Former Jets head coach Rex Ryan, who will interview with the team on Tuesday for their current opening, is incredibly confident he’ll be hired.
“Oh 100 percent. Absolutely I do,” Ryan said Monday during an appearance on ESPN Radio. “And the reason I think I’m gonna get it is because I’m the best guy — and it ain’t close.
“The thing that you have to do — you have to connect with the football team, you have to connect with your fan base. And the way they play, that’s the most important thing. Not just the X’s and O’s and all that. This Ben Johnson? I love him, I absolutely love him. But I’m a better candidate for this job than he would be.”
Ryan, 62, coached the Jets from 2009 to 2014, a span that included back-to-back trips to the AFC Championship Game after the 2009 and 2010 seasons, where New York fell to the Colts and then Steelers. The Jets have not been back to the playoffs since their AFC title game loss to Pittsburgh in January of 2011.
After being fired by the Jets following the 2014 season, Ryan was the head coach of the Bills from 2015 to 2016, but has been out of the NFL for nearly a decade.
Ryan has been a regular critic of the Jets while working as a commentator for ESPN.
He was also clear recently about his desire to return to the team.
Speaking on Pardon My Take in November after the Jets fired head coach Robert Saleh, Ryan threw his hat in the ring.
“I’d like to, there’s no doubt about it,” Ryan said about a possible second stint as Jets head coach. “I’ve let everyone know that I definitely would be interested in that job, even though I’ve got a great gig.
“I think I have some unfinished business, especially with that franchise. That particular franchise, you know my dad was there forever, he won a Super Bowl, and it’s super close to me. I would get back in it if I thought I could make a difference — and I think I could make a big difference with that team.”
Ryan added:
“I think if I took over, it’d be turned in about two minutes, because I think it starts with the passion and the energy that I would bring to that building and the ‘we’re not gonna take any poop’ mentality, either. We’re gonna kick your ass and we don’t care if you like it or not. But with that comes responsibilities and accountability from that football team. I’ll take every bullet, I get it. I want my players to play fast and I want them to be relentless.
“Right now, here’s what I see with that football team: I see a team that plays with effort, everybody in the National Football League plays with effort. But I see a team that doesn’t play with the enthusiasm that you need, and I think that would change in a second. The minute I got there it would change, and it would have to or the guy would be down the road.”
