Two Jersey Guys at a Crossroads

Who would have ever thought one could put Rex Ryan and Chris Christie in the same category. Well, I will! In following the news these past two years, I've discovered these two men are closely alike in many ways (some readers are thinking I am going to touch on physical resemblances, but I'm focusing on personality and leadership), and both are at a major crossroads.

Bill Parcells brought the Jets to respectability in the late 1990s and since Parcells departed, the subsequent coaches from Al Groh to Eric Mangini have been riding his legacy on the team and while they have made playoff appearances, they have not been consistent, have not appeared in any Super Bowls and had quarterbacks of varying successes lead the offense. When the Jets hired Rex Ryan and brought him to Jersey, he brought with him his brash talk, strong defensive play and gained many fans both in the Jets organization and among the fans of Jet Nation. All look at Ryan as the coach who can get the best out of his players and his young franchise quarterback in Mark Sanchez.

Sad to say, New Jersey has not had a great governor since Tom Kean back in the 1980s. Democrats in Jim Florio, Jim McGreevey, Dick Codey and Jon Corzine were seen as tax hikers, big government liberals, big spenders, part of the machine (in McGreevey's case), leader of the machine (in Codey's and Corzine's case) and corrupt (in McGreevey's and Corzine's case). Republicans in Whitman and DiFrancesco have not fared better. While Whitman attracted new businesses to New Jersey, she was a big spender and borrower and in his short leadership, DiFrancesco was also the same, as well as the fact that he had some ethical questions surrounding his past. When New Jersey voters elected Chris Christie, the charismatic and blunt-talking former US Attorney who convicted 130 corrupt politicians, they wanted things done in a different way.

In their respective leadership tenures, both Christie and Ryan have seen successes. Ryan has led the Jets to two consecutive years of respectable winning records and playoff appearances while getting the best out of his players. Christie has held the line on taxes, he has come out strong against public sector unions, he has tried to throw a lifeline to major cities like Atlantic City, and is actively working toward cutting spending in the state. Both Ryan and Christie have shown they are aggressive leaders, both Ryan and Christie say exactly what they are thinking and Ryan and Christie have become YouTube celebrities in their own right.

While they have the potential for great things, there is also the chance they could slip up. This season, Ryan has had his list of problems between the Inez Sainz incident, gaining the reputation of attracting and signing malcontents to play for the Jets, embarrassing losses to the Patriots and Dolphins that cost the Jets the AFC East, the foot-fetish thing (more a strange distraction than anything else), his alleged role in the Alosi incident and his potential to go overboard in his rhetoric. He also hasn't won "the big one" yet, as a head coach.

Christie also has incidents that have the potential to derail his administration between the Schundler Affair, less of a focus on the 6 figure/mid-level/non classroom administrators, (Remember, New Jersey has 614 local school districts with their own Boards of Education, as opposed to the county leadership structure every other state uses. Also, some of the larger districts have 2 Curriculum Supervisors per content area and average around 8-10 Assistant Superintendents) and criticisms relating to the December 2011 blizzard. Furthermore, unemployment in New Jersey is still high and Christie has many conservatives questioning his conservative credentials because he has not joined either the Virginia or Florida Health Care lawsuits making their way through the Federal Court System, as well as the fact that he has mocked some Conservatives or not endorsed them.

With those potential roadblocks, both Christie and Ryan can bring the jury to a decision in their favor by backing up their talk with action; a Super Bowl in Ryan's case and job creation, an embrace of Conservatism and proper education reform in Christie's case. They can also work to avoid future distractions similar to the ones that have dogged them in the past two years.

I think this is a fair blueprint for both leaders and as someone with a vested interest in Rex Ryan's and Chris Christie's leadership (as a Jets fan and resident of New Jersey, respectively), I wish them the best and much success in achieving positive leadership, leading to positive change in their respective organizations.

NOTE: Explicit language in some of the Rex Ryan clips.