Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic- Jets 2014 edition

[Matt39]

oh boy, some gems here:

 

Rex wanted Marty out. The team thinks Decker's sucks. Just a mess.

 

New York Giants coach, and Ryan, the New York Jets coach, talking to each other and to the animated character Charlie Brown. It was then combined as if both men were sitting side by side.

Coughlin and Ryan have intersected as New York coaches for the past six years. As their teams embark on December football, Coughlin's crew is 3-9 and Ryan's is 2-10. Both likely will, in Charlie Brown infamous fashion, have their security blankets yanked from beneath them as soon as their seasons end. This two-part series examines what went wrong, first with Ryan and the Jets. It is reported from interviews with Jets management, players and league sources who requested anonymity.

For most of this ruthless season, a difference in philosophy and friction has boiled between Jets head coach Rex Ryan and his offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg.

"They talk," a Jets player said. "And then they go snipping behind each others' backs."

Ryan all season long wanted a ground and pound offense. Mornhinweg is a West Coast offense traditionalist who believes the passing game is nearly always the answer. Ryan hired Mornhinweg before the 2013 season. Last year the Jets finished 8-8 and ran it more than they passed it, finishing second in the league in rushing yards per game and last in passing yards per game. In this 2-10 season, thus far they have thrown it more than ran it, yet, again rank second in rushing and last in passing.

Eyes rolled after Monday night's Dolphins-Jets game, when the Jets ran the ball 49 times and passed it only eight times before their final drive.Speculation ran rampant that Ryan employed this tactic to stick it to Jets general manager John Idzik over being "forced" to start quarterback Geno Smith. Ryan has never affirmed that such an edict was made by Idzik, but denies the game plan was retribution. Ryan responded bluntly on Wednesday morning in a telephone interview: "No, I did not do that. And you can print that."

Incredibly, the lopsided run-pass ratio in that game was more Mornhinweg sticking it to Ryan, both a Jets player and a management source said.

"It was like Marty finally gave in to what Rex has been asking him to do all year long to prove his point," a Jets player said. "We lost doing it Rex's way, so, I guess Marty felt vindicated. We don't understand why Rex let it go on this long. Rex allows his coaches to grow and be great. But he also allows them to hang themselves, and that winds up with him hanging himself. Rex is not a confrontational person. He acts like it. He talks like it. But he believes in giving his coaches respect and room."

For Ryan, that has come at great expense.

A Jets management source said that Ryan on at least two occasions this season considered firing Mornhinweg. Two Jets players said that before the Steelers game on Nov. 9 that "speculation" and "intense pressure" soaked the atmosphere at the Jets complex over the feeling that Ryan would be fired afterward. Maybe it was because a bye week would follow, giving a new coach more time to pick up the pieces. Maybe it was because a loss would saddle the Jets with a ninth straight defeat. Ryan answered: The Jets finagled a huge upset with a 20-13 victory.

But then failures to Buffalo and Miami followed. That pushed them into double-digit losses for the season, closing any remaining hope of Ryan building a retention plan. There is emphasis among the Jets management and players on both Ryan's and Mornhinweg's failures to adjust this season. Ryan for not backing off more on his blitzes to cover for his depleted and challenged cornerbacks, first, and secondary overall. Mornhinweg for his pass-first offense, for "too much" volume that he gave Smith and his failure to more effectively let his running game be more of a complement to his passing game.

Though Ryan spoke to the Miami offensive game plan in a direct interview, he chose to issue this statement on all elements of this story via the Jets public relations department:

"From the time I became head coach of this team, whether we are winning or losing, I have always told our coaches and players to push each other. We always talk about how we can get better and what we need to do to win. During a season like this, it's tough. We sometimes have to push each other even harder so that we can figure out what is wrong and how to fix it. And we are still tight."



Idzik has vocal detractors in the Jets locker room and beyond.

Some Jets players shook their heads when receiver Eric Decker was brought in from Denver "where he was a No. 4 receiver and we made him a No. 1, gave him $7.5 million and found out he was of little or no help," one Jets player said. "Idzik did not give Rex the pieces he needed to fit his system," another said. "He did not get this team what it needed this year to win. Either he is the worst negotiator in football or he set us up to lose."

