Bill Cowher Comments on Rex Ryan's Use of Captain Tag

It was bound to be an unceremonious homecoming for Buffalo Bills head coach Rex Ryan when his team met the New York Jets, the team he coached for six years, on Thursday night. But it has been his decisions leading up to the game that were making headlines, and NFL Network's Bill Cowher did not appreciate it. 

On Monday, Ryan announced that reserve linebacker IK Enemkpali would be a team captain for Buffalo during the opening coin toss. While a coin toss normally isn't news, the fact Enemkpali, a former Jet, punched New York quarterback Geno Smith during the preseason, breaking his jaw, thrust it to the forefront.   

That didn't go well with Cowher, a former coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers and current TV analyst, who spoke about it during the NFL Network's pregame show, per NFL.com:

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The captain tag is something that every head coach in this league takes seriously. The captain tag is something that players vote on, head coaches they give their title to. It requires a player that you think exemplifies leadership. You earn that. Rex Ryan has made a mockery of it and to me it's annoying.

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Cowher continued to state that Ryan, who has been known for his antics off the field and with the media, is bringing all the attention on himself:

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I'm just saying that to put that out there. It's not always about Rex. Everything isn't about Rex...The game is being played by players on the field. It's not about him. It's about the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets playing for a game that's got playoff implications. Again players like him, media loves him -- that element of that bothers me.

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While Ryan may use his personality at times to take pressure off of his team or keep things loose, it's never a good thing when a coach loses the respect of another, and that's what this seems like. And Cowher knows a thing or two about coaching. He's a Super Bowl winner and kept a single coaching job for 15 years, something Ryan has not been able to do. 

Maybe Ryan should take a page or two out of Cowher's book and start making headlines by simply coaching his team to winning results. 

Stats courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.com.