The annual rankings were released this week, using a system to "measure how much MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL franchises give back to the fans in exchange for all the time, money and emotion the fans invest in them."
The New Orleans Saints came out as the top team pro sports, which makes sense for the Super Bowl champs. Yet there is a major flaw in the evaluation of coaching, which ranked Rex Ryan and the Jets as fourth-best in all of sports.
Now, Ryan is a fun guy. He makes fun of himself, cries during team meetings, forgets playoff scenarios, compares his heater to Stephen Strasburg's and lets his players be themselves. Those qualities are likely what helped him rank alongside the Detroit Red Wings' Mike Babcock and behind Gregg Popovich, Sean Payton and Mike Scioscia. The common thread among those coaches not named Ryan? Championships. Seven of them to be exact, plus a gold medal for Babcock's Canadian team to boot.
Ryan? Well, Ryan took over a somewhat-stacked Jets team in 2009 and took them to the AFC Championship Game. Obviously, the man is no slouch (well, you know, at least in the coaching sense of the word).
Still, the fact that Phil Jackson and his unprecedented 11 titles ranked ninth, or that Bill Belichick and his three Super Bowls ranked sixth, Tony LaRussa was 16th, Stan Van Gundy and his mustache ranked 18th, which was five spots ahead of two-time World Series winner Terry Francona … it all makes you question what exactly ESPN was thinking.
Its only explanation was "Strength of on-field leadership." With that being the case, it should only be a matter of time before ESPN calls Ryan's book a literary classic. Then they might as well hand the Lombardi Trophy over to the Jets this summer before declaring them the team of the decade … as in the upcoming decade.
Look, Rex Ryan is a fine coach and he'll do all right in this league. His defenses in Baltimore were among the best in football, and he's handled the media pressure that comes with coaching an NFL team in New York City with ease.
But is the fourth-best coach in all of professional sports the leader of the J-E-T-S?
N-O.
