Rex Ryan

Rex Ryan (born December 13, 1962) is an American football head coach for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). After serving as an assistant coach for twenty-two years, Ryan attained his first head coaching job in the NFL with the Jets in 2009. He is the son of former Philadelphia Eagles and Arizona Cardinals head coach Buddy Ryan and is the twin brother of Rob Ryan, defensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys.

Upon accepting the position with the Jets, Ryan became well-known throughout the league for his outspoken manner, boisterous attitude and success with the Jets which has included back-to-back AFC Championship appearances in the 2009 and 2010 seasons. Players have expressed their interest in playing for Ryan because of his player-friendly attitude. Ryan is also known for his highly esteemed defenses which often feature "relentlessness [and] unpredictable mayhem founded on his premise that 'whatever you do best, we're going to take away from you.'"

Early life
Rex Ryan, and his fraternal twin, Rob, were born in Ardmore, Oklahoma on December 13, 1962 to Doris and Buddy Ryan. When the boys were aged two, their parents divorced. Following the divorce, his mother attended the University of Chicago to earn her doctorate. Rex then moved with his mother to Toronto, Canada where she secured an administrative position at the University of Toronto. During the course of his upbringing, Rex wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father, a defensive pioneer in the NFL known for developing the 46 defense, and by age six both boys knew they wanted to pursue coaching careers.

In Canada, there was little emphasis on football, much to the disappointment of Rex. By the time Rex was a teenager, he and his brother were frequently getting into trouble. Doris decided it was in the best interest of the brothers to send them to live with their father, who was the defensive line coach for the Minnesota Vikings at the time. The reasons behind this were two–fold; to keep them out of trouble and to help them expand their knowledge of the game of football where it was more prevalent.

In 1978, when Buddy was hired by the Chicago Bears as their defensive coordinator, Rex followed his father to Illinois where the family settled in Prairie View. The brothers attended Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire.

Rex went on to attend Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford, Oklahoma alongside Rob. Rex played for the football team as a defensive end. He graduated from Southwestern Oklahoma in 1986. He was inducted into Southwestern's Hall of Fame in 2011.

College
Upon graduating from Southwestern Oklahoma State University, Ryan secured a job as a graduate assistant at Division I-AA (now Division I FCS) Eastern Kentucky in 1987 with the help of his father. At Eastern Kentucky, he was responsible for a multitude of jobs. The Colonels held the Ohio Valley Conference title in the two years Ryan served as an assistant. At the age of 26, Ryan became the assistant head coach and defensive coordinator at Division II New Mexico Highlands for a year during which the Cowboys led the league in defensive turnovers. After his stint with New Mexico, Ryan joined Division I Morehead State as the defensive coordinator, where he remained for four years. During his tenure, the defense was ranked among the highest in the nation.

After a two-year stint working for his father with the NFL's Arizona Cardinals, Ryan returned to college coaching as the defensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bearcats. The Bearcats won the first Humanitarian Bowl over Utah State in Ryan's final year, marking the Bearcats' first bowl appearance in fifty years. Ryan was the Oklahoma Sooners' defensive coordinator for a year in which the defense was ranked sixth in the nation. However, head coach John Blake failed to achieve a winning record in three straight years and subsequently, the entire staff was fired. Ryan served as defensive coordinator at Kansas State for a month in 1999 under legendary head coach Bill Snyder.

Assistant coach
When his father, Buddy, was hired as the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals in 1994, Buddy offered Rex his first job in the NFL as a defensive assistant, working with the linebackers and the defensive line. After nine straight losing seasons prior to Buddy's arrival, the Cardinals produced an 8–8 record in Buddy's first year as head coach. However, in his second season, the team went 4–12 and subsequently, the entire staff was fired despite the positive performance of the defense.



Ryan went on to coach at three different colleges following his stint with the Cardinals, though by the time he joined Kansas State in 1999, he was hopeful of a return to the NFL. Ryan received a call from newly named head coach Brian Billick of the Baltimore Ravens who wanted to interview him for the defensive line coaching position in Baltimore. Having visited a classroom Ryan was teaching earlier in his career, Billick had been so impressed by Ryan's passion for the game of football that he decided to hire him if Billick ever attained a head coaching position. When offered the position, Ryan accepted.

In his first year, Ryan learned lessons on coaching talent and managing various personalities, which contributed to the defense's early success. By his second year, in 2000, the Ravens' defense set NFL records for fewest points allowed and fewest rushing yards allowed. The defense allowed a combined 23 points in four playoff games en route to a Super Bowl XXXV victory, Ryan's only Super Bowl ring. The defense consistently performed well in the following years. As a result, Ryan was promoted to defensive coordinator in 2005 following the departure of Mike Nolan, who became the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. In 2006, Ryan received Assistant Coach of the Year awards from Pro Football Weekly and the Pro Football Writers Association.

