Rex Ryan Wants to "Pair Up" Up with Marc Trestman If He Gets Another Head Coaching Job?

The NFL coaching carousel is in full swing, with various candidates interviewing for the five current vacancies around the league. Although both Rex Ryan and Marc Trestman were fired last month, the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport floats the idea today that the former Jets and Bears coaches want to “pair up” with Trestman serving as Ryan’s offensive coordinator. That’s, at least, the impression Ryan is giving during interviews.

When Rex Ryan is asked who his offensive coordinator will be as HC, 1 of his strongest pitches includes Marc Trestman. They want to pair up.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 10, 2015

Although this might amount nothing more than random coaching speculation, the idea does make some sense at first glance. Nobody is ever going to confuse Ryan as the second-coming of Don Coryell given his persistent issues on the offensive side of the ball while in charge of the Jets. That said, Ryan does know how to coach defense in the NFL quite well.

Trestman’s second season in charge of the Bears was a disaster, but he did come to Chicago as a highly-regarded offensive mind. In 2013 Chicago finished second in points per game at 27.8 — and that’s with journeyman Josh McCown playing down the stretch. (The Broncos were first at 37.9.)

What’s a little more interesting, when comparing the 2014 Jets and Bears offensive numbers and there’s not a lot of variance. In 2014 the Bears were 23rd in points per game (19.9) while the Jets were 29th (17.7). Looking at yards per game the Bears were 21st (327.1) while the Jets were 22nd (326.6). Stats, of course, don’t tell the whole story when it comes to the NFL.

Defensively the numbers back up the reputations of both Ryan and Trestman a little better. The Jets allowed the sixth-least yards per game to opponents, while the Bears were 30th.

As the theme to Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure once sang, two heads are better than one, which appears to be Ryan and Trestman’s approach here, if true.