Rex Ryan is suddenly being linked to a return to NFL coaching.
New York Giants head coach John Harbaugh was asked during an interview with WFAN this week if Ryan might be an option for the team’s defensive coordinator job. Harbaugh’s response was enthusiastic.
“Why not? Can you imagine Rex coming back in here?” Harbaugh said. “I’m not ruling anything out. A guy like Rex, he’s around the game, he knows the game. He’d have to get updated with some of the schemes and stuff, but nobody calls a better game than Rex Ryan. … Let’s give him a call.”
Harbaugh may well have been being polite in response to the question, but the comment was enough to fuel speculation. Ryan has been working as an ESPN analyst and has become known for his rather blunt takes on the NFL world.
Ryan was Harbaugh’s defensive coordinator in Baltimore in 2008. He has not coached in the NFL since his time in charge of the Buffalo Bills a decade ago, though he has shown interest in coaching again and claimed that he would have taken a defensive coordinator job two years ago if the money had been right.
Bringing Ryan back to New York would certainly be a major story. Harbaugh seems at least open to it, though it remains to be seen if he was completely serious.
