Dec. 23, 2012; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan stands on the sidelines with quarterback Mark Sanchez (6) during the second half against the San Diego Chargers at MetLife Stadium. Chargers won 27-17. Mandatory Credit: Debby Wong-USA TODAY Sports
If you havenāt heard by now, there was an article in yesterdayās New York Daily News, that cited anonymous sources, stating Rex Ryanās feeling that if Woody Johnson doesnāt invest in the offense, he would rather be fired. Well, Rex vehemently denied the report, taking shots at it and the reporter that wrote it. Instead of going to far into, I wanted to let everyone read his un-edited response from yesterdayās press conference, and Iāll comment on the other side:
..I donāt agree sometimes, with everything thatās written or whatever, but there was a report this morning that was untrue. And quite honestly, in the article it talked about if things werenāt a certain way that I would not want to be the head coach of the New York Jets, and that is totally untrue. The fact is, and itās simple, this is the only team that I want to coach, period. I think anybody that knows me, knows that Iām telling you the truth. Has it been perfect? No. Would I like this player (or) that player? Of course, anybody would. But Iām telling you, this is my team, these are my players. I donāt want to coach somebody elseās players. This is the team I want to coach, period. No way, when I had the conversation with this reporter, I told him that, I flat told him that. Now it wasnāt reported that way in the article and maybe the headlines say a certain thing, but I want everybody to understand that that is not the case. This is my team, thatās how I approach it. This is the only place I want to coach, period. Letās face it, I wear Jets stuff every single day, every day. Iām proud to be a Jet. Sometimes, Iām proud to be a Jet more than others, but Iām proud to be a Jet. This seasonās been a rough one, no question, but again, this is my team, thatās how I approach it. And I believe we will get back, and this is really a topic for next week, but I believe that we can accomplish what I set out to do when I took the job and thatās the truth. Hereās the injuries, kind of segueing into that, anyway you want to do it. (laughter) Iāll be honest, I was disappointed and quite honestly mad as a hornet, but I understand the job that you guys have, that reporters have. I understand that. Like I said, Iām okay with criticism, Iām okay with anything else, but that, to me, saying I never wanted to coach this team is absolutely not the truth. And Iād rather coach somebody elseās team? No chance. Absolutely no chance. I just wanted to make that clear.
Itās difficult to believe that Rex Ryan would have made these comments. He has never done anything but say what he said above. As I said earlier today, he probably said something out of context to one of his colleagues, and that colleague turned that into what the reporter wanted to hear. Itās terrible, and it has to stop.
