Rex Ryan. Worthy of the New York Jets Mount Rushmore?

Examining whether head coach Rex Ryan deserves to be on the New York Jets' Mount Rushmore.

Rex Ryan came into the New York Jets organization in 2009, inheriting a veteran team that had fallen short of expectations the previous two seasons. He left the organization after being fired in 2014, a head coach that had seemingly lost his way.

If nothing else, Ryan’s tenure with the Jets was as meteoric as it was frustrating. His first two years with the team leading to consecutive AFC Championship Game appearances. He ended with four straight seasons where he twice finished at .500 and missed the playoffs each year.

Despite holding just a 46-50 record as Jets head coach, he is still a legend for many fans. But is he Mount Rushmore good? Already, Joe Namath, Curtis Martin and Darrelle Revis (who played for Ryan) are on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore. There are compelling reasons why Ryan should be up there as the fourth face.

Plenty of reasons why he should not be included as well.

Those first two years under Ryan weren’t just good, they were euphoric. With a young quarterback in Mark Sanchez and a defense that played like their hair was on fire, Ryan’s teams were gritty. They were raw. They were fighters.

It seemed like his Jets were ready to break the New England Patriots decade-long strangle-hold on the AFC East. That’s what makes the next four years so difficult to understand.

The 2011 Jets were Super Bowl contenders who had loaded up in free agency on veteran talent but crashed out early with an 8-8 record that saw them miss the playoffs. The following years, salary cap casualties, a couple of subpar drafts plus the ascending age of several star players began to affect the two-deep. They celebrated an 8-8 season in 2013 under then general manager John Idzik and seemed headed in the right direction again but the Jets went 4-12 the following season and Ryan was let go.

The case for Ryan is that he brought back swagger and bravado to the organization, something that was lacking since the ‘Sack Exchange.’ This was a man who cried before his team in 2009 when he thought the Jets had been knocked out of playoff contention. He loved being the Jets head coach.

He got a tribal tattoo on his leg once just to help re-sign Wayne Hunter in free agency. He bled green and white, every loss eating him up. Every win in New York? Like a Super Bowl victory.

Ryan has a strong case to make for Mount Rushmore despite his faults. With that being said, his final four years fall well short of the standard, something he would readily admit himself. He also never did better than second in the division, a far cry from Rushmore’s rarified air.

That doesn’t detract from what he did for the organization or its fans in helping to create a better, stronger image of the Jets on the field and to realize their potential, albeit too briefly. Unfortunately, the off the field issues and some of the antics wore thin.

When the losses began to mount, he simply became too much.

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