Rex Ryan has become the poster boy in the NFL for trash talk. He’s been predicting a Jets Super Bowl since showing up in New York, and he’s yet to deliver on those prophesies. While it’s still unclear whether anyone is still taking what Ryan says seriously, that doesn’t stop him from rubbing his opponents the wrong way. Publicly, his team is still firmly behind him, but it has to be a matter of time before one of his players says publicly that he needs to shut his mouth.
The most recent incident came last weekend when the Giants fully and completely whipped the Jets after a week of trash talk that went back and forth. Ryan’s trash talk may well be designed to act as a motivational tool that’s supposed to take pressure off of his team and put it on him, but it just isn’t working. It was arrogant when the Jets were one of the best teams in the league; now it’s border line sad.
I’ve completely tuned Rex Ryan out. I no longer even listen to him talk. When his post-game press conference comes on ESPN, I begin to hear white noise in my head, forcing me to turn the channel to South Park or The Big Bang Theory. More and more, Rex Ryan is coming across as a jester, not a football coach.
Now that his talk is no longer relevant, we have to wonder; is his trash talk hurting his team? And, is it time to move on from the Rex Ryan era should the Jets miss the playoffs?
Now, let me preface my argument by saying that I believe it is very, very unlikely Rex Ryan will lose his job. It isn’t going to happen. My argument is predicated around the question of should it happen, not will it. Ryan is making that Terrell Owens transition from comical to poisonous, and it would be far better for the Jets to cut ties with him now rather than wait too long. I know that he fits in with the New York tradition of letting everyone know when he’s the best, but he sounds more like a 2 year old toddler screaming for attention from the corner than a coach trying to make a playoff run.
If you’re a Jets fan, you don’t have to look far for a better example of how a head coach should be acting. In fact, you can just head to your own stadium during a Jets’ away game and watch the New York Giants’ head coach, Tom Coughlin. He’s a guy that let’s his performance and his team’s performance do his trash talk. If I’m a coach of a good team, the Giants’ “A” game scares me. The Jets’ doesn’t.
I’ve never liked trash talk, but I’ve also never thought that it takes much, if anything, away from the game or a teams’ performance, but that’s not my belief in the Jets’ case. Rex Ryan is adding pressure to his team by touting them as one of the greatest teams of all time while his team is actually very average or slightly better. Hey Rex, here’s a tip from a no-name blogger that could help you keep a grasp on your own team. Shut up before your players start publicly telling you to do so. Once a player comes out and says it, you’ve lost the battle. Quite while you’re still ahead, shut up, and play the game.
