Rex Ryan has made absolutely no secret that he wants another chance at coaching the New York Jets.
On Monday, he went on Greeny, an ESPN radio show hosted by Mike Greenberg and made his latest pitch.
Ryan, who is an analyst and commentator for ESPN, said he has one accomplishment left as a head coach and it’s the only thing that would bring him back. And there’s only one franchise he wants to do that with, he said.
“I mean there’s one thing I’m missing and that’s to win a Super Bowl as a head coach and that’s what I want and that’d be the only reason I would go back in,” he said. “And the organization I want to do that with is the New York Jets because you because I bleed green and white.”
It seems like a strange thing to say for an Ardmore, Okla., native. But, growing up, he spent part of his childhood around the Jets as his father, Buddy Ryan, was the team’s defensive line coach from 1986-75.
“There’s one thing i’m missing and that’s to win a Super Bowl as head coach and that’s what I want. That’d be the only reason I go back in. The organization I want to do that with is the New York Jets because I bleed green and white.”
Rex Ryan via #Greeny with @Espngreeny and… pic.twitter.com/nNMOW30mjv
— ESPN Radio (@ESPNRadio) November 25, 2024
That’s why he bleeds green, he said. And it’s why his late father cherished one thing over everything else in his football life.
“He was part of Super Bowl III, so it is in the family,” Ryan said. “So you know, this is our football team. My dad would always wear — he’s known for that 1985 (Chicago) Bears and all that, but the funny thing is what ring did he wear? His Super Bowl III ring all the time. So this organization means a lot to me and hopefully I’ll get that opportunity.”
The elder Ryan got his Super Bowl ring with the Jets as they defeated the Colts, 16-7, in the AFL’s first win over the NFL in the Super Bowl pre-merger. Ryan won another ring with the Bears in 1985 as that team’s defensive coordinator, a defense considered one of the best of all-time.
On Monday the Jets announced they were partnering with the 33rd Team to help facilitate its search for a new head coach and general manager.
In the past two months, owner Woody Johnson has fired head coach Robert Saleh and general manager Joe Douglas. Currently, The Jets are led by interim coach Jeff Ulbrich and interim general manager Phil Savage.
Mike Tannenbaum, who was once the general manager of the Jets and hired Ryan, is one of the leaders of the 33rd Team. It’s not clear if that gives Ryan an in when it comes to the coaching search or not.
Ryan was one of the top defensive coordinators in the game when he took over the Jets before the 2009 season. He led the Jets for six seasons. In his first two campaigns he led New York to the AFC Championship game, where it lost both times. He finished 46-50 with the Jets and was a head coach in Buffalo for two seasons, where he went 15-16.
