Four years ago, the Jets rolled into Cortland with a sense of hope.
Rex Ryan was the tough-talking, new coach with the fresh approach and promises of White House visits. Mark Sanchez was the rookie quarterback expected to be the new face of the franchise, who got off the bus carrying his pillow and talking about how much “fun” he planned on having.
Ryan and Sanchez will return to Cortland tomorrow afternoon along with the rest of the Jets to open training camp, the true kickoff of the new season. But optimism around the Jets has disappeared faster than Ryan’s waistline.
The team will pull into the upstate city of 19,000 with expectations as low as they have been since 2006, when Eric Mangini arrived. New general manager John Idzik led Extreme Makeover: Jets Edition this offseason and fans will need a roster during training camp to figure out who’s who.
The veteran core of the Jets under Ryan has been dismantled. Gone are Darrelle Revis, Bart Scott, Mike DeVito, Sione Po’uha, Bryan Thomas, Brandon Moore and Dustin Keller.
Sanchez and Ryan remain, but they are no longer viewed as the future of the franchise, as both are fighting for their jobs as the 2013 season begins. Sanchez faces the toughest competition of his career with second-round pick Geno Smith battling him for the starting spot. There is a Sanchez fatigue in some corners of the Jets organization, and many would be happy to turn the page and start anew with Smith if he can show any ability to run the offense.
Ryan enters this season with long odds to return in 2014, after two consecutive non-winning seasons. It’s hard to survive three of those in a row. He has one year remaining on his contract beyond this year, so the decision would be to either extend his contract or fire him.
Ryan said he is not worried about talk of him being a lame duck and is only focused on the team. He is trying to recapture the feeling around the Jets when he first arrived in 2009.
“Where I succeeded when I first got here was the entire team felt the presence,” Ryan said in June. “I think without question it was felt throughout the team. It changed overnight, the mentality of our football team. I thought that was successful.”
Even if Ryan is able to duplicate the intangibles he brought to the team back then (and the tangibles of running the defense), he has to realize this roster is one of the worst in the NFL. Even when the Jets determine who the quarterback is, who is he going to throw to?
Santonio Holmes is coming off major left foot surgery at 29 and second-year receiver Stephen Hill must prove he can stay healthy and catch the ball. At tight end they are rolling the dice on Kellen Winslow, who lasted just one game a year ago. They don’t have one running back who ever has rushed for 1,000 yards.
A great defense is no given either. Ryan and defensive coordinator Dennis Thurman will be working in seven new starters, and potentially five of them are only in their first or second season.
It will be interesting how Ryan tries to spin the talent deficiency on this team. He never has been shy about pronouncing his team better than any opponent.
“Trust me, you can ask any coach out there — nobody is going to want to play the Jets,” Ryan said back in 2009. “Nobody.”
Four years later, Ryan’s team looks like one you would schedule for Homecoming. Ryan is known for his penchant for four-letter words. Here is one that does not exist for the 2013 Jets: Hope.