Rex Ryan says he can save Jets: 'Nobody is better than me'

Former NFL head coach Rex Ryan said he still has what the New York Jets need to bounce back without a full rebuild amid the team's disappointing season.

"I look at it this way: Blow it up? We're going to blow the opponents up," Ryan recently said on ESPN New York's "Bart & Hahn." "There's way too much talent on this team to play the way we've been playing. Period. How hard can you get a guy to play? That's the thing. Nobody has seen a team that is going to play as hard as this team's going to play in the future, trust me. If I'm the guy, trust me."

The Jets entered the 2024 campaign with Super Bowl aspirations with a healthy Aaron Rodgers under center and a talented roster around him. New York embraced its hype by also adding All-Pro receiver Davante Adams in October.

However, the AFC East team has had yet another disappointing year, having lost seven of its last eight games to post a 3-8 record ahead of the season's final stretch.

The Jets fired Robert Saleh on Oct. 8 after starting the campaign 2-3, and Jeff Ulbrich has been serving as the team's interim head coach.

Ryan, who coached the Jets from 2009-14, said he can help the club reach its full potential in 2025.

"That's what is going to separate me from all these other guys you're going to bring in. Your Grudens or whoever. Give me a break," Ryan said. "They ain't New York Jets. I'm all about the Jets. And the great thing is, yeah, you get a second chance at it, and that doesn't happen very often. Well, when it does, it's usually special. We'll find out if I get that chance or not."

The 61-year-old added: "If not, I hope they have one hell of a guy in place because I still want to be a fan of the Jets. I still want to be, but when I look around, I know nobody is better than me."

Ryan posted two winning seasons and helped the Jets reach the AFC title game in back-to-back years in his first two campaigns as their head coach. However, New York wasn't able to replicate that success in the following years under Ryan, who was fired in 2014 with a 46-50 record. Ryan then became the Bills' head coach and went 15-16 before being dismissed after almost two full seasons in Buffalo.

Ryan has been working as an ESPN analyst since losing the Bills job. He interviewed for the Dallas Cowboys' defensive coordinator role in February before the team hired Mike Zimmer.

The Jets haven't made the playoffs since the 2010 season, the longest drought in the NFL.