Archives for January 12, 2015

‘And as quarterbacks go, E.J. Manuel is basically Geno Smith west. Geno’s two-season quarterback rating with the Jets is 71.5; he lost his starting job to Michael Vick in his second season. Manuel’s two-season quarterback rating is 78.5; he lost his starting job to Kyle Orton in his second season, only sooner.’

‘Apparently, Marrone thought he was a lock for Ryan’s old job in New York, which promptly went south. He’s probably not going to find another head coaching job this year, and maybe ever.’

Rex Ryan Is Close to a Deal to Coach the Bills, the Jets’ A.F.C. East Rival (New York Times)

Former NY Jets coach Rex Ryan finalizing five-year deal for $27.5M to become next coach of Bills (New York Daily News)

Feeling strung along by Falcons, Rex Ryan took Bills coaching job (New York Daily News)

Buffalo Bills to hire Rex Ryan (New York Post)

Why Rex took Bills job – and how it may hurt Jets (New York Post)

Rex Ryan is now the Jets’ worst nightmare (New York Post)

Sources: Rex Ryan, Buffalo Bills close to deal (Newsday)

With Rex Ryan in Buffalo, Woody Johnson needs to aggressively pursue Dan Quinn (Newsday)

Rex Ryan to become head coach of Buffalo Bills, source confirms (Newark Star Ledger)

Ex-Jets coach Rex Ryan, with Buffalo Bills, wants Greg Roman as offensive coordinator, source confirms (Newark Star Ledger)

Mark Sanchez to Buffalo Bills? It could happen with Rex Ryan as head coach (Newark Star Ledger)

Would ex-Jets coach Rex Ryan try to lure New England Patriots’ Darrelle Revis to Buffalo Bills? (Newark Star Ledger)

Former Jets coach Rex Ryan set to become Bills head coach (Bergen Record)

Rex Ryan Reaches Deal to Coach Buffalo Bills (Bergen Record)

‘Now Pegula will have one of the NFL’s foremost defensive minds and a guy who took the New York Jets to two AFC championship games before things soured, not to mention a quote machine who instantly makes the Bills more relevant from a media perspective.’

‘At the same time, a second person familiar with talks told the AP the Bills are negotiating to hire Greg Roman as offensive coordinator. Roman, a finalist for the Bills’ coaching job, spent the past four years as the San Francisco 49ers’ offensive coordinator. Roman’s future is uncertain in San Francisco after coach Jim Harbaugh left to coach Michigan.’

‘The person says the sides are negotiating the final details of a contract Sunday morning. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the Bills have not revealed details of their search to replace Doug Marrone, who stepped down abruptly Dec. 31.’

‘According to several reports on Sunday, the Bills will soon name Ryan their new head coach as he will remain in the state of New York after being let go by the New York Jets in late December.’

‘The Bills would like to keep Jim Schwartz as defensive coordinator. The defense ranked fourth in the NFL and had a league-leading 54 sacks in 2014.’

‘The hiring of Ryan would complete an extensive coaching search for the Bills, who have interviewed 12 candidates since Doug Marrone opted out of his contract on Dec. 31.’

‘EJ Manuel is not that guy. In fact, EJ Manuel is Geno Smith with a better draft profile and a bigger paycheck.’

‘One thing we don’t have to worry about with the new Bills head coach is how he handles criticism. Ryan just spent the last six years dealing with the New York City media and fans. Even though this is more of a fish bowl, I don’t think Ryan will be affected by any of the second guessing that comes with being an NFL head coach.’

‘Ryan also gives me hope that the Bills will seriously get busy upgrading the quarterback position. Throughout the search I’ve thought that an established big name coach like Ryan or Shanahan would not agree to coach the Bills and just settle for EJ Manuel as his starter. With other options, including TV, would Ryan agree to come to the Bills right now without some assurance that they will look to get better at the most important position in the game? I say no way.’

‘Over his six years on the job, Ryan’s offenses ranked 17th, 13th, 13th, 28th, 29th and 28th in average points scored per game. In total yards per game, the Jets ranked 20th, 11th, 25th, 30th, 25th and 22nd. Ryan had three different offensive coordinators in six years as well, hiring Brian Schottenheimer(2009-2011), Tony Sparano(2012) and Marty Mohrningweg(2013-2014).’