Why Rex Ryan and His Coaching Staff Must Be Held Accountable for Jets Struggles

"

“Credibility is like virginity; once you lose it you can never get it back.” unknown

"

As we celebrate the season of giving thanks, Jets fans across Gang Green nation must begin to apply perspective in the mediocre 5-5 record their team has posted to date in the 2011 NFL season.

It was not all too long ago that the New York Jets were the perennial laughing stock of professional football, doing everything in their power to turn the act of losing football games into some sort of trendy art.

A decade of surprising division finishes later, and Jets fans suddenly demand the Lombardi Trophy or bust. Never has this been more evident than in the last three seasons. Possessing a self-aggrandizing ego comparable in size to maybe only his waistline, Rex Ryan broke down the door of the NFL head coaching hierarchy promising Jets fans nothing less than a buffet of world championships.

Armed with a shining defensive acumen generations in the making, Ryan has succeeded in changing the true culture of the New York Jets franchise. Once the proverbial doormat for everyone who enjoyed visiting the Meadowlands once (or twice) a year, the Jets now project a confidence of a winner.

They have performed well enough to justify this confidence, shocking the entire football world all the way to the AFC Championship each of the last two seasons. Herein lies the inherent downside to success: Once you begin to win, you are soon expected to continue to win. Head coach Rex Ryan has taken it upon himself to make it a seemingly annual tradition to predict nothing short of world domination for his Jets, while the vast majority of the NFL fandom is beginning to become impatient waiting for him to cash the check that his ego has written.

If it hasn’t become blatantly obvious to him yet, it must become apparent to General Rex that there is a microscopically thin line between a relentless pursuit of success through confidence and ego, and becoming a sound bite sideshow that has lost all credibility. This is the underlying problem with this 2011 New York Jets campaign. I truly believe that while it would be highly disappointing for this aging Jets team to miss another golden opportunity to hoist the NFL championship, the longer lasting damage that would be inflicted lies within the credibility of their infamous leader.

There are so many times you will listen to the one-beat boxer speak about how he can out-duel everyone in the world only to lose every significant prize fight, before he is no longer put in the main event.

Ryan and his coaching staff have a great deal of accountability in their team’s struggles this season. A fractured locker room and lack of direction in a football team of any level can be reduced down to the responsibility of the coach.

Regardless of whether your roster is comprised of nine-year old pop warner kids in their first season under pads, or if it is comprised of 55 21-year-old multi-millionaires, a lack of leadership can doom a team’s success.

I am of the opinion, though, that while the immediate 2011 season rise or fall of the New York Jets pales in historical significance to the damage that will be inflicted to the remainder of the Rex Ryan reign in Metropolis should this particular squad fall short of expectations. There may not be a second chance for Team Ryan to back up their very confident words.