On Wednesday's "Around The League Podcast," our gang of scribes predicted the fate of a handful of NFL head coaches on the hot seat.
One of those men fighting for his job is Rex Ryan, whose New York Jets will miss out on the playoffs for a third consecutive season.
Despite the longstanding support of Jets owner Woody Johnson, Ryan's future in the Big Apple likely boils down to whether or not new general manager John Idzik believes he's the right man for the job. If it were up to his locker room, Rex would be safe.
"I'm 100 percent confident that if the GM and the owner allowed player feedback, then there'd be a lot of guys that would go to bat for him, and speak on his behalf," receiver David Nelson recently told the New York Post.
Rookie defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson agreed, saying: "We don't feel like Rex is leaving. We don't feel like he's going anywhere no time soon."
Nelson added: "It's deeper than just Xs and Os, and it's deeper than just schematics and practice. I mean, he really truly cares about his players, he gets to know them on a personal level and ... I think you see that with the way they play on Sundays. ... They really want to do their best for him, and win for him."
Ryan won't be on the bread line for long if the Jets part ways. He's one of the league's top defensive minds and his work this season on that side of the ball has been among his best.
On the podcast, we all agreed that Ryan should stick around. But that won't happen unless Idzik sees what we see, what many Jets fans see -- and what Rex's own players see with two games to go in this up-and-down campaign.
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