In the eyes of former New York Jets linebacker Bart Scott, the pairing of head coach Rex Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons is a dream scenario for his former head coach.
Scott, who played under Ryan when he was the defensive coordinator with the Baltimore Ravens and then followed him to the Jets in 2009, knows that the defensive mastermind can turn around a Falcons defense that ranked No. 18 last year. Ryan interviewed in Atlanta on Tuesday and Scott thinks this could be a dream pairing.
The Achilles' heel of Ryan's six years as head coach of the Jets was the quarterback play, where Mark Sanchez then Geno Smith provided him with lackluster performances. But with the Falcons, the former Jets head coach would be paired with Matt Ryan, one of the best at his position.
There has been a lot of talk that Rex Ryan, if in the right scenario, could win a Super Bowl before the team that just fired him.
“I think it depends where he goes. If he goes where there is a quarterback, he has a very great chance of winning. He showed what he can do with a decent quarterback and a below-average quarterback in terms of performance,” Scott told Yahoo Sports. “You send him to a place where there is a leader in terms of a quarterback, who commands respect not just from other teams but from the skill position players in that building, it's dangerous. It's dangerous.
“It is dangerous to give that man a lead. Last time I played in that system when we had a lead, we put up 60 sacks and teams were afraid to play us. Down right afraid of us.”
Scott was referring to the Ravens franchise record for sacks set in 2006 with Ryan as defensive coordinator.
Ryan was fired by the Jets last week after failing to bring the Jets to the playoffs in the last four years as criticism mounted that he can't develop quarterbacks. In Atlanta, he could potentially be gift-wrapped an ideal situation on offense.
Sources tell Yahoo Sports that Ryan, who also has interviewed with the San Francisco 49ers, sees the Atlanta job “as ideal and preferable” due to the proximity to South Carolina. Ryan's son Seth is a preferred walk-on wide receiver at Clemson, meaning that “he can see his son play many weekends.”
“The Falcons job is ideal on many levels and is his top option,” a source said.
Seth Ryan suffered a season-ending injury during training camp but showed some potential in the 2014 spring game, with two catches for 38 yards.
Atlanta is a little less than a two-hour drive from Clemson, providing a good opportunity to make a Saturday afternoon game and be back in Atlanta by Saturday evening for Falcons home games.
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Kristian R. Dyer writes for Metro New York and is a contributor to Yahoo! Sports. Follow him on Twitter @KristianRDyer
from Yahoo Sports http://ift.tt/1HOYrd9
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