The 2016 season ultimately ended up as another pretty solid dumpster fire for the Buffalo Bills. Even though the team finished 7-9 and was competitive after a slow start, Rex Ryan was fired following just his second season in western New York.
There were warning signs it might not go well. Specifically when Rex decided to bring his brother Rob Ryan in as the defensive coordinator, a move that felt like a force at the time and certainly carried some all-or-nothing potential to it.
The gamble flamed out, and according to a report from Gary Myers of the New York Daily News on Sunday, there were absolutely some issues relating to the Ryan Bros and how things went down in Orchard Park.
According to Myers, Rex “basically dedicated” last year to “resurrecting the reputation” of Rob and gave him the “run of the place.”
According to a well-placed source, Rex Ryan basically dedicated the 2016 season to resurrecting the reputation of his brother Rob, who most recently had been fired by the Cowboys and Saints. Rob was not the Bills defensive coordinator but had the run of the place. He was almost the co-head coach. It backfired on Rex and they both got canned. Bills owner Terry Pegula was so anxious to end the Ryan reign of error that he let him go with three years and $16.5 million left on his contract. Rex was so concerned about his brother that the staff became dysfunctional. Rex groupies will find it hard to believe it was his fault, but some of his actions behind the scenes were indicative of a coach with a death wish.
The Saints rather unceremoniously dumped Rob from his previous job and the brothers clearly weren’t thrilled about how things went down.
So with Rex having an opening at the defensive coordinator spot, he brought Rob in. The result was Rex piling on the pounds (he gained 30 pounds by early August) and the two promising to go nuclear on anyone who had ever wronged them.
Things didn’t quite play out with the Ryans setting the league on fire; instead things started so poorly that Rex fired offensive coordinator Greg Roman just two weeks into the season. Many people wondered why he wasn’t examining the defensive side of the ball.
It was pretty much presumed that if the Bills missed the playoffs during the 2016 season that Rex would be gone. That was ratcheted up when the brothers started talking about beating Bill Belichick and getting into the postseason.
That didn’t happen and it led to Rex’s ouster (and eventual employment at ESPN), and there is a very good case that Ryan’s stubbornness when it comes to his family could have had something to do with it.
