothing of value. Now it has to be said Pettine admits to wrecking his first marriage by raiding his teacher retirement without advising his wife in order to work for the Ravens for almost nothing, all  while still coaching his high school team and teaching all at the same time. His post-game reactions about Schitty's offense after the Tebow and Victor Cruz games sounded like there was a very good chance Pettine wished to take Schitty outside and put his head through a portopotty.

 

One thing successful coaches are often is not very nice human beings. Coaches will put up with a lot from superstars as long as they produce. But everyone else is on daily probation.  You have to be coldblooded with a good chunk of your roster that are not superstars. You don't have to hate them, and you can be friends with them. But this is a business that this book says Ryan doesn't grasp this. 

 

Weeks is still on staff. Not clear if he has ever learned how a computer works, which in 2014 is ridiculous.

[JoeC36]

I'm still first in line to give your eulogy, correct?

[BRONX DUDE]

Why due I care what TANNY thinks??? He threw away $ 50 million dollars of Woody's trust fund on Butt

Fumble and Holmes.

[Integrity28]

Rex haters and defenders should buy this immediately. $10 on Kindle right now.

This is the first passage that really blew me away. Tannenbaum falling in line behind the Cult of Ryan, where he essentially concedes agency to the coach, and starts tying the noose that would hang him.

 

 

Funny, I was just asking my wife if I could borrow her kindle so I could read it as well. People across multiple Jets sites have posted excerpts here and there over the last year, and I suspect that much of it will lend credence to the position I've held on Ryan since year 1.

[RutgersJetFan]

Wait till you get to the sh*t between him and Pettine. So much confusion and lack of leadership. He really isn't cut out to be a head coach, it's that simple.

[ucrenegade]

exactly my fav part and why i soured on Rex so much is when the author says Pettine had to  keep talking Rex out of running plays that they never practiced before.

 

As I read it it just seems pettine is so much more level-headed and I could see him having a better career than Wrecks.

 

I was hoping we would have fired Wrecks and promoted pettine.

[Matt39]

I post under the assumption everyone's read it.

[Matt39]

I will say however Pettine is a guy who's always loved the camera. That ESPN doc they did about North Penn High was really good

[JetsFanInDenver]

No spoiler alert warning. Now i know Rex may not be good as a HC.

[Lizard King]

Rex haters and defenders should buy this immediately. $10 on Kindle right now.

This is the first passage that really blew me away. Tannenbaum falling in line behind the Cult of Ryan, where he essentially concedes agency to the coach, and starts tying the noose that would hang him.

Good passage.

It doesn't seem like it would be much of a jump to suggest that Woody hired Idzik to straighten out the balance in the office.

I guess Woody gave Rex one Defacto year because he wanted to see Idzik work before giving him the keys to fire Rex

I would also like to say that it's a shame that we had to hire an executive search firm to hire John Idzik- if a proven GM was available, he could have brought his own coach and this could have been avoided.

Soj.

/fin

[Matt39]

 

June 04, 2002|By Julie Bykowicz | Julie Bykowicz,SUN STAFF

Ravens defensive line coach Rex Ryan is accused of beating up an Ellicott City neighbor Sunday night during a dispute that began over their young children's argument, Howard County police said yesterday.

The altercation left Robert Wheatley with a cut under his eye and a knot on his forehead, county police spokeswoman Pfc. Lisa Myers said. Wheatley was taken to Howard County General Hospital, where he was treated and released, a hospital spokeswoman said.

 

In the suit, Robert Wheatley alleges that Ryan, 39, came to his Diversified Lane house and challenged him to a fight. Ryan then put Wheatley in a headlock and punched him in the face, according to the suit filed in Howard County Circuit Court yesterday.

 

 

lol

[JoeC36]

So seriously, when do we get to eulogize you? A lot of us have been waiting for you to kick the bucket for a long time

[T0mShane]

Yikes. This was the year that Ryan admitted he had "lost touch" with what was going on in his own locker room.

But as the coaches talked in Indianapolis, they turned the conversation to a more somber topic: their worry that Ryan’s growing renown was distracting him from football. He had become so adept at the off- field, face- of- the- franchise aspects of the head- coaching job that he seemed to feel obligated to “always be the show” wherever he went.

Just now had come word that he was going to appear with Tannenbaum on the TV program CSI: NY. Ryan seemed less focused on the team; he had a little less warmth, a distanced quality. The coaches felt Ryan had worked so hard for so many years, he deserved his moment in the sun. Nonetheless, he hadn’t won anything yet, and neither had the coaching staff. It was only February, only the Combine, but the coaches were wary.

[T0mShane]

So seriously, when do we get to eulogize you? A lot of us have been waiting for you to kick the bucket for a long time

Get in line, dicknose

[Lizard King]

While I think Rex is probably a buffoon, this book is a hit piece and it's obvious

[T0mShane]

This Jeff Weeks stuff is disgusting. Yes, it goes on in every workplace (the boss hiring his useless drinking buddy), but God damn.

