Cornering Coaches: Rex Ryan
A timely version of CC. See the other posts like this on Brian Schottenheimer and Steve Spagnuolo.
Rex Ryan
Ravens Defensive Coordinator
Interview: Spoke with the team for five hours on Sunday. Reports are that both sides are impressed.
Expertise: Defense, 4-3? 3-4? Whatever. His dad invented the 46.
Resume Bullet Points: Is the son of one of the greatest defensive minds in the last half of the 20th century. Is the only assistant left from the Ravens Super Bowl team. Mentored under DCs Marvin Lewis and Mike Nolan and Head Coaches Brian Billick and now John Harbaugh. Current postseason run with eight turnovers in two games. Football Outsiders ranks his Ravens defenses as coordinator (2005: 5th 2006: 1st, 2007: 9th, 2008: 2nd) among the highest in the league.
Positives: The wealth of knowledge in the Ryan family’s collective heads is impressive. Ryan’s base defense in Baltimore is a 3-4, but they do play the hybrid style that the Jets also employ. Scheme seems less important to Rex Ryan than utilizing his personnel to their best abilities. With the amount of players in and out of a team over the course of just a few years, it’s impressive to see that the defensive unit of the Ravens has been one of the most consistent in the NFL for the last ten years, ranking in the top ten every year during that time according to Football Outsiders. Rex has only been the Coordinator since 2005, but it’s been just as good as it was under the leadership of other Coordinators.
Negatives: Rex Ryan has never once in his career been a head coach, seemingly at any level according to his Wikipedia entry. Is he able to take on the duties of head coaching, or is he a better Defensive Coordinator? There are also questions about whether his skill with defense was because of Ozzie Newsome’s personnel choices, or whether it was the coordination of that personnel. Ryan would now be the third Head Coach to come from being the Defensive Coordinator prior to that job. Marvin Lewis is languishing in Cincinnati while Mike Nolan was already fired in San Francisco this past year.
What This Could Mean: When you think about the Jets front seven, there’s maybe just one or two players that could easily be upgraded, so it very well could mean that the Jets defense will get better. If Rex Ryan becomes the Head Coach of the Jets, unless he has a pick of his own for Offensive Coordinator it probably means keeping Brian Schottenheimer, Bill Callahan or both. Look for Ryan to pick someone as a Defensive Coordinator from within or maybe he’ll take someone from his Ravens staff (Jeff FitzGerald?) to come in and implement what they are already familiar with in Baltimore.
Filed under: Main Page, Opinion
The only problem that I see with DREX is he appears to be his own man, a “natural” in his own way that speaks his mind. This may not fall popular with some in the NY media that mkes or breaks all high profile personalities that come here.
PS….And everyone only gets a NY Minute to prove themselves.
The NY Media consist of a bunch of Squealing Moron’s!!!
How did their Super Bowl Annointed NY Giants do yesteday???
Stunk out the place!!!!!!!!!
HIRE Rex Ryan IMMEDIATLY!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hank:
Maybe it will take someone like Rex Ryan to make an impact…maybe…because then again…does anyone EVER fall popular with the NY media???
F the NY media!!!
WE WANT REX!!! WE WANT REX!!! WE WANT REX!!!WE WANT REX!!! WE WANT REX!!! WE WANT REX!!!WE WANT REX!!! WE WANT REX!!! WE WANT REX!!!WE WANT REX!!! WE WANT REX!!! WE WANT REX!!!
Im Jet_the_dog and i approve this message!
I’m with the dog
The part I don’t like, is the keeping Schott.
I could live with Callahan, but I want the Jets to be a Schott-free zone.
We’ll know in a day or two, if Spags or Schott isn’t named, that Ryan (or Grimm) is the guy.
Being a Jets fan, I think Grimm might be the best choice, only because of his name ;)
Can I be the first to say hire Rexy “Sexy” Ryan?
Ask him how he got that nickname.
Who gives a rats a$$ about the media, the majority of them are morons. As long as the next HC, Rex Ryan, wins games, I could careless what they think.
