Fresh Attitude
Xander Diaz of GGN [and myself] have been interested as to why so many have expressed their “disdain” towards Rex Ryan thus far. True, Ryan hasn’t won any games or proved himself of a future Hall of Fame coach but what he has done is instilled discipline and a new fire within New York that would get anyone [except the cold blooded] fired up. Despite his swagger some haven’t been impressed.
Recently I’ve noticed that there are many who have expressed some disdain towards new New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan and his “swaggerlicious” brand.
“I’ll be honest and say that I’m completely unimpressed by what I’ve heard from Rex Ryan thus far.
He comes off to me as an arrogant SOB who likes to run his mouth – traits you do not want in a head coach, if you ask me.”- Matty I. – The Phinsider.com
“Someone please remind me but, what has Ocho Rexo won exactly as a head coach? Waiting … waiting. Ah, yes, nothing.” – Mike Freeman - CBSSports.com National Columnist
Now I can’t speak for all Jets fans but I can’t disagree more with this sentiment. Rex Ryan’s swagger and bravado is exactly the kind of attitude this club has been needing for way too long. The right amount of attitude and ego can do wonders for a team and the Jets have been lacking in this department since Bill Parcels left town.
Like Mike Florio obviously these guys have nothing better to do, except pick on the “same old Jets.”
Diaz goes on to note that the Jets have seemed to continuously have that same losing attitude year after year, the same methods that the players would end up following because it had become “tradition.” Finally you have a guy who is willing to run his mouth to get the team, the fans and the media fired up and the media decides to label the Jets for another year of misery. I’ll admit nothing is ever truly stable in any organization but when you finally have a guy who is willing to be the voice and kindle a fire, you let it burn and see where it takes the team before you go bashing his way of operating a team. It is actually refreshing to see someone who will break away from “tradition” to usher a whole new attitude — a winning attitude in order to take their team to the top.
Speaking of instilling new attitudes just yesterday, Jane McManus reported that for every pound a player is over they will be fined. John B. of GGN had this to say:
He is a disciplinarian and a players’ coach at the same time. He’s not going to hit you with 50,000,000 rules that have nothing to do with the game like Eric Mangini, but he’s not going to let his players have a free pass like Herman Edwards. Players respond to being given responsibility. They don’t mind rules that punish them for abusing that responsibility. They resent nitpicky rules.
Now if that isn’t a coach trying to do his job and manage the team properly maybe Mike Florio can write a book on what is … not that I would read it.
11 Responses to Fresh Attitude
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TOON2388 says:
These are the same schmucks that blasted Mangini’s style – and he is the opposite of Rex. This is a staple that the media uses to pile on losing teams/players and suck up to winning teams/players.
Example: “Joe Barry Carroll, the dog that he is, walked out of practice today.” And “Michael Jordan is such fierce cimpetitor he stormed out of practice when Doug Collins had the score wrong.” (and he was seen playing golf 20 minutes later)
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Bent says: I don’t think this stuff will affect the season much and it is good to have a confident approach…but, as soon as they lose a game a large section of the media and fanbase will be up in arms because they expect him to back up these words. And then, when they lose another the outcry will grow, and so on.
Even if Rex himself has realistic ambitions and intends to build the team up over a period of time and isn’t going to let what the media or fans say affect his plans, that isn’t going to help him if Woody gets ansty in the face of the backlash and pulls the rug out from under him early because everyone is telling him Rex fell short of expectations, even if in reality, Rex has the program exactly where he expected and intended it to be.
That’s what worries me. Pro sports teams (not just Woody and the Jets) rarely stick with a guy long enough and if Rex is setting the bar high then it will only take a few things to go wrong and all the Florios will be saying they told us so (and a large proportion of the fanbase will but it).
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StvDoe says:
I wouldn’t expect the media to give Rex the benefit of the doubt if things aren’t gangbusters out of the gate. If we’re 1-3 at the 1/4 mark, the pundits will be on Rex like stink on ****.
