Now Rex Ryan is guaranteeing Super Bowls with other teams.
The Jets head coach said Wednesday if the Chargers had hired him in 2007, “Well, I think I would have had a couple of rings.”
Reports say he made the comment with a laugh, adding, “I’m tellin’ ya. Those teams were loaded. There’s no question about it. But things happen for a reason. Obviously, Norv Turner has done a great job there, and A.J. and everybody. That’s a great franchise, and he’s probably the best guy for the job at that time.”
The Jets play the Chargers on Sunday at MetLife Stadium.
Ryan thanked Chargers GM A.J. Smith for giving him that interview in 2007. San Diego hired Norv Turner, and Ryan was hired by the Jets prior to the 2009 season.
“There were like 10 openings,” Ryan said, according to NBC San Diego. “He was the only person that had interviewed me. I thought that opened some doors for me. The next year, I had three interviews. I never got any (offers), so I must have done a terrible job in the interview process.
“But one thing is I was always myself. If someone was going to hire me, the only thing I wanted is that they would allow me to be myself. I’m real fortunate I was given the opportunity here with the Jets.”
The Jets have fallen one game short of making the Super Bowl in each of Ryan’s two seasons, falling short of the coach’s continued boasts.
Ryan called Turner to clarify that his remarks were not a slight to him. Turner confirmed the call but didn’t offer details of their talk.
“It really was between he and I. I think we’ve had enough coaching drama in the league the last few days and we don’t need any more,” Turner said, referring to the Jim Harbaugh-Jim Schwartz postgame confrontation after San Francisco beat Detroit on Sunday.
Then Turner, who normally leans toward being vanilla, got in a zinger.
“I hadn’t seen his quote and I was a little bit surprised by the call. And then after I saw the quote, I didn’t have a chance to ask him this, but I was wondering if he had those rings with the ones he’s guaranteed the last couple of years.”
With AP