Rex Ryan

Rex Ashley Ryan was born on December 13, 1962, and is a former American football coach who now works as an analyst. He served as head coach for the NFL’s New York Jets and Buffalo Bills, and held assistant coaching roles with seven other professional and college teams.

Ryan and his fraternal twin brother, Rob, are the sons of former head coach Buddy Ryan. From an early age, Rex wanted to become a professional football coach like his father. He spent most of his childhood in Canada before moving back to the United States as a teenager. He attended Southwestern Oklahoma State University, and after graduating, he spent 22 years as an assistant coach at various college and pro teams.

In 1999, at the request of head coach Brian Billick, Ryan joined the Baltimore Ravens. He spent a decade there, becoming defensive coordinator in 2005 and assistant head coach in 2008. He then accepted an offer to become head coach of the Jets in 2009. Ryan quickly became known for his loud, outspoken personality and early success. In his first two seasons, the Jets reached the AFC Championship Game both times. After that, the team struggled, never finishing above .500. Following a 4–12 season in 2014, Ryan was fired. He was soon hired as head coach of the Bills, but was let go after the 2016 season. He then joined ESPN, where he works as an analyst, including on Sunday NFL Countdown.

Rex and his fraternal twin Rob were born in Ardmore, Oklahoma, to Doris and Buddy Ryan. When the boys were two, their parents divorced amicably. Their mother then earned her doctorate at the University of Chicago and moved with Rex, Rob, and older brother Jim to Toronto, Ontario, where she took an administrative job at the University of Toronto. Growing up, Rex wanted to follow his father, a defensive innovator who created the 46 defense. By age six, both twins knew they wanted to coach.

Football was not emphasized in Canada, which frustrated Rex. When he became a teenager, Doris decided her sons were too much for her to handle while advancing her career, so she sent them to live with their father, then the defensive line coach for the Minnesota Vikings. The move was meant to keep them out of trouble and let them learn football in a place where it was more popular.

In 1978, Buddy became defensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears, and the family settled in Lincolnshire, Illinois. Rex, Rob, and Jim attended Stevenson High School there.

Rex and Rob both attended Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford, Oklahoma, where Rex played defensive end. He graduated in 1986 and was inducted into the university’s Hall of Fame in 2011.

After graduating, with his father’s help, Ryan became a graduate assistant for the Division I-AA Eastern Kentucky Colonels. His duties ranged from making copies of game plans to picking up players at the airport. The Colonels won the Ohio Valley Conference title both years he was there. At age 26, he became assistant head coach and defensive coordinator at Division II New Mexico Highlands, where the team led the league in defensive turnovers. He then spent four years as defensive coordinator at Division I Morehead State, where the defense ranked among the nation’s best.

After working for his father for two years with the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals, Ryan returned to college as defensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bearcats. In his final year, the Bearcats won the Humanitarian Bowl—their first bowl appearance in 50 years. He then spent a year as defensive coordinator for the Oklahoma Sooners, where the defense ranked sixth nationally, but head coach John Blake was fired after a third straight losing season, and the entire staff was let go. In 1999, Ryan served as defensive coordinator at Kansas State for one month under head coach Bill Snyder.

When his father became head coach of the Arizona Cardinals in 1994, he gave Rex his first NFL job as a defensive assistant working with linebackers and defensive linemen. The Cardinals had nine straight losing seasons before Buddy’s arrival, but went 8–8 in his first year. In his second year, the team went 4–12, and the entire staff was fired despite the defense’s strong performance.

Ryan then coached at three different colleges. By the time he joined Kansas State in 1999, he hoped to return to the NFL. He received a call from newly hired Ravens head coach Brian Billick and joined Baltimore that year.