Will Rex Work Wonders For The Jets?

Now that the Ravens are done for the year, looks like the Jets will tab Baltimore's defensive coordiantor Rex Ryan to be Gang Green's 8th coach in 16 years. Before I list a few positives, let's list what the Jets, most notably owner Woody Johnson did NOT do during their coaching search.

1. They didn't meet with Bill Cowher, who took the Steelers to two Super Bowls (winning one) and reaching the postseason 10 of his 15 years in the Steel City. Turns out Woody was on vacation out of the country and couldn't even speak to 'The Chin' on the phone.

2. They didn't meet with Mike Shanahan, offensive guru and winner of two Super Bowls in Denver- because Shanahan had the nerve to take a family vacation after he was fired. Why does Woody get to be out of the country and a potential great employee not be given that same courtesy?

3. They made NO move at all to Jon Gruden, a fiery coach who was a consistent winner (including 1 Super Bowl) in Tampa Bay. FYI Woody:'Chuckie' pushed hard for the Bucs to get Brett Favre before you brought him to the Jets. Though I certainly DON'T want Favre back, a Gruden-Favre marriage might have been better than Eric Mangini and Favre. We'll never know now, will we?

So let's tally: 3 Super Bowl winning coaches, 5 Big Game appearances, consistent trips to the postseason. Number of sitdowns with the Jets: 0. Do you see what's wrong here?

No doubt, Ryan is known as a terrific defensive mind and coach. Hopefully he will bring to the Jets what they have lacked for a long time:stability. We'll see. But Johnson's decision to skip over three proven winners could come back to bite him in the butt.