New York Jets: This Is What Rex Ryan Lives For

When the Jets hired Rex Ryan as their head coach last year, his mission was clear: Beat the Patriots and win a championship. It's a tough task for anyone coaching in this market, but Ryan embraced this opportunity.

Ryan mentioned his team was going to go out and beat people. He spoke about his team meeting President Obama soon enough. He said he would not kiss Bill Belichick's rings. He meant business.

He did not come to New York for growing pains. He wanted to go win a championship quickly. He would do whatever it took.

Ryan embraced pressure right away. For a rookie coach, that can be tough—but not for him. He wanted the limelight and expectations. He had something to prove after teams declined to interview him or hire him all those years. That's the competitor in him, and that helped him be the head coach he is today.

The other Jets coaches wilted under expectations. Outside of Bill Parcells, most coaches did not like the responsibility of coaching the Jets. They wallowed in their own pity rather than come up with solutions. Some of them were incompetent.

When Parcells left, the thought was Belichick would keep this team afloat. It never happened. The former "head coach of the NYJ" wanted to be the Patriots coach. The Jets decided not to take action, and he went on to win three Super Bowls with the Patriots.

For the Jets, it's been nothing but heartbreak. Al Groh, Herman Edwards and Eric Mangini never figured out how to take the team to the championship level.

Groh was overwhelmed with coaching the team, and despite a 9-7 record, he took the University of Virginia coaching job after the 2000 season.

Edwards was a walking sound-bite, but a lousy coach. He complained about the fans and the media being hard on him and his team, and was so disliked by the end that he ended up getting traded for a fourth-round pick.

Mangini established discipline and organization, but the players stopped trusting him in 2009. This stems from his poor treatment of Pete Kendall and Chad Pennington, whom he had no use for.

After Mangini was fired, the Jets fans wanted Bill Cowher to coach their team. They thought this team was a coach away from winning a championship.

The Jets reached out to Cowher, but he wasn’t interested. He did not like Jets owner Woody Johnson being out of the country during an interview.

They settled with Ryan, and that choice turned out to be great. Just look at what’s going on with the Jets.

After a rough start last year, he took his team to the AFC Championship game. He was 40 minutes away from going to the Super Bowl. This year, he has led the Jets to a 9-2 record, and they may hoist the Lombardi Trophy.

That's not a bad way to make an impression on New Yorkers. Making a first impression is important here. A bad start, and fans turn on coaches or players quickly.

Now, it hasn't been seamless for Ryan. His team was inconsistent last season. It sounded like this team was going to underachieve. His critics came out to rip him, most notably WFAN's Mike Francesa. This writer questioned Ryan's coaching and leadership at the time.

Still, the second-year head coach was not going to back away. He knew what he was talking about. He believed in his team. He knew his players needed reinforcement.

This may sound goofy, but when a franchise suffers through disappointments, it's easy for players to give in. Ryan showed he was not going to let history deter him from achieving his goal.

That was the type of leadership the Jets needed. It's something the players wanted to hear. There's no question players benefited from that, and that's why the guys play for him.

General manager Mike Tannenbaum likes the way Ryan has led this year. He decided to take a risk on some problem-child players this offseason. People questioned if Ryan could handle them, but it turned out that he is doing quite well.

There is no question Ryan loves coaching here. He was born to coach. He was made for this market with that loquacious personality of his.

Certain guys may know how to coach, but not all need to coach. That's what this Jets coach is all about.

It's hard to know how he has all the answers. It's not as easy as it sounds. If it were, many coaches could do it. Sure, it helps that Ryan learned so much from his father, Buddy, but that does not translate to success. The coach has to be his own person, and he needs to have his own style. Fortunately for Ryan, that hasn't been an issue.

Monday night is a big game for the Jets. It's a game Ryan wants to have. He knows what's at stake. It isn't just home-field advantage and credibility. He wants his team to always beat the Patriots.

For so many years, Belichick enjoyed toying with the Jets. His teams had all the answers in the contests. The Jets looked like they did not belong on the same field.

It's not that easy anymore. The Patriots coach knows it. His respect for Ryan is all the Jets need to know. He never took Groh, Edwards or Mangini seriously. He enjoyed making fools out of those three.

He may beat Ryan, but he knows it won't be easy. He has to work hard to outwit his counterpart, and that's the way it's going to be.

This is the type of respect Ryan seeks, but he won’t be satisfied until he wins championships like Belichick.