The Jets have gone 9-7 at home since Rex Ryan became the head coach in 2009. For Ryan, that’s not good enough.
The Jets coach hopes to create a home-field advantage at MetLife Stadium that makes teams fear traveling to the swamps of North Jersey. Part of that is keeping opposing fans out, something Ryan re iterated yesterday about Sunday’s opener with the Cow boys.
“I don’t want to see a Dallas Cowboys jersey,” Ryan said. “I don’t. We want our stadium to always be green and white. There is no doubt that is what we want in our stadium. When you come here, it’s nothing but green and white.”
Ryan took some heat for saying Wednesday “it’s probably not recommended that you wear Cowboys stuff.” The comment left room for interpretation that Ryan was condoning violence in the stands, something the sports world has seen plenty of recently.
A columnist in Los Angeles said Ryan should be fined for the comment. Ryan said his remarks were misunderstood.
“If it was taken that way it certainly wasn’t my intention to be taken that way,” he said. “I think our stadium doesn’t need a visiting color jersey. I want to have our stadium filled. If it’s somebody else coming in to enjoy a game, that’s fine. I’m not calling on our guys to do anything. The safety of every fan is important to everybody in this organization, including me. But would I prefer not to see another team’s jersey? Absolutely. I would love to see our stadium just in our colors.”
The Jets went 5-3 at their new stadium last year after going 4-4 at Giants Stadium in 2009 under Ryan. This year, the Jets have emphasized winning at home as they try to win the AFC East.
“We want to be the team nobody wants to play,” safety Eric Smith said. “We need to be the stadium nobody else wants to play in. We want to be hard for offenses to come in and communicate.”
This week presents an interesting test case. The stadium should be amped up for a primetime season opener against the Cowboys. But, in the past, Cowboys fans have invaded Giants Stadium when facing the Giants.
“We have such a fan base now that these tickets ought to be hard to get and Jets fans aren’t going to give their tickets to the Cowboy fans,” Ryan said. “I don’t see our fans doing that.”