As Rex Ryan kept telling stories and charming listeners Wednesday, Woody Johnson and Mike Tannenbaum watched from the corner of the boardroom smiling and laughing along.
Both the owner and general manager looked like they were almost in a trance, completely smitten with their new coach.Ryan's wife, Michelle, knows the feeling. It was almost 25 years ago when she first met Ryan on a double date with her best friend and Rex's twin brother, Rob.
"Is he funny? Yes," Michelle said Wednesday moments after her Southwestern Oklahoma State college sweetheart finished his introductory press conference in Florham Park, N.J.. "Off the cuff, he is hilarious. He was always very confident. He just exudes confidence in himself and his ability. He is not egotistical (though)."
Coaching Was on Rex Ryan’s Horizon From the Start
Before Rex Ryan became the Jets’ head coach, before he became a coach at all, he attended Super Bowl III with his family.
Buddy Ryan, his father, was a defensive assistant during the Jets’ only Super Bowl appearance, 40 years ago. Rex and Rob, his twin boys, were 6. The first sign the boys had aspirations to follow their father into the family business came on a Miami beach. While Joe Namath held court for the reporters who surrounded him at the swimming pool, the twins looked up from playing in the sand, mesmerized by the quarterback who would soon make good on his guarantee of victory.
“From being around football so much, they loved it,” Doris Ryan, their mother, said Tuesday in a telephone interview. “And so did I. We’re just a football family.”
Jets introduce Rex Ryan as new coachFLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — A confident Rex Ryan sent notice to the rest of the NFL: The New York Jets will be no pushovers with him as coach.
"We want to be known as the most physical football team in the NFL," Ryan said Wednesday morning at Jets headquarters after being introduced by team owner Woody Johnson.
"The players will have each other's backs, and if you take a swipe at one of ours, we'll take a swipe at two of yours."
New Jets coach Rex Ryan was once a gangly defensive end for Southwestern Oklahoma University
Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Rex Ryan has accepted the Jets' head-coaching offer.
We decided to look back at Ryan's early life a bit today and found out that he wasn't always the imposing man who officially steps into the Jets coaching job at the formal announcement and news conference on Wednesday.
So we called Southwestern Oklahoma State University, where Rex and his twin brother, Rob, both played football from 1981 to 1984 under coach Bob Mazie.
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