Rex Ryan wants his old gig back.
With the New York Jets a disappointing 3-8 this season, the current ESPN analyst and former Jets head coach made his pitch to return to the Meadowlands on Thursday.
“I look at it this way, blow it up? We’re going to blow the opponents up,” Ryan said a radio interview with ESPN New York on Thursday. “There’s way too much talent on this team to play the way we’ve been playing. Period. And how hard can you get a guy to play? That’s the thing. Nobody has seen a team going to play as hard as this team is going to play in the future, trust me, if I’m the guy. Trust me. And that’s going to be it. That’s what’s going to separate me from all these other guys you’re going to bring in. Your (Jon) Grudens your whoever, whatever. Give me a break. They ain’t New York Jets. I’m all about the Jets.”
Ryan, 61, was hired as head coach of the Jets prior to the 2009 season. He coached the team to a 46-50 record during his six-year tenure, including two straight AFC championship games in 2009 and 2010.
The Oklahoma native was fired in December 2014 after the Jets finished with a 4-12 record, their worst season under Ryan.
The former play-caller last was a head coach with the Buffalo Bills for two seasons in 2015 and 2016. He was dismissed after a disappointing 2016 season that saw the Bills miss the playoffs and was eventually replaced by current Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott.