This is why I think the recent hot young OC or DC dont work. The young coaches have a hard time bringing in a guy that can help educate and teach thier craft. Look at Mangini his talent was DB’s and defense. He had Bob Sutton teach teach his defense???? Thats exactly why we cant hire Spags and need to hire Rex. He has been a coach with long ties to the 3-4. He also has many more ties to the Ravens and their defense than Harbaugh does. he can easliy take some coaches from that squad to help while he is coaching the WHOLE team……
only 1 or 2 players on the front 7 that can be easily upgraded? you must be referring to the cap situation and not talent.
The NY Media shapes the opinions of some Jet Fans. This is how they work. The get an agenda like… “the Jets should hire Spags”.
They write article after article supporting this. Then some Jet fans start parroting the articles and create a BUZZ.
Then they write articles saying Jets fans say Jets should hire Spags.
This is what they do. It works the same in getting coaches fired or bringing in washed up QB’s like Favre or turning fans against Chad.
Some fans fall into this trap!
I watch every play of every Jet game and I formulate my own opinins. I don’t let these Morons sway my opinion!
HIRE REX RYAN IMMEDIATLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
steviek … the whole package … cap and talent combined.
DE shaun ellis … led the team with 8 sacks, that’s good for a 3-4 DL. he’ll be the starter again.
DT kris jenkins .. needs a better backup to spell him, but he’s the starter for another year at least
DE Kenyon Coleman .. OK in his second year, not a big contract (comparatively) could be upgraded
OLB Calvin Pace .. solid, if not spectacular
OLB Bryan Thomas .. held his job from an underacheving rookie. only making 1.9 million in base in 09
ILB David Harris .. might be injury prone, but good player for the jets at a cheap price right now
ILB eric barton .. likely a free agent and gone, jets need a defender with better hands and coverage skills here
I have been rooting for Rex Ryan to get the job since EM was axed. He runs a 3-4 so we wouldn’t lose time trying to re-configure our D back to a 3-4 and he is aggresive whcih was what we lacked at the end of the year – though it could be a function of personell – one good corner and one good safety and 2 fillers on the other side.
Spags would be okay but would be concerned about shifting back to 3-4.
The key is the ILB, should they address it in the draft or sign a FA. Which other FA ILB’s for the 3-4 are there, I know Ray Lewis and Bart Scott are. Which one of those players plays the same position as Harris?
I think our biggest need on D is an edge rusher. Better schemimg would obviously help but a pure rusher that other teams would have to account for would help our entire pass D.
Not really complaining but we had one in John Abraham – the walking injury but when healthy he is great.
Joe S:
You are right about the NY media, it does shape, rattles and rolls fans opinion. And that is precisely the problem, Johnson needs to make $$$$ and fans spend $$$$.
Eric Alexander RFA Patriots
Eric Barton UFA Jets
Monty Beisel UFA Cardinals
Ricky Brown RFA Raiders
Channing Crowder UFA Dolphins
Andra Davis UFA Browns
John DiGiorgio RFA Bills
Keyaron Fox UFA Steelers
Tony Gilbert UFA Falcons
Kris Griffin UFA Browns
Napoleon Harris UFA Vikings
Brian Iwuh RFA Jaguars
Larry Izzo UFA Patriots
Teddy Lehman UFA Bills
Paris Lenon UFA Lions
D.D. Lewis UFA Seahawks
Ray Lewis UFA Ravens
Mike Peterson UFA Jaguars
Bart Scott UFA Ravens
Adam Seward UFA Panthers
Cody Spencer UFA Jets
Zach Thomas UFA Cowboys
Patrick Thomas UFA Chiefs
Dontarrious Thomas UFA Vikings
Jonathan Vilma UFA Saints
Nate Webster UFA Broncos
Here’s a list of Free agents linebackers for 2009 incase we need an edge rusher if GHOLSTON doesn’t pan out…
Joe s.
Judging from your posts, I swear your in my head, I thought I was the only one who thought like that.Seeing how the clueless ny media was trying to dictate who the jets coach would be because the only name they are familiar with was spags name! Not from football smarts but because they have to make a soap opera out of the local names, I guess that’s what they get paid to do.
