FAIRHOPE, Ala. — A year ago, Rex Ryan spent Senior Bowl practices getting to know his new boss. This year, he arrived knowing he has general manager John Idzik’s backing.
Ryan was all smiles Monday, a few days after finalizing his contract extension to remain the Jets head coach. The details of the contract are still a bit of a mystery. The deal goes through at least 2016, but the Jets can easily escape the deal after 2015.
That could lead to another year of Ryan’s job status being a dominant topic around the Jets.
“I hope not,” Ryan told The Post at a practice for the Senior Bowl on Monday. “My answer [to reporters’ questions] was always a standard answer, but it was the truth. It was never about me. It was never about taking the focus away from anything. It was all about moving forward. I think you can’t do a good job if that’s on the back of your mind.”
Ryan said even though he was not worried about his job status, it felt good to be given an extension last week.
“It never bothered me,” Ryan said. “I never thought about it. What I told you guys was the truth. Actually having the thing done I feel good about it. I’m ready to move forward.”
Idzik declined an interview request.
Ryan spent most of Senior Bowl week last year getting to know Idzik. This year, he watched the practices with his brother Rob, the Saints defensive coordinator, and even spent a chunk of one practice catching up with former Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum.
This offseason has a drastically different feel than last year because the transition from Tannenbaum to Idzik is over, with Idzik bringing in his own people in the front office. The team also has plenty of salary-cap space to make moves unlike last year when they had little.
“It’s so different [this year],” Ryan said. “Let’s face it. John just got hired. We had just hired a ton of new coaches. There were some cap issues. Now, we’ve got a good, young nucleus. We know we have to have another great draft. We had a great draft last year. Now you throw another outstanding draft on top of it to go with the players we have we’ll be in good shape.”
Ryan was his usual enthusiastic self about improving the Jets, who have missed the playoffs for three straight years.
“It’s like hell, let’s go. We’re in a good situation here,” Ryan said. “Obviously, this is the team I want to coach,” he said. “I don’t want to go anywhere else. I’ve stated that forever. That was probably a little unusual knowing your circumstances. Everything being up in the air and I’m saying I want to coach here, this is the team I want to coach. I’ve never shied away from that. I’m proud of this team. I’m proud of the guys I coach and I’m proud of the guys I coach with.”