Tulsa World: New coach, new attitude

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New coach, new attitude
Rex Ryan is injecting fire and confidence into the Jets.

New York Jets coach Rex Ryan, watching Sunday's game against the Patriots, grew up a Jets fan, where his father Buddy was a defensive assistant. BILL KOSTROUN / AP

By DENNIS WASZAK JR. Associated Press
Published: 9/23/2009 2:26 AM
Last Modified: 9/23/2009 7:05 AM

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — The walls were way too bare for Rex Ryan's liking.

Shortly after being named coach of the New York Jets, Ryan strolled down the hallway leading to the team's locker room and decided it needed some sprucing up.

So, he hung up some history.

From No. 1 to No. 99, Ryan had the names of every player who has ever worn a Jets jersey placed on the wall along with their respective number. Joe Namath, Joe Klecko, Don Maynard and Curtis Martin are all there.

"It was just a pride thing," said Ryan, who served as defensive coordinator at the University of Oklahoma under head coach John Blake. "It's a thing like, 'Hey this is your football team. This will always be your football team. Once you're a Jet, you're always a Jet.' That should be a prideful thing."

Ryan grew up a Jets fan, rooting for the team during its only Super Bowl appearance in 1969 while his father, Buddy, was a defensive assistant. Now, here he is, coaching the squad he refers to as "Dad's team," and trying to establish an identity for a franchise that has been searching for one since Broadway Joe made good on his bold guarantee.

"I heard this a bunch when I took this job: 'Same old Jets,' " Ryan said. "It just gave you a little burr in the saddle. Our belief is going to be that we're going to win and we expect to win."

Talk about an attitude adjustment. Not since Bill Parcells took over in 1997 has there been so much hope — and hype — surrounding the arrival of a Jets

coach.

The bland Al Groh certainly didn't excite anyone when he replaced Parcells in 2000, after Bill Belichick abruptly quit.

Herm Edwards was likable and occasionally created a headline — "You play to win the game!" — but he was undone by flaws in his coaching abilities. Eric Mangini was inexperienced, but was regarded as one of the league's top young defensive minds after learning under Belichick in New England. Ultimately, his stubborn approach and stoic sideline persona cost him his job after three seasons.

Owner Woody Johnson wanted a fiery personality, and he certainly got one in Ryan, a defensive mastermind with the gift of gab. So far, Ryan's big talk has matched the aggressive personality of his team on the field.

Bold. Brash. Cocky. Arrogant. Confident.

"He's tells you like it is," said long snapper James Dearth, a member of the Jets since 2001. "When there's a guy who tells it like it is, when he says that we're winners, he means it. Whatever comes out of his mouth, you know he's not blowing smoke at you. He is what he is and he tells you the truth. There's no hiding it."

Not that Ryan has ever wanted to hide. He has been unafraid to speak his mind, whether it was saying the team would someday meet President Barack Obama — implying a Super Bowl victory — or taking on Miami Dolphins linebacker Channing Crowder, or declaring he didn't come to New York to "kiss Bill Belichick's rings."

That has all rubbed some the wrong way, but to others, the bravado has made the Jets interesting. After all, maybe it's better for a team to be disliked than not thought of at all.

"This is who I am every day," Ryan said. By DENNIS WASZAK JR. Associated Press

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