This punishing view of Idzik rolls into the coaching staff, a Jets management source said, who insisted the Jets coaching staff was primarily on one-year coaching deals last season and again this season. It set a culture of pressure on top of pressure for all of the coaches. It set a culture that made coaching families hang even more than usual on every win and every loss. The NFL norm, a West Coast NFL general manager explained, is that coaching staffs are given at least two-year deals in their current season. If fired, it gives them a year to find new jobs. If they find one quickly, the second year salary is offset. It set an "incredibly bad culture to do it the other way," the general manager said.

Idzik has always insisted that his plan is and was to win now and into the future. We could see what was happening on the field for the Jets during this tumultuous season.

This is a window into what was happening off it. A tortured lack of clear and honest communication, fractured perceptions from locker room to coaches to management and the gut-wrenching emotions that bubble when, simply, you lose a swath of football games. The Jets play at the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, one of four games they have left before drastic change inevitably comes.

"Idzik, when he took over last year, should have just ran everybody off and found the coach he wanted," a league source said. "This should have been done from the start. It would have been a lot less toxic."

 

 

[dbatesman]

Yet another article that's ostensibly about the top-to-bottom dysfunction of the Jets but is really a profile of Rex Ryan: Tortured Soul.

[afosomf]

Yep prob time to start bleeding buffalo blue dammit

[Larz]

cool post bra

[jgb]

another year another collapse on the field and off it.

[IPBanBadPosters]

"Idzik, when he took over last year, should have just ran everybody off and found the coach he wanted," a league source said. "This should have been done from the start. It would have been a lot less toxic."

 

Why is it assumed that he was allowed to? Obviously Woody wouldn't let him fire Rex when he was hired, so what makes people think that edict changed a year later?

 

And why are there players crying about Decker's contract? Seriously, who cares what your teammate's getting paid? My God this team is not only bad, they're just downright unlikeable.

 

And poor, poor Rex, not getting the players he needs to "fit his system" - how about adapting your system to fit the players on your roster?!? Noooooo, not Buddy Ryan's stubborn son...

 

This entire trainwreck was completely avoidable if we just cleaned house like we should have 2 years ago. Hopefully Woody doesn't compound the mistake by doing the same thing this off-season and retaining any elements of this regime. Fire everyone, right down to the damn landscapers at Florham Park.

[T0mShane]

Yet another article that's ostensibly about the top-to-bottom dysfunction of the Jets but is really a profile of Rex Ryan: Tortured Soul.

 

 

Homey is teflon. It's an article skewering the lack of leadership and a unified vision, but never gets around to talking about the leader. Pretty nifty trick, really.

[T0mShane]

Why is it assumed that he was allowed to? Obviously Woody wouldn't let him fire Rex when he was hired, so what makes people think that edict changed a year later?

 

And why are there players crying about Decker's contract? Seriously, who cares what your teammate's getting paid? My God this team is not only bad, they're just downright unlikeable.

 

And poor, poor Rex, not getting the players he needs to "fit his system" - how about adapting your system to fit the players on your roster?!? Noooooo, not Buddy Ryan's stubborn son...

 

This entire trainwreck was completely avoidable if we just cleaned house like we should have 2 years ago. Hopefully Woody doesn't compound the mistake by doing the same thing this off-season and retaining any elements of this regime. Fire everyone, right down to the damn landscapers at Florham Park.

 

 

If the reporter is quoting that player verbatim, it's Brick. Way too articulate to be anyone else. 

[Scott Dierking]

This team has too many spokesmen, not enough leaders.

 

Hey, if you want to criticize someone else, put your name on it. Stand behind it. Then we can look and analyze what blocks you have missed, why passes you have dropped, what tackles you have whiffed on.

 

This is what a Rex Ryan leadership allows-Unnamed sources to constantly back bite. It has been a part of this organization since he came.

 

Take accountability for yourself first.

