Responding to Joe Benigno expressing a willingness to bring Rex Ryan and Mike Tannenbaum back to the Jets, BT strongly opposed the idea of a reunion with a head coach who hasn’t been in the league since 2017.
“People really romanticize the Rex Ryan era,” BT said. “They misremember what we sat through Sunday after Sunday. The last five or six years, no offense. No vision.”
But Sal came in with a scenario where bringing back Ryan might actually make sense as a short-term fix.
“Let’s just assume - and this is a big assumption - they’re gonna bring everything back,” Sal said. “Let’s assume he wants to bring everyone back, but he knows Robert Saleh is not the guy. You fire Robert Saleh, Joe Douglas is still here, you can’t get rid of Hackett because you have Aaron Rodgers. Under those circumstances, you can make a legit case that Rex Ryan would be a good fit.
“I personally would wipe the slate clean, but under that circumstance, you have a guy who has been here before, a guy the owner is familiar with and loves, and you know you’re gonna get the same defense - if not better - with Rex. And you have Aaron Rodgers at quarterback. Rex never had anything like that. that’s the selling point. This is the only scenario where I could see and actually make a case.”
BT was surprised at himself for warming up to the idea after hearing Sal’s pitch.
“That’s actually not terrible,” BT said. “When you lay it out that way…it’s actually not a bad thought.”
