New York Jets' Coach Rex Ryan Is All About Winning

It didn’t take long to see the difference between Jets head coach Rex Ryan and his predecessor. At his introductory news conference in January, Ryan joked that he had hoped to meet President Barack Obama that day.

“That’s all right,” Ryan said as reporters chuckled. “I think we’ll get to meet him the next couple of years.”

Nobody could have conceived of former Jets coach Eric Mangini delivering such a quip. Or any quip.

Yet there was an underlying message behind Ryan’s brash humor, one that should not be lost on his new players. Only championship teams get to meet the president at the White House.

In his first head-coaching job, Ryan seems determined to change the culture of a franchise that has not played for an NFL championship since Joe Namath made good on his guarantee and beat the Colts in Super Bowl III. 

Although Ryan’s contract runs through 2012, he says nothing about a “four-year plan.” Instead, he talks about wanting to win now.

Any player who doesn’t buy into that notion may not be long for the Green and White.

Ryan spent 10 years as a defensive coach on the Ravens’ staff, earning a Super Bowl ring in 2000. For four years he served as defensive coordinator. The 2008 Ravens allowed 261 yards a game and four rushing touchdowns—both league lows—and led the NFL with 34 takeaways and 26 interceptions.

Although he won’t have linebacker Ray Lewis and safety Ed Reed making plays for him anymore, Ryan recruited three former Ravens defenders—linebacker Bart Scott, defensive end Marques Douglas and safety Jim Leonhard.

The Jets’ defense is likely to be fast, aggressive and ball-hawking with a premium placed on putting the opposing quarterback on the ground.

Asked if he’s trying to replicate Baltimore’s defense, Ryan said, “That’s my defense, too.”

Ryan and his brother, Rob, the Browns defensive coordinator, learned defense and discipline under their father Buddy Ryan, the architect of the ferocious “46” defense that helped the Chicago Bears win Super Bowl XX. Later, when Buddy Ryan became the Cardinals’ head coach, he hired Rex and Rob as defensive assistants.

Rex Ryan’s experience last year in Baltimore as an assistant under first-time head coach John Harbaugh should help smooth his transition into the top job. Helping Harbaugh reach the playoffs with a rookie quarterback (Joe Flacco) and play for the AFC Championship has convinced Ryan he could likewise with the Jets and rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez.

That makes offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer the key member of Ryan’s new crew. Schottenheimer, a holdover from Mangini’s staff, was a college quarterback at Florida and he’ll work more closely than anyone with Sanchez.

Schottenheimer, like Ryan, is the son of a respected former NFL head coach. Marty Schottenheimer led the Chargers, Redskins, Chiefs and Browns.

Another important member of Ryan’s staff is special teams coach Mike Westhoff, also a holdover from Mangini’s crew.

Under Westhoff, a cancer survivor, the Jets have excelled on kick and punt returns, as evidenced by Leon Washington earning All-Pro status in 2008, and on mastering fundamentals.

A pivotal play in the fourth quarter of a Jets’ victory at Buffalo last Nov. 2 had Westhoff’s stamp all over it. As a Buffalo kick angled toward the sideline, Washington ran to the spot and placed his foot on the sideline, knowing that if he made contact with the ball, the kick would be considered out of bounds.

Although Bills fans cheered, thinking the Jets were trapped deep in their own territory, the Jets took possession at the 40 and went on to score.

After the game, Washington credited Westhoff for teaching him that rule.

If Westhoff can continue his fine work with the special-teams unit and Schottenheimer can help Sanchez pay immediate dividends, then Ryan may well fulfill a promise his father didn’t quite live up to in Philadelphia.

The day Buddy Ryan took the Eagles’ head job in 1986, he boldly announced, “You got a winner in town.”