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The Dallas Cowboys reportedly interviewed former New York Jets and Buffalo Bills head coach Rex Ryan for their vacant defensive coordinator position, which caused a lot of controversy among fans and media.
Heck, I felt the debate taking place even within my own head: Would he be any good? Dude's a legend... but how long ago was that, again? Isn't he on TV these days? Was it ESPN? Well, but he did interview for the Denver Broncos job last year, didn't he? He even was a finalist for the job, that's gotta mean something, right?
Listen. case for Rex is easy: We're talking about a hard-nosed, physical, intense coach that is going to instill some energy to whichever defense he commands. We know the Cowboys could use some of that, specially from a discipline point of view.
And hey, his resume includes great defenses like the Baltimore Ravens' when he was DC from 2005-2008. He followed that up with great units with the New York Jets when he took over as head coach. In nine out of 12 years coaching as HC or DC, he had Top 10 defenses in yards allowed.
On the other hand, he faltered a bit in the later years of his career with the Jets and his couple of seasons with the Bills didn't go great. The Jets defense got better when he left and the Bills got worse when he arrived.
Additionally, there's the fact that he hasn't coached since 2016, instead taking his talents to ESPN. Now, there's nothing wrong with him taking on show biz, but can he clear the hurdle of being away for seven seasons? The NFL evolves quickly and even if the running game is making a comeback, pass is still king in this league, as I discussed on my show (which you can check out below).
Can he stop Shanahan style offenses, the rage of the league in this day and age? Can he coach today's players? These are all questions that are tough to answer given his time away from the game. And the thing is Dallas doesn't have the time to find out because they need to win now. Speaking or urgency...
Rexology trouble is real
Ryan's defenses are complicated to digest. By itself, that isn't a negative. In fact, many of the best defenses today, especially those with heavy quarters principles, are all about communication and adapting on the fly. But that takes time. And according to the Cowboys themselves, they're going all-in in 2024. They need a plug-and-play type coach.
I'll let former Bills players do the talking on this one, starting with starting LB Preston Brown who in 2015 was one of multiple players to express frustration with Ryan's scheme: "It's so much thinking involved with it. A lot of guys [have] never been a part of [it]. It's definitely been difficult. At times, when [they] let us play, you can see we can be one of the best defenses in the league."
Manny Wilson, defensive lineman: "We have to understand that even though Rex is a defensive guru, that’s a lot at one time."
Now let's ask former DL Marcell Dareus, whom the Bills paid $100 million back then: "It was just too much detail for a lot of guys, and I feel like for a lot of guys it was too much going on for them to check here and check there, if this happens and that happens. Then nine times out of ten, a team will throw something out there that we weren't prepared for, and then the adjustment to it, we had to get use to and try to make it happen and make plays."
There are more examples. Players complaining about a defense is never a good sign but even if it was a positive aspect of Ryan's scheme, the Cowboys can't go through such a transition if they're serious about pushing all the chips to the center of the table.
The biggest question they need to ask themselves ahead of their defensive coordinator hire is who can step in and make the most of the talented group the 2024 Cowboys will have including Micah Parsons, Trevon Diggs, and DaRon Bland. And how they'll do it right away.
Ryan's way will simply take too much time the Cowboys don't have.
More must-reads:
- Drew Brees thinks he could be NFL’s best broadcaster
- An optimist's guide to the 2024 Carolina Panthers
- The 'Recent seasons with 1,000 receiving yards' quiz
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