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No football fan will want to be without the book that delivers pure, unfiltered Rex Ryan—head coach of the New York Jets and one of the most popular, outspoken, well-liked, and widely respected personalities in the National Football League.
Rex Ryan is known for his exuberance . . . and Play Like You Mean It explores every aspect of Ryan’s amazing passion for the game of football, plus the lessons he has learned in leadership and motivation during his years in and around the game. In his own words, Ryan takes readers behind the scenes of the NFL as he shares colorful football stories from his experiences with the Jets and the Ravens as well as his years recruiting players, coaching college football, and growing up as a child of legendary NFL coach Buddy Ryan. Rex’s unique brand of enthusiasm and motivation comes through on every page.
Most of all, fans will get insider access to Ryan’s headline-grabbing, brutally honest, and undeniably entertaining views on the NFL . . . and the very human side of the larger-than-life athletes who devote their lives to the game of football. From Ryan’s acceptance of the Jets head coaching job to his success in turning around a team that has long been number two in New York, from his drafting and believing in Mark Sanchez to kicking off the 2010 season with massive expectations (and a target on his back)—this book goes deep, and entertains on every level.
REX RYAN is head coach of the National Football League’s New York Jets. He is the son of former Philadelphia Eagles and Arizona Cardinals head coach Buddy Ryan and the twin brother of Rob Ryan, defensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns.
Don Yaeger is a former associate editor for Sports Illustrated. He is the bestselling author of seventeen books, including Never Die Easy: The Auto biography of Walter Payton.
1. 2010... A Wild Ride
On January 24, 2010, I looked up from the sidelines at Lucas Oil Stadium and watched the clock tick down to 0:00. The hard realization set in: Our 2009 season, my rookie season as head coach of the New York Jets, was over. The Indianapolis Colts had won the AFC Championship. Losing is brutal--I don't think anyone can deny that. But some losses, well, they burn a little deeper. As 63,000 fans cheered for the Colts, and their players started putting on their championship hats and T-shirts, I jogged to the middle of the field to shake Jim Caldwell's hand with only two things on my mind: 1) Damn... Peyton beat me again; and 2) When do I get another shot at him?
Losing in the AFC Championship was tough enough, but having Peyton Manning take a second Super Bowl ring from me just pissed me off. In 2006, when I was the defensive coordinator with the Baltimore Ravens, we got beat by the Colts in the playoffs. The whole thing just haunts me. Wait, let me rephrase that. Peyton Manning haunts me. In my opinion, simply winning isn't enough. You have to win against the best, and Peyton Manning is the best. Now, don't get me wrong, we deserved to lose that 2009 AFC Championship Game. We were outmanned, injuries killing us all over the field during the second half. And no one knows how to abuse your weakness quite like Peyton. But to watch our season end on that note was frustrating, and the only way I knew how to deal with that frustration was to let it drive me. That's why my first instinct was to imagine how we were going to beat Peyton the next time around... and to envision the Jets, if only in my mind, playing the Colts in the playoffs again.
My moment to mourn was short and sweet, because the second my hand left Caldwell's, the 2010 season began and we were 0-0.
Setting the tone with my Jets in that postgame locker room speech was a huge step toward a new season. Fortunately, it took very little effort. I just went in, was true to myself, and told them exactly what I believed. I told them that the fastest way to kick ourselves in the ass was to go into 2010 with the assumption that we were going to make it to the AFC Championship Game. From that point on, every team was on a level playing field. There were no guarantees. We knew what it felt like to be right there and lose it. That would make us hungrier. We wanted to take it all. I told them to strive to get a home game in the 2010 playoffs. I said let's play for it again, let's win it, and let's do it in our city, at our stadium, in front of our fans. I wanted them to wear their Jets gear and be proud. We finished in the top four in the NFL, we turned an underdog team into an AFC title contender, and we earned the respect and support of the people in New York. I mean, they lit up the Empire State Building green and white the week of the AFC Championship Game. If that didn't make my players proud to be Jets, then they shouldn't be on this team.
The future, I told them right there in the belly of that stadium, came with a challenge. I told the coaches and the players that I was challenging each of them, and myself, to find a way for us to get better. I didn't know how it was going to happen, but we were going to find a way for each of us to get a little bit better. I knew as a team we were going to have to make some roster improvements. We had to get better in the corner and better in the back end. I also knew it was crucial for us to get a closer as a pass rusher. We needed someone who could close out guys so I wouldn't have to blitz every snap.
...
1 2010 ... A Wild Ride 1
2 Blunt-Force Trauma 15
3 Son of Buddy 26
4 Joining the Family Business 49
5 Father of My Own 63
6 Tackling Dyslexia 72
7 Eat, Pray, Football 80
8 Loving Baltimore 91
9 The Perfect Owner 113
10 Changing the Culture of the Jets 126
11 Mark Sanchez 139
12 Filling Out the Roster 149
13 The Perfect Formula 161
14 Taking Risks on Players (and Making My Own Mistakes) 172
15 Sharing the Big Apple 187
16 2009 Season 197
17 Coach-Speak: Getting Up in Front of the Players and Coaches 209
18 Hard Knocks 218
19 Revis: The Art of the Deal 228
20 Bring It On: Putting Pressure on Yourself 239
21 Let's Go Snack 247
22 We'll Be Back 254
Acknowledgments 271
Index 274
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Overview
No football fan will want to be without the book that delivers pure, unfiltered Rex Ryan—head coach of the New York Jets and one of the most popular, outspoken, well-liked, and widely respected personalities in the National Football League.
Rex Ryan is known for his exuberance . . . and Play Like You Mean It explores every aspect of Ryan’s amazing passion for the game of football, plus the lessons he has learned in leadership and motivation during his years in and around the ...