Ryan and Tannenbaum should've been attached at the hip.
Ryan worked hand-in-hand with Tannenbaum on shaping the Jets. He had more power than most head coaches.
Ryan was convinced Sanchez had the talent and personality (which is laughable to think now, after Sanchez's postgame press conferences this year) to handle New York and thrive. He wanted to draft Sanchez. He pushed for Tannenbaum to give him that contract after speculation arose that the Jets wanted Peyton Manning.
Ryan wanted Tebow. He wanted to run the ball and get back to "ground and pound," and he envisioned Tebow as a threat in the red zone, in short-yardage situations and in the Wildcat.
Remember the toxic Jets locker room in 2011 and all the finger pointing that was part of that season's collapse? Ryan thought Tebow could help the locker room. That's a fact.
Yes, Tannenbaum was on board with the trade. But Ryan, who shares an agent with Tebow, drove the bus.
Tannenbaum wanted to sign Chad Henne to be Sanchez's backup. The Jets did, in fact, sign Drew Stanton before the Tebow trade. After the Tebow trade, Tannenbaum did right by Stanton, dealing him to the Indianapolis Colts. As it turned out, Stanton would've been the best quarterback on the Jets' roster this year.
Ryan hand-picked Tony Sparano as his offensive coordinator to run the ball. As Ryan told me, "I wanted to find the mirror image of me." It was an unmitigated disaster. The Jets' offensive line was the worst it had been in years. Ryan wanted Dave DeGuglielmo as his line coach. Ryan told me on SiriusXM this summer that he knew DeGuglielmo was his guy when he saw him kick over a garbage can, showing fight. Garbage, as it turned out, was the ideal metaphor.
