Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton might turn to a big, albeit surprising, name to fill the team’s defensive coordinator position.
Rex Ryan, who interviewed for the DC job before the Super Bowl, has emerged as “a top candidate” for Denver’s opening, according to a report from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo.
This would be a surprising hire given that Ryan hasn’t coached in the NFL since 2016 when he was fired by the Buffalo Bills. As a head coach, Ryan went 15-16 in Buffalo after going 46-50 in six seasons with the New York Jets before that.
Ryan has been working for ESPN since then. His overall results as a head coach were underwhelming, but his defenses often ranked among the NFL’s best. As KUSA-TV’s Mike Klis has pointed out, Ryan’s defenses ranked in the top 10 in nine of his 12 seasons as a defensive coordinator or head coach.
Ryan has already been “doing research on candidates to fill other defensive coaching positions in case he gets the nod from Payton,” according to Klis.
Ryan, 60, comes from an accomplished football family. His father, the late Buddy Ryan, was the defensive coordinator for the famous 1985 Chicago Bears squad that won Super Bowl XX. Buddy also won Super Bowl III as a defensive line coach with the New York Jets.
Rex’s twin brother, Rob, has coached with 10 NFL teams, including a stint as the New Orleans Saints’ defensive coordinator under Payton from 2013-2015. He also won two Super Bowls as an assistant with the New England Patriots.
Rex Ryan won Super Bowl XXXV as a defensive line coach with the Baltimore Ravens in 2001 and later went on to become Baltimore’s defensive coordinator. The Ravens’ defensive success under Ryan helped him land a head coach job with the Jets in 2009.
If he’s going to match the Super Bowl win totals of his father and brother, Ryan will need to return to the NFL and win another ring. Payton might be poised to give him that opportunity.
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