MIAMI — The mood around the Jets on Sunday was pure Rextasy.
The Jets announced they are bringing head coach Rex Ryan back for at least one more season after Sunday’s 20-7 victory over the Dolphins at Sun Life Stadium — and the Jets players celebrated.
Owner Woody Johnson told the team in the victorious locker room Ryan would return. The players began jumping around and surrounded Ryan, giving him hugs that knocked his hat off.
“You’d think we won the Super Bowl,” quarterback Geno Smith said.
Johnson and general manager John Idzik informed Ryan he would return before the Jets took the field for pregame warm-ups. Ryan has one year remaining on his contract. No one would disclose whether he has been given an extension beyond next year, but that is expected.
“We’re clearly on the ascent,” Johnson told reporters. “A lot of it is due to our coach, coach Rex Ryan. We’re going to keep Rex Ryan and he’ll be our coach next year.”
Questions have surrounded Ryan’s future since the end of last season when Johnson fired GM Mike Tannenbaum but retained Ryan. Idzik was hired weeks later and there was speculation Idzik may want to hire his own coach. But the Jets went into 2013 with low expectations and made it to 8-8 with Sunday’s victory, a win total no one expected with a roster of limited talent.
Speculation intensified in recent weeks about Ryan’s job status when the Jets were eliminated from playoff contention. They have missed the playoffs for three straight seasons after going to back-to-back AFC title games in Ryan’s first two seasons.
All of that speculation ended Sunday with Johnson’s announcement. Players described Ryan as extremely emotional. He had trouble speaking he was so overcome.
“I love being the head coach of the New York Jets, plain and simple,” Ryan told reporters. “You put everything you’ve got into it. I never wanted to go out this way, another losing season or something like that. I know we never went to the playoffs three straight years and that bothers me, no question.”
Johnson and Idzik would not say exactly when they reached their decision, but Johnson said it was before these final two games, the first two consecutive wins the Jets have had this season. There are also questions about what Ryan’s coaching staff will look like with the contracts up of many of the assistant coaches.
“He’s been tremendous to work for — to work with,” Idzik said. “He’s a leader. He’s a motivator. He’s a teacher. He’s a heck of a coach. He’s a great guy to work with. I’ve always made the assumption that we’re working together with this thing to formulate a winning team.”
The Jets put together another strong performance for Ryan on Sunday and knocked the Dolphins out of the playoff chase. The Jets seized control of the game midway through the second quarter and never surrendered it.
Smith played one of his best games of the season and his second straight without a turnover. Smith went 17-for-27 for 190 yards and ran for a touchdown just before halftime to put the Jets up 14-7. The defense shut the Dolphins down and intercepted quarterback Ryan Tannehill three times.
The Jets have played their best football in the final three weeks of the season. It left them thinking about what might have been if they didn’t stumble during a three-game losing streak in mid-November to early December.
“If we had five more games, it would be interesting, man,” Calvin Pace said. “That being said, you win the last game and hopefully there’s some carryover into the offseason. Hopefully that goes into the preseason and you just keep moving forward. The sky’s the limit for this team.”
Before the game, the players said they wanted to win the game for Ryan.
“As a team we came together and said listen the time for talk is over,” wide receiver David Nelson said. “We can sit here and tell the media and the fans about how much we want him, but really the most powerful way to keep him is to play and to prove that on the field.”
They did that Sunday and their wish was granted — the Rex Ryan era ain’t over yet.