National Football League

Report: Jets' Ryan knew of plan to fire him before season began

Published Nov. 27, 2014 7:35 a.m. ET

foxsports

The season-long struggles of the New York Jets have led to much speculation that Rex Ryan is in the final days of his tenure as the team's head coach. However, Ryan reportedly knew his fate before the season even began.

According to a New York Post report, Ryan heard from scouts and coaches around the league this past offseason that Jets GM John Idzik had been telling people that his plan was to replace Ryan after the season.

"Did he think that wasn't going to get back to me?" Ryan told a confidant, according to the Post.

With a 2-9 record that seemingly will result in the Jets missing the playoff for the fourth consecutive season, Ryan's dismissal at this point would shock few. And even Ryan seemed aware of that following Monday night's loss to the Buffalo Bills.

"We're running out of tomorrows," Ryan said, according to the Post. "I recognize it and that's a challenge that's in front of me. We've got to get a lot better in a hurry."

Ryan led the Jets to the AFC title game in each of his first two seasons as head coach but hasn't had a winning record in any of the past four seasons since then. Quarterback play has been among the reasons, and earlier this week Ryan announced the team would be making another change -- with Geno Smith regaining the starting job from Michael Vick.