FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) - Rex Ryan turned to his wife with a big, broad smile and asked her to recite the parting line he uses every summer.
"Goodbye, my dear," Michelle Ryan said without hesitating, "Football's here."
And Rex Ryan couldn't be any more excited. The New York Jets coach opens his first training camp as a head coach next Friday in Cortland, N.Y., and is eager to get started.
"It's on, especially now," Ryan said Wednesday. "Do I have a chip on my shoulder and things like that? Always. I'm going into this season no different. I have something to prove as a head coach. When we're predicted last by almost all the major publications in our division, I don't care."
From the moment he was introduced as New York's coach in January, Ryan has spoken with confidence and made brash statements - including getting into a playful exchange with Miami Dolphins linebacker Channing Crowder. The time to back it all up is almost here.
"The Channing Crowder thing, I was having fun with that stuff and it's unfortunate that I think that got kind of blown out of proportion," Ryan said. "That's something if I had to do it all again, maybe I'd take back. But, I will say this: I stand by everything I've ever said. Who I am is what you see everyday and I'm not changing."
Ryan and his wife were at the team's facility promoting a program sponsored by the NFL and Gatorade called "Beat the Heat," which educates parents and coaches about heat-related illnesses and the importance of staying hydrated. Gatorade is donating $1 to "Beat the Heat" charities for every download of its heat safety kit at www.nfl.com/trainingcamp.
When veterans report to camp next Thursday, Ryan expects running backs Thomas Jones and Leon Washington to be there. Both missed parts of the offseason programs while looking to renegotiate their contracts.
Washington, who has said he's uncertain if he'll hold out, is in the final year of his rookie deal and wants about $6 million a year. Jones, who hasn't spoken to the media during the offseason, is entering the third year of a four-year, $20 million deal that was front-loaded.
"They're under contract, just like all their teammates," Ryan said. "This is a mandatory camp and we have every player signed, so I would anticipate all of our players being there. I'd be really disappointed, obviously, if that's not the case."
Potential holdouts aside, most of the attention from fans and media will be focused on the quarterbacks, with touted rookie Mark Sanchez competing for the starting job with inexperienced veteran Kellen Clemens.
"I'm confident in the fact that the guy who emerges as the starter will have earned the job," Ryan said. "We'll see who that is. Obviously, Kellen's got a head start because this will be his fourth season in the same system. I think Sanchez, there's a reason we took him with the fifth overall pick, so let him have at it."
The uncertainty at the position is only one reason the Jets are being picked to finish behind New England, Miami and, in some cases, Buffalo in the AFC East.
"They question our receivers, they question me being a first-year head coach and I've never been thought of as a negative for a team," said Ryan, who recently e-mailed his players about the lack of respect they're getting. "I've always been thought of as a positive. We'll see."
Ryan has vowed to make the Jets one of the most physical teams in the league, with an aggressive and unpredictable defense. He said his experience with Baltimore last season, a loss to Pittsburgh in the AFC championship game, further validated his approach.
"Last year, where we failed with Baltimore in Pittsburgh, they won the game in the playoffs because they actually played more physical than us," he said. "That's hard for me to say, but that's what happened."
Ryan will have to make do without outside linebacker Calvin Pace, who was suspended the first four games of the season for violating the league's policy on performance-enhancing substances. Pace will be replaced by second-year linebacker Vernon Gholston, who struggled mightily as a rookie.
"Guys have got to step up and we talked about Vernon Gholston," Ryan said. "Hey, here it is. We said he's going to be a big part of what we do. Now, he's in the starting rotation."
And, now Ryan is leading a football team, something that thrills his wife.
"I've seen him dominate at every level and in every situation he's been in," Michelle Ryan said. "I'm so happy he's finally getting this opportunity that I think he's earned and deserves."
Ryan, seated to his wife's left, then turned and asked her: "What's going to happen at the end of the day, babe?"
"You're still going to dominate," she said with a grin.
"Yep," he said with a laugh. "There it is."