Leave it to Rex Ryan to stick his foot in his mouth.
Speaking to San Diego reporters on a conference call ahead of the Jets' Sunday home game against the Chargers, Ryan pontificated on how things would have been different had Bolts general manager A.J. Smith offered him the head-coaching job that went to Norv Turner in 2007.
"Well, I think I would have had a couple rings," Ryan said Wednesday, according to the New York Daily News. "I'm telling you, those teams were loaded."
Talk about killing two birds with one stone. With a single answer, Ryan managed to indirectly insult both Turner and his own GM, Mike Tannenbaum. Very impressive.
Turner initially took the high road, telling San Diego reporters "we've had enough coaching drama in the league the last few days," but he then doled out a surprising zinger at Ryan.
"I hadn't seen his quote and I was a little bit surprised by the call," Turner said. "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."
Burn.
Ryan doesn't regret how his coaching career has played out and even said the Chargers "opened some doors" by allowing him to interview for the job four years ago.
But forget all that goodwill talk. We can only hope Turner is stewing in some dark corner of Chargers headquarters, going to town on a speed bag, with a yellowed photo of Ryan taped to a nearby mirror. If you liked Schwartz v. Harbaugh, you'll love Norv v. Rex, live from the Meadowlands. Who ya got?
