John Harbaugh wasn’t just making conversation when he went on WFAN last month and floated the idea of hiring Rex Ryan as his defensive coordinator. The Athletic’s Ian O’Connor reported over the weekend that Harbaugh actually followed through and spoke with Ryan “at length” about the job before ultimately hiring Dennard Wilson.
“I talked to Rex about that job at length,” Harbaugh told O’Connor. “Rex is a guy I love and have a lot of respect for.”
The idea came up during a WFAN appearance when hosts Tiki Barber, Evan Roberts, and Shaun Morash asked whether Harbaugh would consider hiring Ryan. “Why not? Could 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’s going to have to get updated a little bit with some of the scheme stuff, but I’ll tell you, nobody calls a better game than Rex Ryan.”
Ryan hasn’t coached in the NFL since Buffalo fired him after the 2016 season. He’s spent the past decade as an ESPN analyst, contributing to Sunday NFL Countdown, Get Up, and SportsCenter since joining the network in 2017. During that time, the league has shifted away from the pressure-heavy, blitz-heavy defenses Ryan built his reputation on in Baltimore and New York. Offenses have adapted with quick-game passing concepts, pre-snap motion, and RPOs designed specifically to exploit aggressive defensive schemes.
Harbaugh acknowledged Ryan would need to catch up on scheme evolution, but he was willing to have serious discussions anyway. Ryan worked as Harbaugh’s defensive coordinator in Baltimore in 2008, the only season they spent together before Ryan left to become the Jets’ head coach. That Ravens team allowed 261.1 yards per game, second-best in the league, and reached the AFC Championship game before losing to Pittsburgh.
Ryan has spent years trying to get back in. He interviewed with Dallas for its defensive coordinator opening in February 2024 after Dan Quinn left to become Washington’s head coach. Ryan called Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy directly to express his interest, telling ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown before Super Bowl LVIII that he believed Dallas was close to getting over the edge and that he could “maybe even make a little bit of an upgrade.”
Dallas hired Mike Zimmer instead. Ryan disputed the hire on air immediately after Adam Schefter reported it. “First off, I’m not so sure Zimmer has that job right now,” Ryan said on Sunday NFL Countdown. “I can honestly say I don’t believe that’s a fact right now.” The Cowboys made it official the next day. Ryan later told ESPN’s DiPietro & Rothenberg that Dallas “couldn’t pony up the money, or I would’ve been there,” claiming he turned down the job because of the salary.
Denver also interviewed Ryan for its defensive coordinator position in 2023 after Sean Payton became head coach. The Broncos hired Vance Joseph instead.
Ryan told The Pivot that he’d reached out to teams because he wanted a chance to prove he’s “the best that’s ever done it,” but he’d “never got one friggin’ phone call” about a head coaching job since Buffalo fired him. “Not one chance to be a head coach… not a single interview.”
That changed when the Jets brought him in for a head coaching interview in January 2025. Ryan spent months publicly campaigning for the job, telling anyone that would listen that he was convinced he’d get it. “And the reason I think I’m gonna get it is because I’m the best guy — and it ain’t close,” Ryan said. “The thing that you have to do [is] you have to connect with a football team; you have to connect with your fanbase.”
The Jets hired Aaron Glenn instead, choosing Detroit’s defensive coordinator who’d helped build the Lions into Super Bowl contenders. 12 months later, Glenn hired Ryan’s son, Seth, as the Jets’ passing game coordinator.
Harbaugh ultimately hired Dennard Wilson. Which means we won’t get to see Rex Ryan scheming against his own son when the Jets and Giants meet in the preseason. That would’ve been something.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.