Voluble Rex Ryan takes center stage for playoffs

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. - A football coach who enjoys talking - imagine that.

Rex Ryan, the rookie New York Jets head coach and son of Buddy, has a lot of the NFL playoff spotlight right now because he is new and fresh with the underdog team - and because he's entirely comfortable showing some personality.

In his public duties, Ryan is the anti-Reid, the antithesis of Andy, or, really, of Bill Belichick or most of their coaching brethren.

"Everything he's thinking, he puts out there," said Jets center Nick Mangold.

Look at the coaches remaining as the Jets go to Indianapolis for Sunday's AFC title game, for the right to meet the winner of the NFC championship game between New Orleans and Minnesota in the Super Bowl. Colts coach Jim Caldwell is mostly known now as the guy who pulled Peyton Manning and ruined the chance for a perfect season. Vikings coach Brad Childress is best known right now for his attempts to keep Brett Favre from freelancing too much. Saints coach Sean Payton is a great coach, but how many people could pick him out if he walked into a room?

In this company, Ryan is the prime-timer.

Comfortable in his own ample skin, Ryan ignores the memo that he works in the No Fun League. He eats so much Mexican food that his assistants call it "Rexican" food? Ryan puts down 7,000 calories a day during the season? When the New York Post threw out that number this week, and put his weight at 350 pounds, Ryan didn't wait for any follow-ups the next day.

"I'm feeling a little faint right now - I've only had 6,000 of the 7,000 calories I normally eat by now. You'll have to bear with me on that," Ryan deadpanned Wednesday before reciting the injury list.

Before the season, Ryan had blustered, "I never came here to kiss Bill Belichick's rings." Shades of his father, Ryan also matter-of-factly predicted a meeting for his team with Barack Obama at the White House after winning the Super Bowl.

In the locker room, Jets players didn't take it as just rah-rah talk.

"It might [sound] like a small thing, but goal-setting is so huge - to see what you want to achieve," Jets linebacker David Harris said this week. "At the beginning of the year, Rex Ryan said, 'Hey, we're going to win the Super Bowl.' . . . Not too many coaches do that. He showed us a picture of the Super Bowl trophy the first time we met him."

Before the playoffs, Ryan did something similar, giving the team a full playoff itinerary, ending with the route of the victory parade after their Super Bowl triumph.