The earliest memory Rex Ryan has is being 6 years old and sitting in the Orange Bowl on an overcast day watching the Jets shock the world in Super Bowl III.
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His father, Buddy, coached the defensive line that day, and young Rex thought this is the way it always went – Joe Namath running off the field at the end of the season with his index finger in the sky and the Jets on top of the world.
Forty years later, the Jets haven’t been back to the Super Bowl.
But Rex Ryan, now 46, returned to the cursed franchise yesterday, promising to bring it back and deliver another title. He opened up his introductory press conference saying he expects to meet President Obama in the Rose Garden in the next few years.
“There’s no reason we shouldn’t win immediately,” Ryan said.
Maybe you haven’t heard, Rex, but the winning has been sparse around Gang Green since 1969. Armed with a four-year contract worth nearly $12 million, Ryan promised that’s going to change.
“I’m not afraid of the expectations being high,” Ryan said. “They should be high. I’m taking over a team that won nine games last year, so I’m not running from that.”
About a dozen Jets players watched Ryan deliver his message to the assembled media at the team’s headquarters. What they heard was a departure from his predecessor, Eric Mangini. Instead of bland, they got brash. Instead of guarded, they got gusto.
“The players will have each other’s backs,” Ryan said, “and if you take a swipe at one of ours, we’ll take a swipe at two of yours.”
Ryan inherits a team that went 9-7 last season and had seven Pro Bowlers. The Rams also were interested in hiring Ryan, who has been an assistant with the Ravens for the last 10 years. But he preferred the Jets, and let that be known.
“I could have gone the safer route and chose another team that the expectations wouldn’t be what they are here – the media circus, if you will, or anything else wouldn’t be half what it is here,” Ryan said. “I’m a guy who believes in myself and I believe in the organization.”
The Jets interviewed Ryan on Jan. 11 at BWI Airport outside Baltimore, armed with 19 pages of questions. He gave a five-hour presentation to Jets owner Woody Johnson and general manager Mike Tannenbaum that won them over. They also heard recommendations from people around the league, including Bill Parcells.
“I think what you saw was a coach that was very comfortable in his own skin,” Johnson said. “You saw a coach that was very confident but, on the other hand, willing to take advice from wherever it came from.”
The team clearly wanted the anti-Mangini. Tired of watching the emotionless Mangini preside over their late-season collapse, Johnson went after someone with as much passion as coaching acumen.
The feel around the Jets’ complex already was different yesterday. Ryan began by having breakfast with the support staff in the building, and then spent the rest of his day wooing the media, something Mangini never did.
He gave a Power Point presentation to the media outlining his philosophies, and mixed in plenty of humor.
When discussing what he wants in a player: “We’re looking for Pete Rose . . . without the gambling.”
On not over-coaching players: “It’s a simple game complicated by coaches.”
Ryan already has started assembling his staff, bringing Mike Pettine with him from Baltimore to be defensive coordinator. He also retained offensive line coach Bill Callahan and special teams coach Mike Westhoff.
Ryan plans on meeting with offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer in the coming days to see if he would be willing to stay with the Jets after being passed over for the head-coaching job.
As he spoke yesterday, Ryan sounded ready for September to arrive. If he’s half as good on gameday as he was yesterday, the Jets will be tough to beat.
“The message to the rest of the league is, ‘Hey, the Jets are coming,’ ” Ryan said. “We’re going to give you everything we’ve got, and that’s going to be more than you can handle.”