Joe Benigno told Shaun and Tiki on Monday that he’d be all in on Rex Ryan as the next Jets head coach, and really likes Mike Vrabel and Brian Flores, too.
The point there being that he doesn’t want another hot-shot coordinator who could crash and burn and be gone in a few years – and on Tuesday morning, it seemed Jerry Recco and Willie Colon agreed that the Jets need a head coach who can excite the fan base.
But is it right to maybe hire a coach first ahead of a new GM?
“We were sitting here yesterday and we saw the report that I guess Rex told somebody that he expects to interview, which didn't really surprise us, because Rex has been lobbying to get an interview and get that job back,” Jerry said. “I do actually expect Rex to meet with the Jets at some point to have a conversation for sure, and then the Ron Rivera thing comes out – so I asked you if you hire the GM and let the GM pick the coach, or do you hire the coach and have him have input on the GM so he gets the players he wants, and you said it could be done either way. It looks like the Jets are gonna go coach first, which is not the way he things are usually done.”
Well, Jerry, as most Jets fans would remind, this IS the Jets, so convention is often out the window, but that’s what makes the Ron Rivera news seem a little more fiery.
“It's weird for Ron Rivera to possibly be in the conversation, because he was 4-13 last year with the Commanders, and they gave him personnel control, which I don’t know if that's his strong suit,” Willie said. “I'm always a fan of getting a GM first, finding a structure, finding a plan, and then go get a head coach that the GM loves and feels like he can like tap into and have that type of alignment. So I really don't understand the reasoning.”
The season ends Sunday, interim coach Jeff Ulbrich will be done with his Sisyphian effort, and then we move on – so how fast will the Jets move on this?
“There are going to be more openings – we already know about the Saints and Bears with interim coaches – and there’s a couple big names out there,” Jerry said. “Do you think the Jets are ready to move like next week, or do you think this is something that drags on?”
“They have to be. You gotta start preparing for the draft, you gotta comb through the roster and see what you do and don’t have, and get a guy in here that the fan base is gonna be excited about,” Willie said. “The locker room and the building have to love him, but the fan base has watched multiple coaches walk in this building and get set on fire and walk out. So there has to be a coach that can win over this fan base, like, we finally got a guy.”
Jerry and Willie agree Ron Rivera isn’t exciting anybody, but the names seem to be Vrabel, Gruden, and Flores – all big personalities with a lot of experience who can come in and be leaders with a track record of getting the job done.
And then there’s Rex…
“Not all Jets fans, but I think there's a big contingent of Jets fans that would be excited to see Rex come back one more time,” Jerry said.
“He took the Jets to AFC Championship Games his first two seasons, and there was a moment in time where we had a really good offense line, a quarterback, and a damn good defense, and Rex was the face of all that,” Willie said. “So if you're a Jets fan and you grew up during that time, you just want a glimpse of that time we were able to walk in any building and feel like we're the bullies on the block, instead of being chow for other teams. Rex was brash and in-your-face, and he got it done. He hasn’t coached in a while, but he knows how to adapt, and I’d want him to pick his personnel.”