Jets coach Rex Ryan has backed off guaranteeing Super Bowls, and now he’s guaranteeing peace and harmony in the locker room.
In an interview on NFL Network’s NFL AM, Ryan said that he blames himself for the rift within the Jets in 2011, and he wants to be held personally accountable for healing the rift in 2012.
“I take full responsibility for what happened last year and I know what’s going to happen this year: This is going to be a close team,” Ryan said. “I don’t know how many games we’re going to win, but I can tell you one thing, that we will have a close football team.”
Ryan said that last year he delegated too much, and after assessing his own 2011 performance, he’s committed to a more hands-on role in 2012.
“When you have time to evaluate what went wrong, you start with yourself,” Ryan said. “And to me, I’m much better as more of a hands-on guy than I would be just sitting in the head coach’s chair. And that’s exactly what’s going to take place.”
If Ryan really is, as he says, the best defensive coach in the NFL, then his hands-on approach should make the Jets’ defense better. And if he’s as good as he thinks he is at bringing the locker room closer together, then the offense, which bickered in the huddle last year, should be better, too.
And Super Bowl guarantees aside, if the Jets miss the playoffs again this year, Ryan knows he’s the one who will take the blame.