Rex Ryan’s best coaching seasons might be a few years removed now, but his gift of gab might live on in the NFL in another form.
The New York Daily News reports that the former New York Jets and Buffalo Bills head coach has signed a multi-year deal with ESPN to be a part of “Sunday NFL Countdown.” He appeared as a guest analyst on Super Bowl Sunday — a tryout of sorts? — and likely convinced executives he’ll be able to talk about football.
When reached by Shutdown Corner, an ESPN spokesman said he had no comment on the report.
Ryan became more known for his talking in recent years than his coaching. He was fired by the Bills before the end of his second season there after signing a five-year deal as their coach before the 2015 season with a record in Buffalo of 15-16.
Although Ryan had some strong successes early in his tenure with the Jets, reaching two AFC championship games, he also missed the playoffs in his final four seasons, failing to surpass the .500 mark in any of them, and was let go after a 4-12 record in 2014.
This is not surprising. CBS and other networks reportedly made a run at Ryan after the Jets fired him and before the Bills made him a whopper of an offer to remain in coaching. Although ESPN reportedly has been working toward shedding talent salaries in the future, adding the straight-shooting Ryan to talk NFL turkey for a show that’s replacing Chris Berman and has sagged a bit in the ratings appears to be a no-brainer — if Ryan is as unfiltered as an analyst as he was as a coach.
If so … snacks for everyone.
No comments:
Post a Comment