Rex Ryan: Why It's Time for the Jets Coach to Stop Talking About Winning

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Swagger. It's something that cuts both ways in the world of sports. Doled out and displayed in moderation, it can intimidate one's opponent. The bravado can also add to one's own confidence as well as inspire teammates and of course rile up fans. 

There can be too much of it though. Swagger can place a burden to not just win, but win in a manner that can live up to the lofty expectations laid forth by all the bragging and boasting. 

Since the 2009 season New York Jets' head coach Rex Ryan has made no secret of the fact that he thinks his team is a Super Bowl team. 

"I believe this is the year we're going to win the Super Bowl," Ryan said during a press conference at the 2011 NFL Scouting Combine.  

This is just one of many Rex Ryan quotes that plays up his team's ability and lays forth their destiny. In his never-ending quest to tell everyone how good his team is or how good they will be somewhere along the way something happened. 

His team stopped listening. How many times do you think the Jets have heard about how good they are? How many times has Ryan publicly bragged about his players, their ability, their talent?

At what point do those types of statements go from being confidence-building and encouraging to just another typical Rex Ryan quote that no one really believes? 

Maybe that time is now? The New York Jets are 2-3. They're in third place in a four-team division. The Jets, a team built to run the ball and play punishing defense, are instead a team that lacks an identity on offense.

Rather than building up the running back positions at fullback and halfback, the Jets have a stable of talented wideouts. Those receivers aren't much good to a team lacking a quarterback that can't consistently complete passes or a game plan that incorporates creative passing plays into the offense.

Forget the players for a second though. Isn't about time that Ryan looked around at the rest of the league and started to take notice in the manner in which teams win? When was the last time Bill Belichick stood at a podium and told everyone how good his team would be? What about Packer coach Mike McCarthy?

Perhaps Jet fans feel Ryan's constant bragging is needed since the Jets are a team that is still trying to fight a losing reputation? Okay, but so are the Detroit Lions and Buffalo Bills. Two teams that are a combined 8-1 as of today.

The only other NFL team that has run its mouth in self promotion nearly as much as the Jets is the 1-4 Philadelphia Eagles. Philadelphia's most vocal mouthpiece was not head coach Andy Reid as much as the actual players.

The NFL is arguably the most competitive professional sports league in America. The combination of a salary cap, revenue sharing and the draft mean that the bad teams often aren't that bad, and the good teams, even the most seemingly unstoppable ones, can and almost always will sustain a loss.

With those facts in mind, it would seem logical to suggest that the last thing an opponent needs is any sort of added incentive to come out and play their best against a given opponent. Maybe that's why the bulk of the NFL's most successful coaches have not been the bragging type. Bill Walsh, Chuck Knoll, Tom Landry.

With the possible exception of Jimmy Johnson, not one NFL head coach associated with a dynasty has ever spent the type of time telling everyone how good their teams were that Rex Ryan has. He proclaims his team's talent and their Super Bowl destiny at almost every opportunity afforded to him. 

All that does is place a slightly larger target on the backs of his players. This in a sport in which players play only 16 regular season games. The Jets are a talented team to say the least, but at what point does this talent wilt under not just a schedule that has the Jets playing a host of other very talented NFL teams, but also under the added pressure of meeting expectations that they've yet to live up to?

The Jets aren't a Super Bowl team. Not yet. They most certainly have the potential to be one. So far though they've made two trips to the AFC title game and they've lost both games.

In each game the Jets only played one half of good football. In the lead-up to both games, Ryan of course displayed nothing but complete confidence in his team's ability to win the game. 

Perhaps Rex Ryan only knows how to do this one way? After all he is Buddy Ryan's son. His father, Buddy, was the defensive coordinator for the most feared defense of the 1980's.

The 1986 Bears who demolished the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XX. Rex was the Defensive Line Coach for the 2000 Baltimore Ravens who destroyed the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXXV. The Ravens may be the only team in NFL History known for it's defense in the same way that the '86 Bears were. 

Buddy would go on to become a brash head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, and while the Eagles like the Jets would show dramatic improvement under Ryan's leadership, they were never able to win or even make a Super Bowl.

The good news for Jets fans is that Rex does seem to possess a good deal of the defensive acumen that his father did. The bad news is that he also seems to possess a similar form of braggadocio to his father.

Will Rex also produce similar results? Unfortunately for Jet fans, NFL history doesn't paint a very rosy picture.

Ben Shapiro writes for TheFanManifesto. He can be followed on twitter at

https://twitter.com/#!/Shappernyc