Buffalo Bills

Rex Ryan is taking huge leap of faith with Bills

Published Sep. 2, 2015 11:38 a.m. ET

foxsports

By Mike Batista

Buffalo Bills coach Rex Ryan never has been afraid of making bold statements.

Those statements are a little more measured now than they were when he was younger and heavier.

Ryan told USA Today that this would be his last head coaching job.

When he was hired as the Jets head coach in 2009, Ryan said he wouldn’t kiss Bill Belichick’s rings. Now, he’s saying Buffalo will be his last stop, that he’ll “turn it over to the younger generation” when he’s done coaching.

The 52-year-old Ryan isn’t exactly an old man, but he’s sounding like a guy who feels like he’s too old to hop back on the coaching carousel if it doesn’t work out in Buffalo.

Or maybe Ryan has learned the art of subtlety.

Perhaps Ryan is saying that Buffalo is where he will build his legacy. If there’s any place that’s ripe for a coach to become a folk hero, it’s Buffalo. The Bills haven’t made the playoffs since 1999, the longest drought in the NFL.

Ryan can gain some equity just by getting the Bills to the playoffs. He has the defense to get there and some individual talent on defense.

But the Bills face two significant hurdles. One is their quarterback situation. Tyrod Taylor has never started an NFL game. The other hurdle is organizational turmoil caused by the fallout from cutting running back Fred Jackson.

Tim Graham of The Buffalo News reported that Bills general manager Doug Whaley went “rogue” in cutting Jackson.

The 34-year-old Jackson provided valuable depth behind LeSean McCoy, who the Bills acquired in a trade with the Eagles in the offseason. The Bills will now rely on Anthony Dixon, 27, and Bryce Brown, 24, for that depth. They have a combined 1,894 career rushing yards.

Whatever internal conflict has arisen from Jackson’s release, it’s not likely to faze Ryan. He’s used to being all over the back pages of the New York tabloids. Buffalo isn’t quite the media cauldron that New York is, but in a way Ryan and the Bills are under the same kind of microscope. The Bills and Sabres are the city’s only two franchises among the four major North American sports. The Bills get a lot of attention from a fan base that’s starved for a meaningful football game in January.

Ryan needs to provide those fans with one of those sooner rather than later, or his last coaching stop will be a short one.

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