One of the most important duties of a football coach, at any level, is the management of expectations.
If the fans and the media and other interested parties (e.g., the dude who signs the checks) are led to believe that the team will be just OK but it ends up being better than OK, the coach isn’t criticized for not properly gauging the quality of the team. Instead, he’s praised.
But if the fans, media, and check-writers are led to believe that the team will be better than OK and it ends up being just OK, the coach looks like a buffoon.
And so it is that Jets coach Rex Ryan is now spending time talking about the disconnect between his words regarding the 2009 Jets and the team’s current reality.
Though Ryan said he has no regrets for the things he has said, he admits he possibly “look[s] a little foolish” because of the team’s current 3-3 record.
“I believe in this team and I haven’t wavered one bit on it,” Ryan said in comments distributed by the team. “I think we’re a good football team. We just have had some tough breaks. The fact that we’re in a game when you throw six interceptions is pretty good.”
Right, but it’s also pretty bad that the game wasn’t a blowout win for New York, given that the Jets rushed for 318 yards against the Bills, who were relegated to backup quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick for most of the way.
Still, Rex Ryan recognizes that “big talk” can be a problem for team that isn’t winning games.
“That’s probably true,” Ryan said, but he remained resolute. “It can’t be an issue for me. I’m not flinching one bit. That’s who I am, that’s what I believe. I think you open yourself up for criticism, but my thing is, I’m trying to establish a mentality and a belief in this football team, so with me, I’m never flinching. If I came in here to look good in the papers, I would have undersold myself and our football team and we could be raving about how great that we’re 3-3.
“That’s not what I came here to do. I came here to win Super Bowls and win championships, and if that puts added pressure on our team, maybe so. I will say this, I don’t think you can win it without having that mentality. I know my family has been through a few of these Super Bowls [and] won a bunch of them, so I think that’s how you get it done.”
But having that mentality and putting it on display for the world to see are two very different things. Most head coaches who have won Super Bowls don’t thump their chests and/or shake their poms poms at the podium.
So Ryan isn’t putting added pressure only on the team. He’s putting it on himself.
And on G.M. Mike Tannenbaum, who avoided getting fired in January after a season of high expectations became a campaign of unfulfilled promise. If it doesn’t turn around quickly this year for the Jets, Tannenbaum could be the next one to go -- and then if Ryan doesn’t get run out the door as well he would be working for a General Manager who very likely will be counting the days until he can hire his own head coach.
