The Jets, Rex Ryan, and Edmund Burke

When Rex Ryan emerged as the heavy favorite for the New York Jets head coaching job last week I breathed a sigh of relief. I figured the Jets had found the right man to replace Eric Mangini. After all, the Jets needs on defense had far more to do with coaching then it did with personnel, and many were clamoring for Defensive Coordinator Bob Sutton’s firing since the end of 2006. But something bothered me about Ryan. It wasn’t the fact that he’d been passed over for so many years despite his long list of accolades. Nor was it that Ryan had been blessed by coaching a defense with extraordinary talent and a pre-Ryan system that beautified that talent. And I was not upset by the fact that he was a rookie head coach, because despite the long list of 2nd-team coaches who have gone on to win Super Bowl, this year’s Super Bowl has two coaches who are both in their first stint as head coaches. What concerns me about Ryan are the conflicting reports about his style. Is he, or is he not, a player’s coach? I read one writer describe him as a “no-nonsense coach” and I immediately felt relieved. The Jets needed a coach like Mangini who was disciplined, strict, and brilliant, but perhaps a more natural leader, because Eric Mangini never showed much of natural leadership.

Yet I hear disturbing reports about Rex Ryan. Some have called him a player’s coach, and the fact is, player’s coaches almost never succeed at the pro level, and if they do, they’ve usually inherited some pretty breathtaking talent (see Barry Switzer and Wade Phillips—ironically both with Dallas). Ryan has inherited a very talented team in New York, built by Mike Tannenbaum and Eric Mangini. It’s an offense that simply needs a caretaker at quarterback, and a defense that hinges on elite status if Vernon Gholston becomes the player that so many believe he can be. Keyshawn Johnson reminded everybody when Jon Gruden was fired that the right coach can inherit a good roster and rev the engine for success—Gruden was able to do that.

Next, there were the great many complaints I heard about Ryan’s inability to make adjustments to a game plan, or even worse, his propensity for settling into a 3-man rush when he’s working with a lead. These complaints had been thrown against Eric Mangini and Bob Sutton repeatedly, and it certainly would not be beneficial for the Jets to hire another head coach if he was going to have the same weaknesses as the old. For all the respect I have for Eric Mangini, and my belief in his great abilities as an X’s and O’s coach, a motivator (see the 4-12 season, those players got up for every game even when they meant nothing), and disciplinarian, he had weaknesses just like any other coach. He was far too conservative on defense when the team had a lead, and it was no better put on display then when the Jets nearly lost to the New England Patriots after taking an early 24-6 lead this past November.

But it was more than just the conflicting reports or the bothering criticisms that worried me. It was the fact that he seemed to be almost far-and-away the favorite candidate amongst Jets fans. He wasn’t alone either. At first, every Jets fan was on the Bill Cowher bandwagon, and the Jets went after Cowher. He turned the Jets down to stay with CBS. Jets fans switched to Rex Ryan and New York Giants defensive coordinator (and eventual Rams head coach) Steve Spagnuolo, and low and behold, these two became the favorites to win the Jets head coaching job. Normally I would just tell myself it was one of those rare times when management and fans were thinking alike, and even stranger were right—and this still could be true.

Ryan and Spagnuolo each had a lot of things to offer to excite Jets fans. Ryan’s father had been an assistant on the Jets Super Bowl team in 1968-69. Ryan had grown up a Jets fan, had the pedigree of a great coach, aggression on the football field, and fire off of it. He was very much the opposite of his stoic predecessor, and his brother’s name had often been thrown around as a potential defensive coordinator when Mangini was the head coach. For many, Ryan was an attractive candidate. Spagnuolo wasn’t quite as popular, but many envisioned what could be a great Jets defense with a very deep defensive line under Spagnuolo, and perhaps he’d be able to mimic his success with the Jets that he'd had with the stadium sharing Giants. Mixed with sensational memories of Spagnuolo’s game plan that put Tom Brady on his backside a plethora of times in last season’s Giants Super Bowl victory over the heavily favored Patriots his youth, and his aggression, Jets fans had a soft spot for Spanguolo. After all, wasn’t beating the Patriots every Jets fans dream right now? Spagnuolo was young, relatable, and aggressive. He had stopped the unstoppable 2007 Patriots offense. He was another popular candidate. Ryan eventually edged him out, many believed, because the Jets were built as a 3-4 team by Mangini, and were not ready to go to the 4-3.

These reasons would have been good enough to sell me on either Ryan or Spagnuolo. Yet, I recalled several disconcerting trends since March 2008. Fans were screaming for more talent, and the Jets went out and spent 140 million dollars on marquis free agents, going very much against what Mangini and Tannenbaum had been doing to that point. Brett Favre became available, because it was clear that Favre and Green Bay would not be able to both get what they want. The fans were in love with the idea of bringing in Brett Favre when he became available this July, and in early August, after fans demonstrated their zeal for Favre, he was wearing a New York Jets uniform. Jets fans and former players were irate with the collapse of the 2008 team. Many of these Jets constituents placed heaping amounts of blame on ex-coach Eric Mangini. Owner Woody Johnson hastened to name Eric Mangini as the orchestrator of the team’s total and incomprehensible late season swoon. On December 29th, 2008, one day after the season ended, and one day after Woody Johnson said that it was a decision he wouldn’t make quickly, Eric Mangini was fired after two winning seasons in three years, the blame being placed squarely on his shoulders, where the majority of fans wanted it.

Do you see a pattern?

With the new stadium opening up in 2010, Woody Johnson is hastening to sell unpopular PSL’s (Personal Seat Licenses) and keep his constituents happy. After all, Johnson would be in some trouble if people stopped attending the performances put on by his favorite toy. Right now he needs to keep the fans appeased. Keeping the fans appeased, and keeping their voices involved in the coaching search, was alarmingly significant. Now the Jets have hired Rex Ryan, and nobody knows if he’s truly a player’s coach or not, but fans seem to be in love with his opening statements about the team. But I am afraid of another collapse. Maybe, like so many before me, I’m becoming a paranoid Jets fan, convinced in our own eternal cycle of failure. Or maybe, something more sinister is at work here, and Rex Ryan wasn’t hired in due diligence, but because Woody Johnson can’t afford to lose fan support right now. Or maybe, for once, what the fans want, and what’s right, is truly the same.

Then I remember the words of British politician and philosopher Edmund Burke. “Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion.”

Maybe it’s just one wild coincidence with little conspiracy. Certainly, I feel that Rex Ryan can do very well with the roster he’s inheriting. And no part of me will be able to root against the Jets. Nor do I have any qualms about being wrong here. But the Jets are walking a very tight rope here, and if I am right, then there is no doubt in my mind that Woody Johnson and Mike Tannenbaum have betrayed their better judgment for the will of the people—the fans.