Rex Ryan is many things, but quiet is not one of them. When his tenure with the Buffalo Bills unceremoniously ended with his ousting, he immediately became a hot commodity in the broadcasting market.
Rex Ryan is going to the Super Bowl ... as an ESPN analyst
It didn’t take the former Bills coach long to find a studio job.
Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports
While CBS, Fox, and NFL Network all came calling, the 54-year-old former head coach decided to take his talents to the worldwide leader.
Ryan will join ESPN at Super Bowl LI as a member of the network’s Sunday NFL Countdown panel. The AFC East mainstay should have plenty to say about Tom Brady and the Patriots — he faced New England 16 times from 2009 to 2016, going 5-11 in the process.
“Rex is a great personality and has a unique perspective,” said Seth Markman, ESPN senior coordinating producer. “He knows the Patriots really well. He’s raring to go.”
Ryan’s deal with the network is currently only for Sunday’s three-hour show, but could make ESPN his likely home for 2017 if he eschews a return to the sideline this fall. The football lifer could probably find a spot as a coordinator in the NFL or even as a head coach in the college ranks, but may decide the less stressful life of an analyst is the way to go.
If he remains at ESPN, Sunday Countdown will get an animated football mind who’s not afraid to say exactly what he means. Ryan built a reputation as a boisterous and honest man who passed up traditional coaching platitudes to become one of the league’s best interviews. His trash talk exchanges with Bill Belichick were legendary. He once pretended to be a Buffalo News reporter to ask Julian Edelman who the Patriots would start at quarterback in Week 4. He even called for his own firing with the Bills, telling owner Terry Pegula to pull the trigger in Week 16 rather than waiting until the offseason.
His presence could help offset the loss of Chris Berman, who stepped down as the program’s lead host this winter.
Ryan will bring his honesty and absurdity to ESPN on Sunday, where he’s liable to take to the studio like a fish to water. If all goes well, Ryan could become a mainstay of network NFL broadcasts into the future.
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