Jets Would Be Wise Not to Fire Rex Ryan Midseason

Believe it or not, there is a way the New York Jets' season could go from bad to worse.

Aside from losing all of their remaining games, firing Rex Ryan is about the only thing that would send the Jets into a worse tailspin than the one they're in now.

The Jets are on a five-game losing streak, the longest of Ryan's head coaching career, but there are reasons to allow the captain to go down with his ship. And there's no guarantee that the ship is going to crash and burn, anyway.

The Jets have already decided that they will wait until after the season to make a decision on Ryan and general manager John Idzik, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, and it's a good thing. 

What do the Jets stand to gain from firing Ryan? Would an interim head coach—probably one of Ryan's assistants to be promoted until the end of the season—be the difference in the Jets making or missing the playoffs? 

On the flip side, what do the Jets stand to lose from releasing him before the season? Jets players are more vocally supportive of Ryan as head coach than any other team's players are for their head coach. Firing Ryan could be the first step in creating a locker room divide the likes of which New York has never seen—and this is a team that had Santonio Holmes and Tim Tebow in its locker room in the past three years.

"Rex is the guy. He needs to be the guy," outside linebacker Calvin Pace said last season, via NewYorkJets.com, "and I just think everybody rallies around him. I've never played for a coach who believes in his players more than Rex."

Backup quarterback Matt Simms said, via Darryl Slater of NJ.com:

"

It's something that I haven't had, really, since my high school days where I feel like I'll go through a brick wall for this guy. Sometimes, coaches can't really have that effect on you because they don't invest in you or they don't give you that give-and-take of communication. He's reinvigorated my love for the game, like I used to love it when I was a kid. Which is difficult, too, at this level, when everyone knows it's a business.

"

But, let's say the Jets hang onto Ryan through the season and continue on their current path to a 3-13 finish. As painful as it may be to watch, a bad season could be good for the Jets if they choose to move on from Ryan. A draft pick in the top five selections could be enticing to a potential head coaching candidate.

There's no guarantee that they will continue on that path, though.

Opponent	Record
at New England Patriots	4-2
vs. Buffalo Bills	3-3
at Kansas City Chiefs	2-3
vs. Pittsburgh Steelers	3-3
Bye Week	N/A
at Buffalo Bills	3-3
vs. Miami Dolphins	2-3
at Minnesota Vikings	2-4
at Tennessee Titans	2-4
vs. New England Patriots	4-2
at Miami Dolphins	3-3

Things get a little easier after the Thursday night game against the Patriots. In fact, the Jets only have two more games against teams that are currently above .500—and both of them are against the Patriots.

Rapoport indicates that the Jets are concerned with the possibility that Ryan moves on to a new team and has success, but the Jets should only be concerned with doing what's best for them, not with doing what's worst for other teams.

But as mentioned earlier, firing him now could cause dissension in the locker room, and while the team could potentially rally around an interim head coach, it most likely would not be the difference between a winning and losing season.

Ryan would be a hot commodity the moment he is released, but hanging onto Rex would do a disservice to both himself (if he can find a better job elsewhere) and the team (if it can find a better head coach elsewhere).

But right now, hanging onto him is the best thing the Jets could possibly do.  

Follow @ErikFrenz