But I’d like to think that the front office understands that it may take time to achieve some level of success. I doubt that an 8-8 season would end Rex’s tenure with the team. But a failure to make the playoffs by his second season would likely result in shopping for a new head coach. I’d give him three years, but that’s just me.
My greatest fear is that the FANS won’t give Rex enough rope. I’d hate to hear cries for his hide just because 2009 doesn’t result in a playoff appearance. I love what Rex has done thus far, and I’m willing to allow him the time to push the Jets to greatness. If that means not winning THIS year, so be it.
Rome wasn’t built…………
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Bent says:
Sounds like we’re on the same page but…
“I’d like to think that the front office understands that it may take time to achieve some level of success”
I’d like to think that too…I just don’t know if I can trust Woody to fix what aint broken.
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MSM says:
People will have to cut Rex some slack if things go bad. Ultimately we will still have a rookie QB. I like his all-in approach no matter what. Hes only doing it to distinguish himself from Mangini and inspire his team. If people felt it was because he wanted to promote himself, then I think people could argue his style… but its pretty obvious that is not the case.
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LAJetsFan says:
As far as I can tell, this is just who Rex is, and I personally love it. If I thought that Rex was wasting time trash talking, and that it was taking away from building a better team, then I’d have a problem with it. But he’s just having fun, and if he’s having fun, so are the players and so should we.
People might want to look at his comments and say, “NOW he has to back them up, he hasn’t accomplished anything so now this puts more pressure on the team.” What everybody fails to understand is that, despite what the blogs say and despite what the headlines say, there’s only more pressure on the players if they put more pressure on themselves.
Rex can go out there tomorrow and guarantee, before a single game’s been played, that the Jets will win ten Super Bowls in a row, and while every newspaper in the country would talk about how difficult it will be to back up such outrageous predictions, I don’t think Rex would feel even the slightest bit more pressure to perform well. Because the truth is IT’S NOT ABOUT PRESSURE. It’s about passion and inspiration and devotion. Forget expectations.
That’s what I love about Rex. He’s free to speak his mind and tell it like it is because he doesn’t care about what people say about the Jets. No matter how much people want to discredit the Jets – be it with evidence from last season or with negative publicity from Rex’s quotes – it doesn’t make a difference because he’s convinced that the Jets are better than that. And as long as he gets the players to feel the same way, they will be.
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hank/naples says:
Can’t understand how Ryan is compared to Parcells and given a free pass. Two completely different things.
One thing is your neighbor talking trash to his own son and quite another this guy trash talking YOUR son. And specially while all your neighbors are watching.
Now tell me there’s no difference !!!
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Pete57 says:
Hank, bad analogy. When you bring children into the mix that changes everything. These are all grown men.
Simply put, either you like Rex’s attitude or you don’t. Many of us do, you don’t. No problem.
As you will agree, all that really matters is wins and losses. If he wins, then he is a confident aggressive coach. If he loses, he is a loud mouth braggard.
Let’s see how the future unfolds.
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ramble914 says:
More words of wisdom from Hank.
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I really don’t understand the whole article. E. Weeks references two sources who critisize Rex, one of which is a Dolphin fan, the other a no name columnist. Are we to believe that this is the majority perception? It’s definetely not the perception in Jet land, and who cares what the rest of the world thinks about us.
I also disagree with X. Diaz’s ascertion that “the Jets have seemed to continuously have that same losing attitude year after year”, a team that goes to the playoffs 5 of the last 10 years doesn’t have a losing attitude.
As a columnist it must be easy to bet against Rex’s style and run with the “same old jets” attitude. Its not like Florio or any of these guys will correct themselves later if they are wrong. I hate how columnist just bet against people for the sake of it… without making valid points.
They don’t get it… all they are proving is that his style is working basically. Its clear to any Jet fan that Rex has been refreshing and effective so far (with or without winning games). The whole atmosphere has changed. People are excited. I really hope we make these guys look like fools and then people call them out on their websites.