Rex Ryan reportedly wants Big Ten coaching job
Why the hell not?
Former Jets coach Rex Ryan as been “putting out feelers” regarding the open job at Maryland, according to InsideMDSports. The Terrapins are in the market for a new coach after canning Mike Locksley earlier in October.
Ryan has not coached since he was fired by the Bills with a game to go in the 2016 season. But it has not been from a lack of trying. The current ESPN analyst has tried to get himself in the mix for other college jobs — Miami comes to mind — and he was also granted an interview with the Jets before they hired embattled current coach Aaron Glenn. And this reported push for the Terps is not as out-of-left-field as it may seem.
Ryan is still pretty young — he will turn 64 in December. He has ties to the region from his years as a Ravens assistant. And Ryan possesses much more college experience than most veteran NFL coaches, albeit decades ago. His last stint on campus was as Cincinnati’s defensive coordinator in 1996-97. Throw in the fact Maryland is a resource-challenged program that likely lacks big money to pay a marquee college coach and that Ryan’s style would presumably play well with college kids and it sounds at least semi-rational, no?
That said: We wonder if Ryan’s real intention here is getting his name out there again ahead of what he knows is coming. Glenn is obviously going to get sent packing and the Jets are going to launch yet another coaching search. And this one will come as the Giants appear to finally be back in business. Gang Green desperately needs a spark. Why not get the band back together? Seth Ryan, Rex’s son, is already on staff. Brother Rob Ryan probably won’t have a job at USC for long based on the way things are trending there. And the fatal flaw of Rex’s first tenure — the lack of a quarterback — can be fixed with GM Darren Mougey’s array of first-round picks.
Rex returning to town would be a top-10 all-time New York sports moment. And if he gets a competent GM, a young passer and a good offensive coordinator with full autonomy, it could be glorious. Or a complete disaster. But he’ll make it entertaining either way!
James Kratch is a veteran sports reporter and editor. He currently reports on the youth sports industry for Buying Sandlot and was previously ESNY's managing editor. Before that he spent a decade at NJ Advance Media (The Star-Ledger and NJ.com), where he covered high school sports, the Giants and Rutgers.
