Black Monday just came early for yet another pair of NFL coaches. So far, the Rams have already fired their longtime head coach Jeff Fisher, and the Jaguars have parted ways with Gus Bradley. And on Tuesday morning, the Bills announced that they are doing the same with Rex Ryan. They also announced that they have decided to rid themselves of Ryan’s brother Rob, too, who joined Buffalo and became the team’s assistant head coach prior to the start of the 2016-17 NFL season.
The news about the Ryans being fired doesn’t come as a complete surprise. There have been rumblings about the possibility of the pair being fired for about a month now, and there’s been trouble in, er, paradise (Buffalo is paradise, right?) since back in early September when Rex fired offensive coordinator Greg Roman.
But the team didn’t give Rex much time to establish himself in Buffalo. After he spent six seasons with the Bills’ division rival Jets, he got just two years with the Bills before getting canned. He finished his Bills’ career with a 15-16 record after finishing 8-8 last year and 7-8 this season. He’s 61-66 overall as a head coach.
Bills owner Terry Pegula released this statement shortly after Buffalo told Rex he was being fired:
It seems highly unlikely that Rex will get another head coaching gig next season. But who knows? If there’s one guy who might be able to talk himself into a head coaching position, it’s Rex. Either way, we’d expect to see both him and Rob on a sidelines somewhere, even if it’s not in a head coaching or coordinator position.
Anthony Lynn will serve as the Bills’ interim head coach for the team's final game of the season against, oddly enough, the Jets.