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Former New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan interviewed with the team on Tuesday, January 7, culminating a months-long public campaign that current ESPN NFL analyst had undertaken in order to give himself a shot at the gig.
Never one short of confidence, Rex Ryan has been supremely confident in his chances of landing the role of HC of the NYJ for the second time, telling ESPN New York he believes he’s the best candidate for the job for a multitude of reasons.
Ryan is also using Aaron Rodgers and the chaos he caused over the last two seasons as leverage in his efforts to position himself as the best choice for the Jets, as he threw the future Hall of Fame QB under the bus while making the case for himself on ESPN New York’s DiPietro & Rothenberg Show.
“Clearly, when you have a guy that doesn’t show up for mandatory minicamp — and, by the way, he’s your quarterback, coming off an injury — I think that’s an absolutely ridiculous message you send to the team,” Ryan said of Rodgers conduct this season on ESPN New York Radio.
“If he comes back, things would be different. If he’s back, it ain’t gonna be the country club, show up whenever the hell you want to show up. That ain’t gonna happen. I’ll just leave it at that.”
In addition to Rex Ryan, the Jets have also completed interview with Mike Vrabel and Ron Rivera, and have requested interviews with Darren Rizzi, Brian Flores, Josh McCown, Matt Nagy, Vance Joseph, Joe Brady, Aaron Glenn, Arthur Smith, and Bobby Slowik.
During his time as the Jets head coach from 2009 to 2014, Ryan compiled a record season record of 46-50, while posting a playoff record of 4-2, leading the Jets to two consecutive AFC Championship games in 2009 and 2010 — the latter of which being the last time that the franchise has appeared in the playoffs.