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Rex Ryan Biography & Facts

Rex Ashley Ryan (born December 13, 1962) is an American former football coach and analyst. Ryan was formerly the head coach of the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL), and also held various coaching positions with seven other NFL and college teams. He and his fraternal twin brother Rob Ryan are sons of former head coach Buddy Ryan. From a young age, Ryan aspired to follow in his father's footsteps and become a professional football coach. After spending the majority of his youth in Canada, he returned to the United States as a teenager where he attended college at Southwestern Oklahoma State University. Upon graduating, Ryan spent the next 22 years serving as an assistant coach on different teams at both the college and professional level. At the behest of their head coach Brian Billick, Ryan joined the Baltimore Ravens in 1999 and spent ten years there. In 2005, he became the defensive coordinator, and later was promoted to be the team's assistant head coach in 2008. Ryan later accepted a contract offer from the Jets for their vacant head coaching position for the 2009 season. During his tenure, Ryan became well known throughout the league for his outspoken manner, boisterous attitude, and initial success with the Jets. In his first two seasons as the Jets' head coach, he led the team to back-to-back AFC Championship Game appearances. Ryan's subsequent tenure was a period of struggles, as the Jets were unable to finish with a record above a .500 winning percentage. After a career worst 4–12 record at the conclusion of the 2014 season, Ryan was fired as the team's head coach. Shortly after his firing from the Jets, Ryan was hired to be the Bills' head coach, where he lasted two years with the team before being fired at the end of the 2016 season. Afterwards, he was hired by ESPN, where he currently serves as an analyst, including on Sunday NFL Countdown. 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 amicably divorced. Following the divorce, their mother attended the University of Chicago to earn her doctorate. Rex, Rob, and their older brother Jim moved with her to Toronto, Ontario, 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 the age of six, Rex and Rob 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, Doris realized he and his brothers were too much to handle for a single mother trying to advance her career. She 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 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, Rob, and Jim followed their father to Illinois where the family settled in Lincolnshire, Illinois. The brothers attended Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire. Rex went on to attend Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford, Oklahoma, alongside Rob, and played for the football team as a defensive end. He graduated from Southwestern Oklahoma in 1986, and in 2011 was inducted into the university's Hall of Fame. Collegiate coaching Upon graduating from Southwestern in 1986, with the help of his father, Ryan secured a job as a graduate assistant on the Division I-AA (now Division I FCS) Eastern Kentucky Colonels football team. At Eastern Kentucky, he had a multitude of responsibilities which ranged from making copies of game plans to picking players up at the airport. The Colonels won 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 team led the league in defensive turnovers. After his stint with New Mexico Highlands, 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 working for his father for two years 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 team's 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 for a third straight year and subsequently, the entire staff was fired. Ryan served as defensive coordinator at Kansas State for a month in 1999 under head coach Bill Snyder. National Football League Assistant coach When his father was hired as the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals in 1994, he offered Rex his first job in the NFL as a defensive assistant, working with the team's linebackers and defensive linemen. 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 tenure 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. Having visited a class 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 Ryan if he ever attained a head coaching position. When offered the position, Ryan accepted. In his first year, the defense was ranked second overall in the NFL and second in rushing yards allowed. By his second year, in 2000, the Ravens' defense set NFL records for 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, over the New York Giants. 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 Foot.... Discover the Rex Ryan popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Rex Ryan books.