Rex Ryan Can Stay! For Now

Editor Note: Ioanny Dimov takes the opposite side of the argument regarding Rex Ryan, which can be found here.

Yesterday, fellow JetPress staff writer “yetsober” wrote an article on why he believes New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan should be long gone by now. I for one disagree and I am ready to offer up a counter argument!

Some of yetsober’s arguments include the fact that he hasn’t won a title since he joined the Jets, whether it be division, conference or Super Bowl.  On top of that yetsober claims that Rex is a diva and an attention hog more akin to a Kardashian than an NFL head coach. With both these points I find points of contention. In 2009 and 2010, Ryan’s most successful as HC of the New York Jets, he was given a team with some talent, a talented defense with potential that thus far was untapped, and a rookie quarterback who turned out to have a very low ceiling as a Jet. These were also the years when he was most bombastic, as evidenced by the Super Bowl claim’s as well as calling out Revis as the best cornerback in the NFL. However, year after year the old general management would sacrifice depth for quality, and the faith in the quality players brought in was often misguided, i.e. Tim Tebow. This decline continued until Tannenbaum was let go and John Idzik was hired into a salary cap disaster.

Live Feed

Busting Brackets

Rex Ryan has since become more tempered, and more responsible with his claims (as well as his health). There hasn’t been a Super Bowl prediction for quite some time and Rex has been more restrained when dealing with the media. Furthermore, last season, given one of the worst rosters in the entire NFL and yet again relying on a rookie quarterback, Ryan went on to somehow win eight games, some against legitimately good teams such as the Saints. This is why Ryan was given another chance, to see how he can perform now that Idzik has miraculously navigated us out of salary cap hell and to a point here he was actually been able to bring in fresh talent this past off-season.  Just as a quarterback should not be judged when he has a porous offensive line in front of him and a lack of talent on the outside, Rex Ryan should not be judged too harshly for failing to perform when he was given so little to do his job successfully.

This season Rex is once again fighting for his job and he is facing a tall order with the schedule being what it is this season. Ryan will be forced against three of the most potent passing attacks in the first four weeks with a rebuilt and mostly young secondary, and the group is most likely going to struggle mightily. With all that said I want to make it clear I am not an apologist for Rex Ryan, and although I do believe he deserves another chance I also believe he is running out of excuses and it is time for him to prove himself.

You all know how I feel by now.  You have two arguments regarding Rex Ryan presented over the last two days.  Let us know who you agree with.  Sound off in the comment section below.