The Rex Ryan sweepstakes look to have a clear front-runner. As the former Bills and Jets coach explores what’s next after being fired in Buffalo, all signs point to him entering into television for the next stage of his career. The fit is obvious – Ryan likes the cameras and likes to talk and television likes those kind of people. If Ryan doesn’t get another head coaching job, it’s very easy to see him making that transition.
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While speculation has been rampant as to which network Ryan might land at, we have our first indication of where his new home is going to be. Ryan will work Super Bowl Sunday for ESPN, but right now it’s only a one-shot deal. At least for now.
Via John Ourand at Sports Business Journal:
When the Buffalo Bills fired Rex Ryan in December, four sports TV networks (CBS, ESPN, Fox and NFL Network) reached out almost immediately to persuade the former coach to take his act to television.
Ryan opted for ESPN, signing a deal to appear on “NFL Sunday Countdown” from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. ET on Super Bowl Sunday.
ESPN says the deal only covers Super Bowl Sunday, but it clearly makes ESPN a front-runner to sign Ryan to a longer deal if he’s unable to find a coaching job he likes.
“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.”
This is probably the beginning of a longer term relationship between Ryan and ESPN. Bristol has been pretty relaxed with signing new analysts who might have interest elsewhere but can ultimately stay under the ESPN umbrella (see Tebow, Tim). So if Ryan does go back into coaching again, this leaves ESPN with an already established relationship and likely an open door for whenever Ryan wants to make it official.
Chances are that could be as early as this coming season. The timing is interesting, though, given that ESPN just hired a litany of new analysts for Sunday NFL Countdown like Matt Hasselbeck, Randy Moss, and Charles Woodson to join Chris Berman and Trent Dilfer last year. Even though it’s already a very crowded set, ESPN currently doesn’t have a former coach on Countdown, so that might be the reasoning for wanting to bring in Ryan for that show and other appearances across the network.
It’s just ironic that Ryan might be brought to ESPN with Chris Berman on his way out. Those two could have been on-air soulmates.