[Integrity28]

For most of this ruthless season, a difference in philosophy and friction has boiled between Jets head coach Rex Ryan and his offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg. "They talk," a Jets player said. "And then they go snipping behind each others' backs." Ryan all season long wanted a ground and pound offense. Mornhinweg is a West Coast offense traditionalist who believes the passing game is nearly always the answer. Ryan hired Mornhinweg before the 2013 season. Last year the Jets finished 8-8 and ran it more than they passed it, finishing second in the league in rushing yards per game and last in passing yards per game. In this 2-10 season, thus far they have thrown it more than ran it, yet, again rank second in rushing and last in passing.

 

 

So, Rex is trying to go with the hand-picked Offensive Coordinator scapegoat plan... a second time? This ******* guy.

[jgb]

So, Rex is trying to go with the hand-picked Offensive Coordinator scapegoat plan... a second time? This ******* guy.

Lol hadnt even thought of that until you brought it up

If woody brings rex back might as well make him GM too

[Integrity28]

"It was like Marty finally gave in to what Rex has been asking him to do all year long to prove his point," a Jets player said. "We lost doing it Rex's way, so, I guess Marty felt vindicated. We don't understand why Rex let it go on this long. Rex allows his coaches to grow and be great. But he also allows them to hang themselves, and that winds up with him hanging himself. Rex is not a confrontational person. He acts like it. He talks like it. But he believes in giving his coaches respect and room."

 

 

Makes it easier to blame them for everything and wash his hands of any accountability at all. Not surprised by this at all... and not fooled into thinking this is some sort of noble trait of Rex the great coach who could have been.

[jgb]

Makes it easier to blame them for everything and wash his hands of any accountability at all. Not surprised by this at all... and not fooled into thinking this is some sort of noble trait of Rex the great coach who could have been.

Exactly. Giving them respect does not mean shoving them into the oncoming traffic when times get tough

[RutgersJetFan]

You know who doesn't have to fire 3 offensive coordinators in 6 years? Head coaches who know anything about offense.

[Larz]

If woody brings rex back might as well make him GM too

 

[BroadwayJets]

Real question is, if we get an actual head coach, how will the players that've only played under Ryan play under a coach who welcomes no BS?

[Ken Schroy]

Real question is, if we get an actual head coach, how will the players that've only played under Ryan play under a coach who welcomes no BS?

Can they play any worse?

[Gen X Jet]

Never understood the Marty Mornhinweg hire.  There's a reason why Andy Reid didn't bring him to KC.  Looking back, it makes sense as Rex did it and Rex is a dummy clown.

[SenorGato]

This really is a male soap opera. So much contrived drama and gossip...Saban'll crack down on this.

[Matt39]

Yet another article that's ostensibly about the top-to-bottom dysfunction of the Jets but is really a profile of Rex Ryan: Tortured Soul.

 lol

[Bugg]

So, Rex is trying to go with the hand-picked Offensive Coordinator scapegoat plan... a second time? This ******* guy.

Piles up coordinators' careers like cord wood. Even if by some miracle Ryan gets another HC gig, what assistant coaches are lining up for this nonsense spare his drinking buddy and hanger on Jeff Weeks. 

[Integrity28]

Piles up coordinators' careers like cord wood. Even if by some miracle Ryan gets another HC gig, what assistant coaches are lining up for this nonsense spare his drinking buddy and hanger on Jeff Weeks. 

 

It says a lot that Sporano had to go to Oakland to save his career from the Rex Effect.

[JetsFanInDenver]

If i have to be subjected to soap operas I would rather follow the ones on daytime television. Atleast they have characters that are easy on the eyes and have fake boobies.

[jamesr]

Real question is, if we get an actual head coach, how will the players that've only played under Ryan play under a coach who welcomes no BS?

 

Those who want to win will play the best they can. Those who don't, won't.

 

Either way, it makes it easier to sort the wheat from the chaff. And if that means we're low on wheat, then so be it.

[jamesr]

And poor, poor Rex, not getting the players he needs to "fit his system" - how about adapting your system to fit the players on your roster?!? Noooooo, not Buddy Ryan's stubborn son...

 

 

How about adapting your system to fit the modern game, rather than that of 30 years ago?