Jan 8, 2013; Florham Park, NJ, USA; New York Jets owner Woody Johnson (right) and head coach Rex Ryan (left) review the 2012 season and address changes for 2013 at the New York Jets Training Facility. Mandatory Credit: Jim O

Tuesday morning, we heard our owner and head coach come out and give us their message going forward. I mean, they couldn’t talk a lot of specifics, especially in terms of players, because we don’t know who will be making the decisions from the general manager position. Understandable, whomever they hire is going to need to make their own evaluations on the roster, so we won’t look too much into that for now. But let’s look today at the relationship between Woody Johnson and Rex Ryan. Woody has clearly put all of his stock in Rex Ryan’s basket moving forward. Is that the right move? Is the relationship healthy?

I hate to agree with Mike Francesa when it comes to the Jets, but he made a point about the press conference that made sense. Remember when Rex talked about feeling like it was his first day? It isn’t. There have been four years here. And in those four years, Rex Ryan failed this offense. How do we know that? He said so:

I think I just have failed in that area. And for whatever reason, it’s hard to see that but, I think it’s clear that that’s where I’ve come up short.

Keeping that in mind, think about this: “It’s like my first day”. He basically is telling us that he wants a do-over for the last four years. Four years, and especially the last two years, when the Jets offense couldn’t get out of its own way. Rex is basically coping to the fact that this was all his fault, and that we should give him more time. And Woody Johnson is being complicit in the do-over concept. Is Woody really that infatuated with Rex Ryan? What could Rex had done or said to convince Woody Johnson that he could fix a problem, that he hasn’t been able to fix over four years? The way the offense ended in 2012, for Woody to believe that Rex is still the guy, that is quite a love fest. Is it healthy? I just don’t know.

By the way, we all heard Rex say that he hasn’t injected enough of him into this team, right? Didn’t Rex tell us that Tony Sparano was exactly like him? Ummm…wouldn’t that mean that Rex was putting himself into the team, via his mirror image? Rex is talking in circles, and pretty much reminding everyone that he has no clue about offense. But yet, Rex Ryan will have input in the hiring of the General Manager? Woody is in love with this man. Is this healthy?

Rex is a terrific coach. But the facts are the facts, and the offense is getting worse and worse under his watch. He has convinced Woody Johnson, however, that he can fix it all. There is quite the love fest going on between these two. Is it healthy? I am not sure. I hope Woody knows what he is doing, that’s all I can tell you.

Dec 30, 2012; Orchard Park, NY, USA; New York Jets offensive coordinator Tony Sparano on the sideline in the game against the Buffalo Bills during the second half at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Bills beat the Jets 28-9. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports

Well, that was a nice try wasn’t it?

According to multiple reports, beginning with ESPN’s Chris Mortensen, the Jets have fired Tony Sparano as offensive coordinator. Brian Costello of the New York Post confirmed the rumor via a source just a few moments ago. The Jets have yet to respond to the report, and have made no official announcement.

Obviously, the move comes as no surprise to anybody. Tony Sparano came on the scene with great excitment from the head coach, but never lived up to it. Despite the fact that Sparano came here committed to the running attack, and feeling the same physical “ground and pound” philosophy that reaches deep into Rex Ryan’s heart, the offense never got going. They had trouble passing all year, running the ball most of the year, and finished 28th in the league in scoring. Otherwise, the offense did a wonderful job in 2012.

So, the search will commence here as well. It still makes you wonder what took so long.

Dec 30, 2012; Orchard Park, NY, USA; New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez (6) and offensive coordinator Tony Sparano in between plays against the Buffalo Bills during the first half at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports

It seems to be a pretty safe assumption that once the general manager signing becomes official, Tony Sparano will be among the first coaches on the staff to lose their job. Heck, we all expected him to be fired already, despite the fact that there isn’t a general manager in place, leaving the speculation that there is a chance he will be retained. That chance is small, though, as wide spread changes are expected to take place on the offensive side of the staff especially.

Did anyone else realize that in the two years prior to Sparano’s arrival, the Jets were 13th in the league in scoring? That is twice in a row, the 11-5 season, and when they went 8-8. We all wanted Brian Schottenheimer out the door, we wanted a new direction. I am not going to say we didn’t. But, the numbers prove that Schotty wasn’t as bad as everyone made him out to be. He was just the unfortunate scapegoat in an offseason that change needed to happen.

So, how did Tony break this offense? He inherited a group of players that were just outside the top 10 in scoring for two straight years, and turned them into a group that was 28th. Yes, there were injuries, and not a lot of depth behind those injuries. But it was more than that. Tony Sparano, with all of the Rex-like bravado he came on the scene with, didn’t do a lot to help this offense develop and grow either. I pinned it down to a couple of bullet point topics:

CREATIVITY

Now, I am not trying to insult anyone’s intelligence here, I know on it’s face, that’s obvious. The offensive coordinator/playcaller needs to be creative in order to have success. That goes for any coordinator. But, for a guy in a situation like Tony Sparano’s, it becomes even more important. Why? Because creativity is your weapon to hide a lack of talent. When your roster is not as talented as you would have hoped for, you have to create your own success with that you have.

He played a lot of this season with Jeremy Kerley, Jeff Cumberland, Konrad Reuland, Clyde Gates, Jason Hill…..I can’t even continue, you know. Not exactly Rice, Taylor…etc. It was a group that lacked a lot. You could see it just by watching them play, these guys were not going to beat you by playing straight up. As a playcaller, you have to get creative to set up disguises for these guys. They are having trouble getting off of press coverage, for example, set up some bunch formations to confuse the defense, get these guys in different directions, so someone can get a free release? I don’t remember seeing that ever, and if we did, it certainly wasn’t often. How much did we the same formations over, and over, and over again? One receiver to each side, two on one, one on the other. He never game them a chance to get off the line with a little trickery.

If you can’t beat ‘em, fool ‘em.