Sources: Rex Ryan bracing for ouster
After months of speculation, New York Jets coach Rex Ryan is bracing for his ouster on Monday.
Ryan told friends he expects to be fired by owner Woody Johnson, league sources said Saturday. Ryan already has begun removing items from his office, a source confirmed to ESPN.com.
The Jets (3-12) finish their bitterly disappointing season Sunday at the Miami Dolphins. On Monday, Johnson is expected to clean house by firing Ryan and embattled general manager John Idzik.
Neither of the moves will come as a surprise; this will be the Jets' fourth straight season out of the playoffs, and this year they were eliminated earlier than ever -- before Thanksgiving. Ryan's career record is 45-50, plus four playoff wins.
Ryan has remained in good spirits despite the difficult circumstances, saying his only focus is on the final game. But he started cleaning out his office Friday upon hearing that consultant-in-waiting Charley Casserly already has started reaching out to potential head-coaching and general-manager candidates, according to a report by NJ Advance Media.
Casserly doesn't begin working for the Jets until Johnson begins the search for replacements, sources said, so any vetting of potential candidates isn't on behalf of the Jets, technically.
But there's a gray area because, as a member of the NFL career development advisory panel -- comprised of eight former coaches and general managers -- Casserly's job is to help teams identify head-coaching and GM candidates.
Former Green Bay Packers GM Ron Wolf also may join Casserly as a consultant for the Jets.
In an unusual twist, the Jets' official website posted a report Friday raising the question of whether Idzik will be fired. For an in-house property, the website gives an unusually candid assessment of Idzik's good and bad personnel moves.
After criticizing Idzik's 2014 draft and free-agent moves (and non-moves), the report concludes, "Johnson will ultimately decide if Idzik remains the right man to lead a football department in 2015."
The website FireJohnIdzik.com is planning to have about 1,000 fans Sunday at Sun Life Stadium waving "Fire Idzik" towels behind the Jets' bench. The site also has a billboard near MetLife Stadium, urging Johnson to fire Idzik.
