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New To The Silver & Blue: Rob Ryan

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I have to admit when I found out  Rob Ryan was being considered for the defensive coordinator spot  I was confronted by a flash of  Buddy Ryan coaching our rivals the Eagles and thoughts of him sounding off on Jimmy Johnson and the Cowboys. Now it’s funny when we hear sound bites now and again of the argument but back then I was one mad Cowboy Fan.  However that is the past, and we are now moving on to the future.

I didn’t know anything about the Ryan family when I started researching however I learned some very interesting facts.

Rob was born December 13, 1962 in Ardmore, Oklahoma.  He is the son of former NFL head coach Buddy Ryan and his twin brother Rex is the current head coach of the New York Jets.

Rob’s parents Buddy and Doris divorced in 1966 and the boys moved to Canada with their mother. In 1974 they came back to the states to live with their father.  Rob attended high school in Linconchire, Illinois.

Rob attended college at Southwestern Oklahoma State University, where our own Kelly Horn graduated, where he played defensive end opposite his brother Rex.

Rob’s resume is a long one. He began his coaching career in 1987.

Here is his coaching resume:

  • 1987 Assistant at Western Kentucky
  • 1988 Ohio State – Linebacker
  • 1989-93  Tennessee State – RB, LB and DL
  • 1994-95  Arizona Cardinals – Defensive Backs
  • 1996     Hutchinson Community College
  • 1997-1999  Oklahoma State – Defensive Coordinator
  • 2000- 03    New England Patriots – Linebacker
  • 2004 – 08   Oakland Raiders – Defensive Coordinator
  • 2009-10  Cleveland Browns – Defensive Coordinator

While that is impressive, I wanted to know how good is he at his job. He was named Defensive Coordinator of the Year in 1997 by the Sporting News for getting  Oklahoma State’s defense ranked among the best in the nation. In 2003 New England’s defense ranked 1st in the NFL in fewest points allowed, along with best scoring defense in 2001.

I was pleased to find out that his players admitted that he is a coach that demands respect but that they loved playing for him. Buddy Ryan said his son gets 100% out of each player.

Rob Ryan has an abundance of experience and unlike his father, his players respect him and he gets the best out of each player. Along with stars like DeMarcus Ware and Jay-Rat, he will also have young talent to work  with. It will be interesting to see if he can turn Mike Jenkins around and what he can turn Bryan McCann into. He has talented veterans to depend on along with the young guns to mold.

I am not a Buddy Ryan fan, but I have to admit his sons seem to have learned something  Buddy himself didn’t – Coaches must  have players respect.

I can’t wait to see what the 2011 season has to offer. With Jason Garrett at the helm and Rob Ryan pumping up the defense we will definitely improve this season. We just need to take it one game at a time.

Cowboys Extra Points: Bring on the Noise

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Defensive stars Jay Ratliff and DeMarcus Ware were named to the All-Pro Team earlier this week. The Associated Press names 12 players to the NFC team. This is Ratliff’s first time to be named the honor and Ware’s fourth time. Center Andre Gurode was named to the 2nd All-Pro Team.

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Cowboys Defensive line coach Todd Grantham has accepted a job as the defensive coordinator for the University of Georgia. The Cowboys have already found their replacement, former assistant coach Paul Pasqualoni. Pasqualoni, who was on the Dallas coaching staff from 2005-2007, was recently let go by the Miami Dolphins and was readily available. Both coaches are expected to travel to Minnesota this weekend.

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The Cowboys injured starting running back (knee) Marion Barber practiced Thursday and was expected to practice Friday as well. Coach Phillips was encouraged by Marion’s progress and will be monitoring him close up until game time to decide whether he will be effective enough to play in Sunday’s game.

Also, Pat Watkins who has been out for a month practiced fully this week and has a good chance to return to the field this week.

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The Cowboys practiced in Cowboys Stadium on Thursday due to the weather conditions, and I have to say it was a great idea to blast crowd noise to prepare the players for Minnesota. They overcame the noise in New Orleans and Minnesota will be just as loud, if not worse. I think the Cowboys and fans alike have learned a lot about the effect of crowd noise level this season.

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With all the trash talk going on lately, mostly from our opponents I’d like to through this at ya, from Gerald Sensabaugh in response to Favre saying he’d be shocked if Minnesota didn’t win:

“We’d have to beat ourselves to lose. The way we’re playing right now, I don’t think we can be beat.”

Personally I liked it better when our ‘Boys were keeping their mouths shut until the job was done, but hey we’ve heard worse things coming from cocky Dallas players in the past… ha ha.

On another note: Is anyone else sick and tired of hearing about Romo facing his childhood hero?

Defense Decision in Dallas

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The Dallas Cowboys have big decisions to make today. Three defense assistant coaches could leave Dallas after today. Todd Bowles, the secondary coach; Kacy Rogers, the defensive line coach; and Paul Pasqualoni, the linebackers coach become free agents.

The three assistants did not accept the contract offered on January 13th, when the Cowboys season ended. All are close with former Cowboys coach Bill Parcells and former Cowboys assisant coach Tony Sparano, who are now running the show in Florida.

If the men choose to leave, the Cowboys will being interviewing to fill the spots this week. They do not expect any of the other coaching positions to change.