1hundredsixty8

From that purveyor of gladitorial entertainment, the NFL, these news items as the league readies us for its orgy of playoffs:

The Arizona Cardinals fired coach Ken Whisenhunt on Monday, making it seven total coaches fired on Black Monday. This follows the San Diego Chargers cleaning house by firing head coach Norv Turner and general manager A.J. Smith; the Bills firing head coach Chan Gailey, the Bears Lovie Smith and the Chiefs Romeo Crennel. The Philadelphia Eagles fired head coach Andy Reid, while the Cleveland Browns fired coach Pat Shurmur and general manager Tom Heckert. Escaping the axe was Jets' coach Rex Ryan, but the team announced the firing of general manager Mike Tannenbaum on Monday. In the other front-office shakeup, the Jacksonville Jaguars fired general manager Gene Smith.

Some of the departed have had success in the past in the league and their more recent failures (read as "not winning") reflects a combination of circumstance:  Injury to key players, not having the personnel to compete on this, the highest level; and, frankly, just bad luck (recall some of the poor officiating at the season's beginning when the league employed replacement officials).

Others, though, have never been successful and it always appeared to me that their coaching careers were prolonged by virtue of their membership in the "old boys club". Crennel and Gailey are in this category.

Which brings us to Rex Ryan. I have not seen evidence that he will ever be successful in the NFL. His defense relies on individual achievement rather than a consistent scheme. True, this is a league of superior athletes, but athletic advantage is most usually by a razor-thin margin. As evidence, look at Belechik's defenses over the years- fundamentally sound always, dominant when he has had outstanding personnel, adequate when he has not. (And, "adequate" means giving Tom Brady and the offense opportunities to win.)

Ryan also falls short in other areas that are the usual marks of the effective coach- building a staff, and having a balanced approach to the game. On the latter point, the Jets have been particulary impotent on offense. Much of this may be laid at the feet of the now-departed Tannenbaum, as the Jets have a notable lack of explosive play-makers which are so necessary in today's high-speed game. There have been injuries (Santana Moss), but there seemed to be no Plan B in terms of backups. (The Jets' stadium mates, the Giants, on the other hand, seemed to have developed a pipeline of receivers who can step in and up and make plays.) Of course, the ultimate head-scratcher was obtaining Tim Tebow.

The offensive coaching is a sore point in and of itself. We went from Schottenheimer the Lesser to Tony Sparano, but both failed in the two prime areas necessary to be effective in the NFL- developing the QB and creating an offensive persona. My own feeling about Mark Sanchez is that, in a different situation, with different coaching and different personnel around him, he can be a consistent winner in this league. He could have a career along the lines of a Trent Dilfer. Without the big-play receiver or the explosive runing back, the defensive-minded Ryan's stated offensive approach, a strong running game that utilizes the  the play-action pass, has little chance to be effective.

So, why is Rex still here? One thought is that Woody Johnson thinks Rex's effusive performances at press conferences provides sufficient entertainment value that his inadequacies as a coach will not be scrutinized. Back at the dawn of Jets' history, a true Broadway impressario, Sonny Werblin, understood that, no matter how much flash he could get from a star like Joe Namath, the genuine value was in winning. Talking the talk and walking the walk are separated by more than a letter.

Jump ahead to next summer, and I'm certain that Rex will stand before the microphone and deliver more hyperbolic hokum. PT Barnum's got nothing on this boy.