Rumors: Rex Ryan believes John Idzik wants him fired

It's that time of the year again! No, not the holiday season, but the rumor mill season in the NFL, or better known as let's spread as many leaks, misinformation and flat out 'he said-she said' as we can for the teams that have no shot at the playoffs.

Hence is the life of the New York Jets.

Before the Thanksgiving Day holiday, rumors started swirling around from a New York Post column that Rex Ryan has suspected all along that General Manager John Idzik has wanted to fire him.

"Sources told The Post that, during the offseason, Ryan bumped into scouts and other coaches from around the league who told him Jets general manager John Idzik had been telling people his plan all along was to replace Ryan after the season and bring in his own head coach.
“Did he think that wasn’t going to get back to me?” an angered Ryan told one confidant" (NY Post 11/25/14).

So there it is in print. It has been the belief of the media and fans ever since Idzik arrived in town that he would want to find a way to sabotage Ryan so he could replace him with his own coach. While the two of them have played their working relationship as a good one the past two years, the contrary is finally coming to light.

Clearly Ryan is going to get fired. During New York's pathetic 38-3 loss to the Bills on Monday night, Ryan looked like a caged lion, pacing back and forth on the sideline grumbling to himself. Idzik did him no favors this year that is for sure, providing Rex a depleted roster, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Yet, let us not feel totally sorry for Ryan. He has stuck his foot down his own throat enough times during his six years in New York and has proven to be a poor head coach by its very definition. In short, he has it coming.

It would be ironic that Idzik's power move could eventually lead to his own firing. Fans have been clamoring for his ouster for weeks, especially after his paranoid press conference when the team was 1-7.

This is the mess that Woody Johnson has made. He had every right to fire Mike Tannenbaum back in 2012, but he should have sent Ryan packing with him. Instead he tried to sell other GM candidates the idea that they had to keep Rex, and every single one but Idzik headed for the hills as fast as they could. Idzik and Ryan are like mixing oil and water. Different philosophies, different understanding of the game of football. Both might be great when not near one another.

The best thing Woody Johnson could do for not only himself and his fledgling franchise is to fire both Ryan and Idzik at the end of the year and hit the reset button. But, remember this is Woody Johnson we are dealing with.

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