Another week, another report about Rex Ryan‘s tenuous hold on his job as head coach of the Bills. We heard last week that Ryan was exceedingly unlikely to return to Buffalo in 2017, and that if the team had lost in an embarrassing fashion to the Steelers, he could have been handed his pink slip immediately.
While that did not happen–although the Bills’ matchup with Pittsburgh was not as close as the 27-20 final score would indicate–ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports this morning that Buffalo is indeed preparing to move on from Ryan. Ryan himself is aware that he is probably coaching his final three games for the Bills, which Schefter writes has created an “awkward situation” for the team.
For what it’s worth, denied having any knowledge of his decreasing job security following the Bills victory over the Browns.
“Can I say that I never heard about it until you just said it or is that going to be another weeklong discussion?” Ryan said (via Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com). “Because I never did and I really don’t care because I can tell you this, here’s what we all have in common, everybody in here. Nobody knows what my future is. A lot of you don’t know what your future is either so, to me, I just prepare the team to the best of my ability and that’s what I’m going to do.”
General manager Doug Whaley, meanwhile, is expected to keep his job, and will therefore have a chance to hire his third different head coach.
The Bills had a disappointing start to the season but then surged to an unexpected four-game winning streak, briefly putting rumors of Ryan’s job security on the back burner. But the team has slipped to 6-7 after losing five out of their last seven games and are all but out of the playoff hunt. Although the Bills could still realistically finish the 2016 season with a winning record, or at least with an 8-8 mark, team ownership has apparently not seen enough improvement (Ryan, who is in the second year of a five-year contract, also guided the Bills to an 8-8 record in 2015, his first year with the club).
The fact that Ryan is expected to lose his job while Whaley is expected to keep his lends credence to last week’s report that the relationship between Ryan and Whaley became heavily strained and that Whaley holds the upper hand because he has developed a “strong bond” with team ownership. Whaley and the Buffalo front office have repeatedly indicated that the Bills’ roster is better than its record, laying blame for this season’s results at Ryan’s feet.
We heard a few days ago that a few high-profile Bills players were rallying around Ryan, but support from his players has never been an issue for Ryan, the quintessential “player’s coach.” But he has had trouble delivering consistent results as a head coach, which leads one to believe that he is better-suited as a defensive coordinator.
Wow, that was quick.
Whaley is a horrendous GM
And Rex is a horrible coach…..
And Buffalo is a horrible place to play.
Rex has had problems getting his best players to take “the next step” mostly because of game planning
2 years is weak
…
This is bad news actually. He’s already stated the bills would be his last coaching job when he was hired. and that in the future he’d like to go into television. If he gets fired then we would all be exposed to seing him on ESPN or NFL Network. I would stop watching if that happened
Like the Cleveland Browns, you’re not gonna attract many high-profile coaching candidates if you only give them 2 years to turn around a team when you promise 5.
Also, they have to play in the same division as the Patriots.
You should be in Mexico
Or South Korea anyhow
“laying blame for this season’s results at Ryan’s feet.” I see what you did there mr.parks. Foot fetish Rex Ryan, hidden joke?
Is this a legit Kia ad or a joke?
I feel it’s a joke, because it’s just so bizarre
Maybe Rex can take Jeff Fisher on his next HC gig, brother Rob as DC and Fish as OC. Instead of point spread, one could wager on point differential (ie just how much that team would get wailed on).