I can't contain my disappointment any longer over the fans that are on Rex's case. It is becoming redundant reading news articles, comments from readers, former players, media-types, et al, beating up Rex for, well – everything! Talking too much; over-rating his team; putting the "bull's eye" on the teams back; foot-gate; finger-gate; cussing and swearing. The list goes on and on, all accumulated over a short near-3 year period. The media pundits and fans of THIS team, let alone other teams, continue to pile on.

Attention Jets fans: RELAX.

Take a step back at look at the team's history in comparison to the last 3 years. After the coaching carousel that the New York Jets have experienced, living through 1-15, being the laughing stock of the league, lovable losers, 2nd in the city, and everything else we have endured, this fan base should be ecstatic to have Rex as our leader. He’s brought electricity to this team we haven’t seen since forever.

Everyone needs to take a step back from the vomit the typical media spews and the vitriol from opposing fan bases, and look at Rex for what he is. He's one of the best leaders, motivators, and coaches in the NFL. If the media and fan base don't run him out of town, he will be a legend in NYC and the NFL – and he may possibly achieve that without a Super Bowl win. Rex has made the Jets relevant, not just in the New York Area, but on a national - NATIONAL - scale unlike ever before. Namath's "Guarantee" was the next closest thing to national attention and considering the media channels then vs. now (twitter, internet, message boards, etc.), you can easily see how much further Rex has taken the Jets from local to national spotlight.

Rex is putting this team in a position to be a playoff threat every year. He's talking up his players instead of making them humble. That raises the players’ expectations of themselves and they also look to receive the accolades that Rex tosses out. You don't understand how much of a motivational tool that is. It is putting the players in a position to want to achieve and receive Rex's praise, be it behind closed doors or through the media. Obviously all this chatter and Super Bowl talk is also raising our expectations as well (more on this later), but the underlying theme is to get the player to give 100% and play up to or beyond their capabilities. Eric Smith is a prime example of this. Smith should be playing in the Arena league. Any other safety with his skill set, on any other team would have been cut long ago. But Rex is getting Smith to play to a level he never could achieve elsewhere because Rex makes Smith think he is Ed Reed.

As many of Rex's former and current players and coaches/colleagues have stated, whatever comes out of Rex's mouth is 100% what he believes. Everything said by Rex is genuine from his standpoint and believes it a 100%. He shoots from the hip but the words originate from his heart. If you read his recent book release, he mentioned this to the Nth degree. He supports his players, builds them up, hardly tears them down from our perspective, and gets the whole fan base believing that the Jets are winning the Super Bowl. Although it sounds like a lot of hot air, it’s not. He is doing to us what he does to his players - making us believe what he says is true. And there's nothing wrong with that. As his statement in Hard Knocks went, "...the best place to be is when expectations are high". He's infused this fan base and made us raise our own expectations of this team. When was the last time the Jets’ fan base has believed their team was a Super Bowl contender. 1998? Did we really believe that was possible with Herm at the controls? I didn’t. Mangini was cut from the same cloth Belichick was so we were hoping for Bill’s offspring. That didn’t work out as planned, did it?

I keep reading, "He's going to lose the fan base," "it’s empty words," and "I'm sick of Rex not making the right moves." He's a coach in the NFL for a reason, and I'm pretty confident when I say he knows more than any of us reading this. But if a percentage of the NY Jets fan base got their wish, Rex would be gone. So what’s the alternative to Rex? Who's a better choice? Bill Cowher? John Gruden? Really? You mean the Bill Cowher that took 13 years to get Pitt to the SB? The same John Gruden that took over a Bucs team that Dungy primed and groomed for him? Bill Belichick? Yawn - he got lucky with a top notch QB. I'm certainly not taking away from Bill; he's an excellent coach. However, you put a "Tom Brady" or a "Peyton Manning" on any team in the NFL and they will be perennial playoff contenders even with a defense full of Eric Smiths. Nobody wants to have any patience anymore and it’s all about now. So there are already low rumbles of a coaching change. And of course his 25 y.o. QB is getting the brunt of the dump him before he develops as a QB - we can’t wait mentality. That’s a whole different debate I won’t get into now.

This fan base has suffered a long time, but this team has finally found a leader that it can stick with and expect results from year after year. Of course there will be a down year here and there, but you have to accept them and expect them occasionally. But the Jets making an annual playoff appearance for the next 7 to 10 years would be an achievement in and of itself. It is understandable to want more than just a one-and--done team. But who would have thought a rookie head coach, with a rookie QB, would go to the AFC Championship Game, and then follow up their sophomore year with another appearance in the Championship game? Year three doesn’t look as promising but the Jets haven’t been eliminated from the playoffs yet either. Can Rex be the first coach in Jets history to reach the playoffs 3 years in a row? What if I could predict being in the playoffs nine of the next ten years with Rex as HC? I would think the older fans would sign up for that. I most certainly would.

After watching Rex at his press conferences, learning his coaching style, reading his book, watching his leadership DVD among other things, I know in my heart of hearts, this is the man I want leading our team. This is the guy WE want at wheel of the ship. Give him enough time and hope the chips fall in the right place, and the Jets may have a couple of Super Bowl wins as well in the near future.

In this win now and "what have you done for me lately" society we live in, it’s hard to have patience. I know, I’ve been salivating for a Super Bowl appearance for a quarter century. But I beg you, please have some patience. While we have our sights set on the road ahead, or looking for a temporary fix to a down year by replacing the head coach, we may just push aside or lose the best man, leader, and chance at a VLT we ever had in this team’s history.

In Rex we trust.