Upon the conclusion of the Ravens' 5–11 performance in 2007, the entire staff was dismissed on New Year's Eve. Ryan was one of the candidates interviewed by the Ravens for their head coaching vacancy; however, the Ravens chose to name John Harbaugh as the team's new head coach. Ryan also interviewed with Miami and Atlanta about filling their head coaching vacancies however, the offers went to Tony Sparano and Mike Smith respectively.

Ryan was disappointed by his failure to obtain a head coaching job, but he agreed to return to Baltimore under the direction of Harbaugh, who retained Ryan as defensive coordinator and promoted him to assistant head coach. In 2008, Ryan's final year with the team, the defense was ranked second overall in the NFL. The Ravens lost by nine points in the AFC Championship Game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Ryan's 10-year tenure with the team, during which the defense never ranked lower than sixth overall in the NFL, came to an end about an hour later when he accepted the head coaching position with the New York Jets.

New York Jets
Following a late season collapse in which the New York Jets missed the playoffs after losing four of their final five games, the team fired head coach Eric Mangini. The team interviewed a host of candidates, including Ryan, Jeff Jagodzinski, Russ Grimm, Bill Callahan, and Brian Schottenheimer, however, the contract, which was valued at approximately $11.5 million over the course of four years, was ultimately offered to Ryan.

Accepting the offer, Ryan immediately began to carry out a platform he outlined for the franchise's future. The basic idea was to get the players away from any distractions on or off the field and have them get to know one another to build team chemistry. Thus, training camp was moved to the campus of SUNY Cortland where the team would be relatively secluded from the media and any other distractions. Ryan and general manager Mike Tannenbaum were also determined to draft a quarterback who could lead and be the face of the franchise. As a result, the team traded up to select Mark Sanchez with the fifth overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft.

The Jets opened their season against the Houston Texans. Ryan began his head coaching career with a 24–7 victory over the Texans after the Jets' defense shut out their opponents' offense. Houston's lone score came on a fumble return for a touchdown. The following week, the defense did not allow a touchdown against the New England Patriots in a 16–9 victory at home, marking the Jets' first home victory over New England since 2000. Ryan and the Jets went on to defeat the Tennessee Titans in week three, marking the first time the Jets opened the season at 3–0 since 2004. The victory also allowed Ryan to become the Jets' first rookie head coach to win his first three games since Al Groh in 2000. The team went on to lose six of their next seven games save for a shutout victory over the Oakland Raiders, 38–0.

The team eventually recovered and won five of their final six games despite Ryan incorrectly stating the Jets had been "mathematically" eliminated from playoff contention following a loss to the Atlanta Falcons. The Jets defeated a previously undefeated Indianapolis Colts—a game not without controversy following Jim Caldwell's decision to pull Indianapolis' starters with the Colts leading. The Colts, who already achieved a playoff berth, had little to play for aside from a perfect record. In the final game of the season, the Jets defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 37–0 at Giants Stadium, the final sporting event to be held at the venue, as Ryan's defense held Cincinnati to 72 total rushing yards, and 0 total yards passing. The victory secured New York's playoff berth as a wild card team.

New York defeated Cincinnati again the following week, this time at Paul Brown Stadium, in the AFC Wild Card playoff round. On January 17, 2010, Ryan coached the Jets in an upset over the San Diego Chargers, 17–14, on their way to the AFC Championship Game. The Jets subsequently lost to the Indianapolis Colts 30–17 after leading in the first half of the game. Ryan became embroiled in controversy a few days later when he flashed an obscene gesture towards heckling Dolphins fans who spat on him during a Strikeforce mixed martial arts event at BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida. Ryan apologized for his actions, stating that it was "stupid and inappropriate." Ryan was fined $50,000 by the Jets.

As Ryan headed into his second year as the team's head coach, the club announced he had been granted a two–year contract extension. Ryan continued to exude confidence in the team writing on ESPN's Tour Bus "Soon To Be Champs" in August. When the team appeared on the television series Hard Knocks that same month, Ryan was criticized, mainly by former head coach Tony Dungy, for his use of foul language. Dungy and Ryan later met in person to clear the air. Ryan's championship claims were nearly proven correct as the Jets opened the season with the best record in the NFL at 9–2. This set the stage for a Monday night showdown with their division rival, the New England Patriots, who were also 9–2. The Monday night matchup was only the fourth since 1986 to feature two teams with at least 9–2 records. The Patriots, behind the strong performance of quarterback Tom Brady, humiliated the Jets 45–3. However, the Jets finished the season with a 11–5 record and qualified as a wild card team in the playoffs. Additionally, the Jets won eleven games, one win short of tying the franchise record set by the 1998 team led by Bill Parcells.