From mike francesca to the idiots who write in the news paper columns, they are ALL clueless. I realize media jobs from talk shows to column writers, it has nothing to do with how well you know the subject your talking about but how well you speak and dictate whatever you feel like to the public.
So in closing screw the media, all they care about is a rod datind madonna, or how marbury is a “cancer” or how clemens is a liar or how spags will leave the giants to go the jets, just to create controversy.
I think its them who usually try manipulate and dictate villians and soap opera stories on our sports teams. They build saviors and in a heart beat can tear them down and manipulate us fans to express this. If it weren’t for the media, anybody would love to come to ny, but its these idiots that make ny a tough place to succeed in.
The NY market is saturated with writers. Most of them can’t tell their *** from their elbow. Most TV announcers make bad mistakes. I heard a guy on the radio who kept calling Brian Westbrook Michael Westbrook. Seriously it isn’t hard to know the name of a top back in the division you cover.
It is said that everyone gets 15 minutes of fame, but only here do you lose it in a “NY Minute”.
I wonder if Rex gets the job if he’ll keep schotty in place. I also wonder if Schotty will want to stay on as coordinator after being a supposed front runner for head coach. I dont think he has any options to leave if Rex wants him to stay but it will be interesting to see how it pans out. It might be best to get rid of Schotty if Rex gets the job cause if the jets have a good offensive year next year his name is gonna show up in next years head coaching searches and he’ll be gone and we’ll have to start over with a new coordinator anyway.
ridinmywave,
I am glad that I am not the only one that thinks this way and sees what I see.
Keep up the great posts!
What are the chances we can get Ed Reed to come along with Rex Ryan? I know that Ray Lewis is going to be available but he may be too old.
A little harsh on the media fellas…Cimini’s been here forever and I think he’s very knowledgeable. Ryan has to be the coach, bring rob in to be DC. What are we doing on offense? Staying with Schott? Starting over? The ravens are showing it can be done with a rook and rely on that D. I can tell you if Ryan is the coach, Scott or Ray Lewis will be here. Mad Dog…If we can’t get Ed Reed maybe Ryan can teach Kerry Rhodes not to back peddle when a running back is coming at him.
If Spags isn’t hired tomorrow then Ryan is the pick and I’m all for it. I agree with Basset, the defense is only a couple of pieces away, Ryan will give them the one thing they have been lacking since Mangini took over “consistent agressiveness”. Anyone who has watched this team closely knows they were at their best when they played the “no formation”, “blitz from anywhere” scheme. We saw it way too infrequently, a couple of games in Foxboro, the Arizona game, a few more over the past couple of years. The current personell can play in it. Remember when they used to send Rhodes on blitzes? Its one of the reasons you play the 3-4 in the first place. I’d promotote Callahan to OC, keep Westhoff at all costs , Ryan fills out the rest of the staff best he can. Sign a CB, draft a backup NT, get something out of Ghoulston and let it roll with Clemens/Ratliff managing a power running attack.
Defense wins Championships!
Just sticking on defense, b/c Rex is the “guy” we need.
I agree with “Freeman24″ and “Bassett” the holes at NT and ILB have to get addressed.
I don’t know who the coach will be but I know this, keep the 3-4, keep the west coast O, but get the players that fit the scheme.
There are no (NFL) QBs in the 1st round so don’t go there with the draft.
Address the draft according to what is avaiable.
Build the “D” find a playmaker at lineback inside/outside versatility is the key guys.
——Use Gholston, i don’t care where you put him, teach him, use him. You drafted him!
Get a new nose tackle to spell a “not young” Kris Jenkins.
WTF get another corner, just find a gem or 3 because the personnel is not complete at all. (Ty Law? David Barrett? Dwight Lowery* Hank Poteat? Drew Coleman?)
ADDRESS THIS POSITION!!!
Not to go on a tangent, guys I’m sorry this is just the defensive side, I’ll say this we can teach the young guys to play better defense, but offensively (Coles is done, Favre is done, Jones is almost done), be proactive and give this coach a chance!