Former New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan is lobbying for his old job and part of those efforts included him revealing one major change to come if he were to land the gig.
Ryan, who led the Jets to back-to-back AFC championship game appearances during the 2009 and 2010 seasons, will be interviewing for the job with owner Woody Johnson in Florida on Tuesday.
He appeared all but sure that he would be the best fit for the job during an interview with ESPN radio on Monday.
“The reason I think I’m going to get it is because I’m the best guy for it. It ain’t close,” he said, via ESPN. “The thing you have to do is, you have to connect with your football team, you have to connect with your fan base. The way they play, that’s the most important thing. It’s not just the Xs and Os and all that.”
Aside from showing his confidence, Ryan even offered a pitch – one that took direct aim at quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
AARON RODGERS’ DECISION LOOMS LARGE AS JETS SEARCH FOR A NEW COACH, GM
“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 missing mandatory minicamp over the summer for a trip to Egypt.
“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.”
Rodgers spoke about his future with the Jets with some level of uncertainty following their season-ending victory over the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.
“Whether I’m back or whether it’s the guys they’ve got or new guys or whatever, the focus has to be how can I, the player, be part of the solution, not the problem?” Rodgers said. “And I have a lot of love for this organization and I hope it gets turned around. If I’m back part of it, I’ll do everything in my power to get it turned around.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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