Rex Ryan speaks out against West Virginia players who questioned leadership of ’12 team
By Mike Dyce
After last year at West Virginia, quarterback Geno Smith was considered a potential number one overall draft pick. He slipped into the second round where the New York Jets eventually drafted him.
West Virginia players now are speaking out against Geno Smith it seems like, saying that their 2012 season was undermined by the interests of selfish players.
“Last year we didn’t have, you know, a lot of leadership,” WVU running back Dustin Garrison said, via the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
Garrison’s comments weren’t even the most scathing comments directed towards, without mentioning, quarterback Geno Smith.
“What’s different this year is we’re more a team,” offensive lineman Quinta Spain said. “There ain’t no I’s; we don’t depend on nobody. We just depend on all of us at once as a team. So I think this year will be better than last year. There wasn’t no team. I could say there was a team early, but once we started losing we saw the I’s come up, so it just hurt the team worse.”
Smith’s current head coach Rex Ryan spoke out against the comments.
“I don’t get that. Geno was a tremendous player for West Virginia,” Ryan said, via ESPN.com. “I don’t know, you have to ask them. I certainly don’t get that. When somebody leaves your [school] … I guess that’s up to them. You have to ask them.”
Ryan was very disappointed in the comments and said he is glad his son didn’t decide to suit up for WVU.
“It tells me I’m glad my kid never went there, I can tell you that much,” Ryan said.
It could’ve been other players besides just Smith, Tavon Austin was a first round draft pick to the St. Louis Rams.