NFL: Coaches Who Will Get Fired On Black Monday
Rex Ryan, New York Jets (3-11, last place, AFC East)
Speaking of Rex Ryan, if he is up for the Atlanta Falcons job, then he has to be out in New York, right? Well, Ryan is counting the weeks until he is told that he will no longer be employed by the Jets.
Ryan’s career as coach started out very well. He went to consecutive AFC Championship games in his first two seasons. After that, though, it’s been nothing but frustration, missing out on the playoffs entirely for four straight years.
Everyone in New York is resigned to the fact that Ryan will be let go. All the sportswriters are writing their goodbye articles to him, knowing that this Sunday will be his final home game coached as a Jet.
After finishing 6-10 in 2012 and 8-8 last season, many expected Ryan to get the axe a year ago. The team’s strong showing at the end of the season saved his job…for a year.
This season, everything just fell apart. The Jets, with Geno Smith and Michael Vick at quarterback, scored just 230 points, good for 30th in the NFL. The defense allowed 360 points, which ranked 24th in the NFL.
The defensive numbers are surprising for a Ryan-coached team. He is a defensive guru, and his teams, whether winning or not, usually give you a battle defensively.
In addition to the poor play, it seems that Ryan just accepted the fact he was gone, and just did not care. Smith’s attitude went largely unchecked. He cursed at fans in one game, and he missed a team meeting in San Diego because he was watching a movie and was in the wrong time zone. Of course, Ryan has his own history of cursing. He was fined about a month ago for swearing at the Pittsburgh Steelers on the field.
Ryan also did not seem to have control on the sidelines. In a game against the Green Bay Packers, the Jets were driving late in the game, down a touchdown. Smith appeared to throw a touchdown, but apparently someone in the sidelines called a timeout before the play, negating the touchdown. Ryan denied that he called the timeout, and hinted that it may have been offensive coordinator Martin Mornhinweg.
New York will miss those lively press conferences Ryan had over the past six years. Perhaps if the rumors are true, Ryan can have fun with the people of Atlanta.
Next: Joe Philbin