THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. - Making one bold declaration after another, Rex Ryan gave his vision for the New York Jets: a Super Bowl trophy and a White House visit.
"With all the cameras and all that, I was looking for our new president back there," Ryan said with a big, bright smile Wednesday, moments after being introduced as the team's head coach.
"You know," he added, "I think we'll get to meet him in the next couple years anyway."
Whoa! Talk about putting pressure on yourself. After all, this is a franchise that hasn't been to a Super Bowl since his father, Buddy, was an assistant for the 1969 champions.
"I'm not afraid of expectations," the 46-year-old Ryan said. "My goal is to win a Super Bowl. It's not to just win X number of games."
And that sounded like the perfect game plan to an excited Woody Johnson.
"Why else are we here?" the Jets owner asked. "Yee-haw! That's good."
Ryan, Baltimore's defensive coordinator the last four seasons, said all the right things in meeting with the media for the first time since being hired Monday to replace the fired Eric Mangini.
"We want to be known as the most physical football team in the NFL," Ryan said. "The players will have each other's backs, and if you take a swipe at one of ours, we'll take a swipe at two of yours."
More big statements from the big man now in charge of turning around a franchise that's parched for a title.
After spending big bucks in the off-season, trading for Brett Favre and starting out 8-3 last season, the Jets were talked about as a potential Super Bowl team. Then came the late-season collapse in which the team lost four of its last five and stunningly missed the playoffs.
"We expect to win," Ryan said. "We have a lot of talent here that's already in place."
Several of those players attended Ryan's press conference, including cornerback Darrelle Revis and wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery, who wanted to get a first look at their new coach.
"He's relaxed and he's not tense," Revis said when asked to compare Ryan with Mangini. "He's exciting and you can just tell he's going to bring a lot of stuff over here that we'll like."
Whether Favre is a part of this team remains uncertain. The 39-year-old quarterback is mulling retirement again after tearing a biceps muscle and throwing nine interceptions in the Jets' last five games.
"I would think anybody would want him as their quarterback," Ryan said, adding that he planned to speak to each one of the players during the next several days, including Favre.
