Gang Green is hunting down the man who last helped them qualify for the playoffs. Yes, that’s right. You know whom we are talking about. Former Jets and Bills coach Rex Ryan led the Jets to back-to-back AFC Championship games in the 2009 and 2010 seasons. Can you believe that the Jets and playoffs? Under Ryan, it was possible. But the moment he went 4-12 in 2014, Woody Johnson sacked him. However, right now, it looks like Woody is yet again looking to bring Ryan to East Rutherford with 31 other NFL franchises in the back seat.

As per Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic, no other teams are interviewing Rex Ryan other than the Jets. So, New Yorkers have a clean path to hiring their former coach, who is now an ESPN analyst. But Zack, who covers the Jets in his column for The Athletic, believes it would be a major surprise if Ryan is indeed hired as the Jets’ next head coach. Well, the reason behind that could be simple. Johnson’s team has already interviewed quite a few candidates for that position. And also have more lined up in the upcoming days.

See, the Jets have already sat with former Titans head coach Mike Vrabel. But as CBS Sports reporter Aditi Kinkhabwala reports, the former Patriots star will prefer the Patriots coaching gig instead of the Jets, “New York has a really good shot at landing Vrabel, they insisted recently, as long as the New England job doesn’t open.” Well, the thing is, the Patriots door is now open, and it seems like Vrabel won’t be joining the Jets even if they want him to.

Apart from Vrabel, the Jets have also interviewed former Commanders and the Panthers head coach Ron Rivera. They have also submitted interview requests to OCs Arthur Smith, Bobby Slowik, Joe Brady and Matt Nagy. And that’s not where the Jets’ list of preferred candidates ends, other than Rex Ryan. As per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Jets are also expected to contact DCs Aaron Gleen, Vance Joseph, and Brian Flores.

But here’s the thing: Rex Ryan has complete faith in himself that he will win the Jets coaching role before next season.

Rex Ryan 100% believes that he’ll be the next Jets head coach

Ryan hopped on ESPN’s New York radio show hosted by DiPiertro & Rothenberg to show how confident he was in landing the Jets job, “Oh, 100%. Absolutely, I do. And the reason I think I’m going to get it is because I’m the best guys for it. It ain’t close. The thing you have to do is. You have to connect with your football team. You have to connect with your fan base. The way they play. That’s the most important thing.” Now, Ryan already had a run with the Jets Nation for six years. Within that period, he led the New Yorkers with a 46-50 record.

Like that’s not really bad, considering the Jets last made the playoffs under Ryan. So, he knows how to break that 14-year curse once he lands the job in green and white. And you know what can increase his chances of winning back his coaching role? Well, the 62-year-old has a clear plan for the four-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers, “If he’s back. It ain’t gonna be the country club. Show up whenever the hell you want to show up. That ain’t gonna happen.” 

See, Ryan may have called shots on Rodgers deliberately missing the Jets’ mandatory minicamp, where he went to Egypt for a vacation instead. Although the Jets fined him $100,000 and then-head coach Robert Saleh called it an unexcused absence, it didn’t really affect Rodgers. So, it seems like the moment Ryan lands this job, Rodgers would have a tough time continuing in New York. However, right now, everything is just ifs and buts. Both Rodgers’ future and the chances of Rex Ryan landing the Jets coaching gig.