[T0mShane]

While I think Rex is probably a buffoon, this book is a hit piece and it's obvious

What I'm enjoying about it is that the author isn't some Peter King-type NFL gadfly that needs to preserve relationships within the game, so I think he's giving you a fairly honest assessment of what he observed and was told. I don't think (so far) he has much of an agenda. If anything, he sounds a little wide-eyed, and maybe a bit naive, as it relates to picking through the jealousies inherent in a coaching staff.

[RutgersJetFan]

While I think Rex is probably a buffoon, this book is a hit piece and it's obvious

 

I agree with this. It is far more likely that Nicholas Dawidoff had a secret, underlying hatred for Rex Ryan for no reason whatsoever, and he decided to dedicate years of his life towards screwing Rex by going undercover as his friend in order to write a book that makes him look not good at his job.

 

Diabolical, but genius when you think about it.

[T0mShane]

The Ryan boys were effectively abandoned by their mother while Buddy coached around the country. I'm no psychiatrist, but that had to leave a mark.

[JoeC36]

Get in line, dicknose

I'll be the first in line for your wake. I want to be the first to piss on your corpse. 

[T0mShane]

The passages about Rob and Rex (and Jeff Weeks) going through college and trying to become their dad is a bit maudlin, considering the direction both of their careers are taking. It's like reading about two dudes in 1986 scraping together enough money to buy a record store.

[Matt39]

This Jeff Weeks stuff is disgusting. Yes, it goes on in every workplace (the boss hiring his useless drinking buddy), but God damn.

You can make a good living being the useless drinking buddy.

But in seriousness the Weeks stuff was bizarre. Pettine hated him.

[T0mShane]

I'll be the first in line for your wake. I want to be the first to piss on your corpse.

Like they'll ever find the body.

[Arsis]

I'll be the first in line for your wake. I want to be the first to piss on your corpse.

Dibs on second.

[RutgersJetFan]

The passages about Rob and Rex (and Jeff Weeks) going through college and trying to become their dad is a bit maudlin, considering the direction both of their careers are taking. It's like reading about two dudes in 1986 scraping together enough money to buy a record store.

 

Congrats on the book btw.

[T0mShane]

You can make a good living being the useless drinking buddy.

But in seriousness the Weeks stuff was bizarre. Pettine hated him.

Word. Pettine comes off so far as hyper-ambitious. It must have chewed him up to watch Rex become a celebrity while the whole team was backsliding.

[T0mShane]

Congrats on the book btw.

Thanks for the recommendation. Chock full of interesting asides.

[Matt39]

Word. Pettine comes off so far as hyper-ambitious. It must have chewed him up to watch Rex become a celebrity while the whole team was backsliding.

It's been a while since I've read it but it seemed Pettine came off as a typical successfull coach. Not a lifestyle many of us would want. It seemed Rex put in the time, he just liked the responsibility of a coordinator. It's easier to be the good cop.

[Arsis]

I read a bunch and gave never heard of this book. Did it not break 1k sales?

[RutgersJetFan]

I read a bunch and gave never heard of this book. Did it not break 1k sales?

 

Considering that it is a book, why would most Jets fans have heard of it?

 

In all seriousness I don't think it did that great. I don't know if it's just because they didn't promote it well or because the Feinstein format is kind of overplayed, but it slipped under the radar.

[Arsis]

Considering that it is a book, why would most Jets fans have heard of it?

In all seriousness I don't think it did that great. I don't know if it's just because they didn't promote it well or because the Feinstein format is kind of overplayed, but it slipped under the radar.

I'm an active reader. I read at the very least a book a week. I've read thousands of books in my lifetime. I would think that I would have heard about it a bit.

[Larz]

do they cover the basics of team run defense ?  OLB play ?

[RutgersJetFan]

I'm an active reader. I read at the very least a book a week. I've read thousands of books in my lifetime. I would think that I would have heard about it a bit.

I was just busting balls. What do you usually read?

[Bugg]

The Ryan boys were effectively abandoned by their mother while Buddy coached around the country. I'm no psychiatrist, but that had to leave a mark.

Which is why he hates confrontation, typical of a lot of kids in divorced families. Rex would rather be the big happy guy even if it's a Potemkin village  than face any issue directly. And perfectly happy to put off hard decisions until there is no decision left. 

 

DOn't think it was a hit piece at all. The Jets were the hot team going into that  season. Davidoff was hoping he was going to chronicle a championship season, and instead he pretty much wrote what he saw. May be fair to say Pettine as his host many nights was shown in a better light, but Pettine was also exposed as not a wonderful husband. Raiding your retirement fund and not telling the Mrs. is crazy. And none of that means Pettine's view was wrong.