By Glenn Naughton<\/p>\n
While\u00a0it may have taken longer than anticipated, former New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan\u00a0got around to addressing his\u00a0final season with gang green, one in which he finished 4-12,\u00a0during an interview with Sports Illustrated<\/a>.\u00a0 As you’d expect,\u00a0Rex made a few headline-grabbing comments about his newest division rival.<\/p>\n Perhaps motivated by recent remarks from his former tight end Jace Amaro in which the rookie called out Ryan and his\u00a0staff in a not so subtle manner\u00a0while discussing\u00a0Jets rookie\u00a0head coach Todd Bowles. During an interview with Siruis XM NFL radio, Amaro commented on what he believed to be a notable difference between Bowles and Ryan.<\/p>\n “He’s not really playing around with everyone being late,” Amaro said of Bowles. “We had an issue with that last year. Guys just weren’t accountable last year as much as they could be. I think that’s the biggest thing. [Bowles is] making sure everyone’s gonna be 100 percent in or he’s not going to be on the team.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The harsh words from Amaro\u00a0in describing Ryan’s time with the Jets may have unnerved the former head coach, but given\u00a0his track record and hesitance to hold players accountable for their\u00a0transgressions, they’re wholly believable and Ryan has only himself to blame, but clearly he took exception.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s full of s\u2014, and I\u2019ll remind him of that when we play him. Look, we weren\u2019t perfect, and I never said we were going to be perfect. But that\u2019s a f\u2014\u2014 b.s. comment. But, hey, he\u2019s happy that he\u2019s got a different coach in place. We\u2019ll see how happy he is when I play against him.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n For\u00a0all of the good Ryan did with the Jets, his comments regarding Amaro are off base.\u00a0 He’s with the Bills now, and likely steamed at the fact that the Jets are essentially building his dream team after asking him to win with starters who will likely be out of the league or buried at the bottom of the Jets’\u00a02015 depth chart.<\/p>\n Even still, it was only a matter of time before a player commented publicly on\u00a0the lack of discipline\u00a0Rex\u00a0instilled in team meetings that would sometimes carry over on game day.<\/p>\n Despite experiencing early success with the Jets, the brash Ryan who took pride in “telling it like it is”, often told it like it wasn’t when questioned about the conduct of some of his more divisive locker room personalities.\u00a0 On multiple occasions Ryan defended former wide receiver Santonio Holmes despite carrying himself<\/a> in a manner that would have likely led to some form of discipline from most NFL head coaches.<\/p>\n Allowing Holmes’ behavior to go unchecked was the first clear sign that Ryan was going to be slow to drop the hammer when needed.\u00a0 For those who hoped\u00a0he would\u00a0grow as\u00a0a leader and recognize the importance of accountability, there would only be more disappointment.<\/p>\n