An emotional Rex Ryan stood before his team yesterday and swore to them he wanted to remain the Jets head coach.
At one point, Ryan broke down into tears as he told his team a published report based on anonymous sources saying he would rather be fired than remain Jets coach if certain changes were not made to the team’s offense was “all lies.”
Players said it was as emotional as they have ever seen Ryan as the coach described how hurt he was by the story. The fourth-year coach told the players he had built this team and would not abandon it.
A few hours later, Ryan, who said he was “mad as a hornet,” met the media and attacked the idea he wants to coach somewhere else next year.
“That’s total garbage, that’s garbage,” an agitated Ryan said. “That’s not the case at all. The premise that I’d rather go somewhere else to coach somebody’s football team … no way. That’s not it. I’d rather coach my players and my team. New England Patriots, anybody else, I don’t care. I want this team. This is my team.”
The 50-year-old coach has two years and $6 million remaining on his contract. The Jets’ season ends tomorrow with their game against the Bills. A major shakeup in the organization is expected to come shortly after the second straight non-playoff season finishes. Ryan is expected to be retained while general manager Mike Tannenbaum and offensive coordinator Tony Sparano are on shakier ground.
Ryan said yesterday he does not want to go anywhere and said anything reported otherwise is “untrue.”
“There’s no bigger Jet than me,” Ryan said. “That’s how I look at it. I want to be the Jets head coach for the next 15 years. There’s probably a lot of fans out there that probably hope that’s not the case, but I’m just telling you from my heart this is the job I’ve always wanted. That’s it.”
Despite his team’s 6-9 record and uncertainty at quarterback, Ryan said he still feels the Jets can win a Super Bowl under his watch.
“This season’s been a rough one, no question,” Ryan said. “This is my team. That’s how I approach it. I believe we will get back, and this is really a topic for next week, but I believe that we can accomplish what I set out to do when I took the job and that’s the truth.”
The Daily News report stated Ryan would rather be fired than coach the Jets in 2013 unless owner Woody Johnson makes major changes on offense. As soon as Ryan read the report, he phoned Johnson.
“I called Mr. Johnson as soon as I read the article and let him know that is absolutely, 100 percent is not my intention, no way in heck,” Ryan said. “I’m not putting an ultimatum to this man that hired me. No chance. This is his football team.”
Ryan said he spoke with the reporter on Thursday night and denied the story was true, but his response was not included. Instead, the report said Ryan declined to comment.
WFAN talk show host Mike Francesa reported the source of the article was defensive coordinator Mike Pettine. The Jets did not respond to an interview request for Pettine. Ryan was not asked specifically about Pettine, but whether he has tried to identify the source.
“It bothers me that it’s untrue,” Ryan said. “Whatever somebody’s agenda is or whatever. I don’t know who. I can tell you for a fact that that’s untrue. I don’t care who the source is or whatever. I know for a fact that it’s untrue.”
There has been speculation that Sparano is going to be fired after just one season with the Jets. Ryan would not address whether he wants Sparano back.
“We don’t talk about anybody’s situation,” Ryan said. “We don’t talk about mine. Am I going to be here? Not going to be here, nobody talks about anybody’s situation.”