George Steinbrenner rehired Billy Martin. More than once. So why can’t Woody Johnson bring back Rex Ryan?
This isn’t a report that the Jets owner will hire the former Jets coach. No one at this point knows how Woody will go about rebooting his failed football operations. But there’s a belief among some who know how Woody operates that, given the current state of the team, he might decide to try to recapture a little of the (almost) glory days, when Rex got the Jets within sniffing distance of a Super Bowl.
It’s not just crazy spitballing. First, who else would take the job? No one with options will opt to work for Woody. For Rex, who has been there and done that and might want to go there and do that again, there’s no one else clamoring to hire him to be a head coach. It’s a perfect fit.
Second, Rex did well with the Jets. Far better than his successors. None of the coaches hired since Rex was fired have even made it to the playoffs.
Let’s see how it plays out. But there’s one way for it to play out that has Rex resurrecting his coaching career by returning to New York and taking the reins of the Jets, all over again.
It might not be successful, but it would definitely be interesting.