Ravens add ex-Saints DC Rob Ryan as an assistant coach

The Baltimore Ravens hired ex-New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Rob Ryan as their new inside linebackers coach, per ESPN reporting.

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ESPN’s Jamison Hensley reported that the Baltimore Ravens have found a new inside linebackers coach: Rob Ryan. He will be replacing Mike Macdonald, who was recently hired by the Michigan Wolverines as their next defensive coordinator.

Ryan, of course, is the former New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator who coached the team from 2013 until his midseason firing in 2015. Current Saints coordinator Dennis Allen was partnered with Ryan at the time and has since gone on to field several strong units over the years.

After being let go in New Orleans, Ryan later joined his brother Rex Ryan’s staff with the Buffalo Bills in 2016. He spent the 2017 and 2018 seasons taking a turn in the media for Fox Sports and Sky Sports NFL coverage before joining Washington in 2019 — as an inside linebackers coach, the same position he now holds in Baltimore. He wasn’t carried over onto Ron Rivera’s staff and spent the last year out of football altogether. We’ll see how it works out.

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Saints defense avoids ‘worst of the decade’ title despite multiple last-place finishes

The Saints defense ranked among the lowest in NFL history from 2012 to 2015, but it wasn’t enough to earn ‘worst of the decade’ status.

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The New Orleans Saints spent too much time lowering the bar for historically-bad defensive play in the 2010’s, but a three-year upturn near the end of the decade might have saved their reputation.

That’s the case in a recent writeup from ESPN chronicling the best and worst performances from around the NFL over the last ten years. The Las Vegas Raiders might be on the move in 2020, but the reputation they’ve carried over after years and years of futility on defense in Oakland outweighs any bad memories Saints fans might still be trying to repress. ESPN named the Raiders as the NFL’s worst defense from the last decade, citing their bottom-rung performances in points allowed (26.2 per game) and yards yielded (360.7).

For context, the Saints entered the wrong end of NFL record books by allowing 28.4 points and 440.1 yards per game (in 2012), improving slightly in 2014 with 26.5 points and 384 yards surrendered per game, once Rob Ryan was at the wheel as defensive coordinator. But New Orleans ranked dead-last in 2015 for both points (29.8) and yards per game (413.4), Ryan’s last year with the team. It’s no surprise that the Saints went 7-9 in each season, squandering the prime of Drew Brees’ career.

But what is surprising is how far the Saints have come. They were fortunate to not be defined by these all-time terrible performances, having put in the work to overhaul the coaching staff, scouting department, and locker room makeup after three consecutive 7-9 finishes. Change was needed, and Sean Payton took major steps to address it. Now, he’s reaping the rewards.

For context, the Saints allowed only 21.3 points per game last season. They limited opponents to just 333 yards on offense, doing much of the heavy lifting when Brees missed five games with an injured throwing hand. Spearheaded by playmakers like Marcus Williams (who led the team with four interceptions in 2019), Cameron Jordan, Demario Davis, and Marshon Lattimore, the Saints defense has had just as much to brag about as its offense — and sometimes more.

So keep that in mind the next time someone botches a coverage or two in a single game. We’ve come a long way from the days of Ryan cursing out Jairus Byrd, Brandon Browner, Corey White, and Kenny Vaccaro from the sidelines. It could be so much worse.

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Rob Ryan says that Dwayne Haskins was ‘definitely not ready’ for NFL

The Redskins’ former LB coach had some interesting things to say about Haskins during his rookie season.

Remember Rob Ryan, brother of Rex? He was the linebackers coach for the Washington Redskins in 2019, and before that he bounced around the NFL quite a bit, winning two Super Bowls with the New England Patriots.

After being relieved of his duties in Washington following the influx of new coaches under Ron Rivera, Ryan has had some time on his hands, and he recently made his way onto The Herd with Colin Cowherd to discuss his former team’s quarterback, Dwayne Haskins.

“He’s a good kid,” Ryan said. “He’s got a big arm, a lot of talent, but definitely not ready for the rigors of the NFL.”

It’s hard to argue against the blunt statement, seeing as before his final three games of the season, Haskins looked to be in over his head when it came to running an NFL offense. However, in his final three games of the season, Haskins looked to take a giant step towards competence, throwing for five touchdowns and one interception.

“He got a lot better from when he was thrown into games. I remember in New York, it was awful,” Ryan said. “He wasn’t ready. We threw him in the game and it wasn’t fair to the kid. He just wasn’t ready. So at least each week I saw him trying to get better. I saw him trying to meet with (former QBs coach) Tim Rattay, who’s a real fine coach now at Oklahoma State. He was trying to get better.”

From what we’ve seen so far this offseason, Haskins has been in the gym a ton working to perfect his craft and trying to get better. If all goes well, he will be ready for the rigors of the NFL by the time the 2020 season kicks off.

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The Shanahans and 21 other fathers and sons who became coaches/managers

Mike and Kyle Shanahan are one of a number of father-son tandems to have coached or managed.

Mike and Kyle Shanahan are a father-son combo that has done well in coaching, for sure. There are many sons that have followed their dad’s careers.

Eddie, Scott and Sean Sutton

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The Suttons have held many jobs in college basketball. Eddie was the head coach of Creighton, Arkansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma State, and University of San Francisco. He has taken two schools (Arkansas and Oklahoma State) to the Final Four, and was the first coach to lead four schools to the NCAA tournament. Sean Sutton was a head coach of Oklahoma State University and Scott Sutton coached Oral Roberts University,