Rex Ryan on if he regrets Bill Belichick comments: 'Oh hell no'

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. – What started off with a bang six years ago, with promises Super Bowl trips, might soon come to an end with a whimper for New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan.

With a 3-11 team that could cost him his job, Ryan is left to play out the string of a sad season.

But before Ryan faces his likely departure from his first job as an NFL head coach, he must face off against nemesis Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots. Ryan, who got the second win of his Jets career in 2009 against the Patriots, had some memorable moments squaring off against the divisional rivals. He has also had some famous words for Belichick, the coach who has bested him more times than anyone else over the past six years.

In the summer of 2009 just months after he was hired, Ryan famously declared on New York sports radio station WFAN that "I never came here to kiss Bill Belichick's, you know, rings. I came to win – let's just put it that way. So we'll see what happens; I'm certainly not intimidated by New England or anybody else.”

Even with his team a shell of its former glory (the Jets knocked the Patriots out of the playoffs in the 2010 season, part of a pair of trips to the AFC championship game), Ryan still has no regrets for how he has gone through his tenure in New York. And certainly not a single regret about what he said about Belichick years ago.

“Oh, hell no, because I never came here to do that. I came here to kick his butt,” Ryan said. “Obviously, I haven’t been very successful at it, but that list is long. I’m not just the only name on that list." 

This past week, Ryan has been complimentary of Belichick, calling him a Hall of Fame head coach and repeatedly heaping praise on his supposed nemesis. But he hasn't lost all of his bravado.

Ryan is facing what is likely his final two games as the Jets' head coach, and this will be the fourth straight season without a playoff berth (although it's hard to fault the coach for all of it; the personnel on the Jets is in the bottom tier in terms of talent).

But the desire to beat the Patriots still burns. Even though the odds are against it, he'd like to beat his rival one more time, just like he predicted years ago.

"I might be the only one that had the guts to say something about it, but that’s how I am," Ryan said. "That’s how I feel this week too. No different than any other time I’ve been here.”

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Kristian R. Dyer writes for Metro New York and is a contributor to Yahoo! Sports. Follow him on Twitter @KristianRDyer