In the wild card round, the sixth–seeded Jets beat the AFC South champion and the third–seeded Indianapolis Colts 17–16 on January 8, 2011 on the road to qualify for the Divisional Playoffs. The following week, on January 16, despite being overwhelmingly named the underdogs, they defeated the AFC East champion and first–seeded New England Patriots 28–21, ending the Patriots' eight–game winning streak. The Jets became the first team to lose a regular season matchup by more than 35 points and then beat that same team (New England) in the playoffs during the same season. The victory made the Jets the first team to win back–to–back road playoff games in consecutive seasons, and qualified them to advance to the AFC Championship Game for the second consecutive season, where they lost on the road to the AFC North champion Pittsburgh Steelers.

Coaching philosophy
Ryan stresses that coaches are essentially supposed to be open and communicative with the players and management who in turn will reciprocate the same attitude.


 * I want my players to know who I am, just like I want to know who they are. I want there to be that connection as people. That's valuable when it comes to figuring out how to motivate somebody. It's valuable because I want that guy to fight for me, just like I want to fight for him.

Ryan has also stressed that the teaching process is an important one particularly when it comes to feeding a player information and building chemistry. However, there has to be flexibility as the process must also be insightful and positive.


 * While the entire team is my responsibility as head coach, there are times I have to hold back and let my assistant coaches coach. Even so, I've always pushed my coaches toward the teaching process. That's where I felt like I had the biggest impact. Hey, we are all good coaches and they know what they're doing, but the one thing I did want to control was the way we taught. I want it to be specific. I want it to be energetic. I wanted the players to get exactly what they need instead of the mind-numbing dump of "You know what? I'm going to throw so much shit at the players that even if it doesn't go right I can rest well at night at least to say I covered it, so it's not my fault". That's not teaching. If you emphasize everything, you've emphasized nothing.

Coaching strategy
With extensive knowledge regarding the intricacies of the defense, many have come to regard Ryan as "anti-offense." However, Ryan aims to develop a proficient run game citing a desire to "get after" the opponent through running the football. Ryan has also stated that passing the ball is important but should not be used incessantly as there should be a balance between both aspects of the offense.

His defensive strategy, in contrast, tends to be more elaborate taking into consideration his experience in the field. There are six different defensive formations utilized in football however the two commonly used formations are the 3-4 formation, with three defensive lineman and four linebackers, and the 4-3 formation, with four defensive lineman and three linebackers. The Jets officially utilize the former of the two popular formations however, Ryan tends to employ all six formations in varying forms. Furthermore, he often calls audibles having the defense line up in one formation and switching to another so as to cloak their intentions and confuse and pressure the opponent.

As a testament to this philosophy, Ryan is often willing to defer the coin toss to the opponent in order to open the game on defense and "set the tone," generate turnovers and "create plays" as a result of these turnovers. This concept has been criticized by ESPN's John Clayton who has found the method to be ineffective league-wide.

Coaching tree
NFL head coaches under whom Rex Ryan has served:

Assistant coaches under Rex Ryan who have become NFL head coaches:
 * No Coaches

Personal life
Ryan and his wife, Michelle, were married in 1987. Together, they have two sons, Payton and Seth. Ryan earned a Bachelor of Science and a Master's degree in physical education from Eastern Kentucky University. He currently resides in Summit, New Jersey.

Ryan publicly announced in 2009 that he had been battling dyslexia for his entire life. During his early years, Ryan was diagnosed as being "slow" however, after visiting his doctor in 2007, testing confirmed Ryan did indeed have dyslexia.

In December 2010, Deadspin reported that a series of foot-fetish videos had been discovered featuring a woman who allegedly appeared to be Ryan's wife, Michelle, while the cameraman, who was not seen on tape, allegedly was Ryan himself. Ryan did not confirm nor deny the allegations however he did state in a press conference that the issue was a personal matter.

Weight loss surgery
Ryan underwent lap-band surgery at NYU Medical Center in March 2010 in an effort to battle his obesity. Ryan also had a hernia repaired during the procedure. He was able to return to his home that same day to recover. Following a three-week period he had lost 40 pounds and as of May 2011, Ryan has lost 65 pounds.

Book
Ryan released "Play Like You Mean It", an autobiography and a conversational about football strategy. The book, which was published by Doubleday in the spring of 2011, was co-written by Don Yaeger, a former Sports Illustrated editor who has co-authored the autobiographies of former NFL players Walter Payton and Warren Moon.

Acting career
Ryan is set to appear in the Adam Sandler film That's My Boy which will be released on June 15, 2012. Ironically, his character will be a fan of the New York Jets rival, the New England Patriots.