Rex Ryan finalizing five-year deal for $27.5M to coach Bills
Jared Wickerham/Getty ImagesRex Ryan of the New York Jets looks on before taking on the Patriots at Gillette Stadium.
Less than two weeks after Rex Ryan was fired by the Jets, the swaggerlicous coach will resurface with another AFC East team.
The Daily News has learned that Ryan is finalizing a five-year deal for $27.5M to become the Bills' next head coach. Ryan’s first choice was to take over the Falcons, but a source told The News Saturday night that Atlanta was “dragging their feet” after failing to schedule a second interview.
That gave the Bills the opening they needed.
“They made him feel wanted,” a source said Sunday morning.
The Falcons braintrust was impressed by Ryan during a five-hour interview earlier in the week, but hadn’t set a definitive plan to bring him back to meet with Arthur Blank, who left the first interview early to attend to his ailing mother. She passed away this week.
Ryan ultimately didn’t feel like Falcons management, including GM Thomas Dimitroff, would be in his corner, according to sources. Ryan was believed to be the leading candidate to land the Falcons head coaching job in 2008 after an impressive first interview with Blank. However, Dimitroff sat in on the second interview after he was hired and chose Mike Smith.
Ryan told friends that he wasn’t interested in being teased again.
The Bills were impressed enough with Ryan in their first interview late in the week that they asked him back to Florida on Saturday.
The Falcons’ lack of any sense of urgency turned him off even though it would have been an ideal landing spot for his family. Ryan’s son goes to Clemson, which is two hours away. He has a home a few hours away in Tennessee.
None of that matters anymore.
Ryan will take over for Doug Marrone, who opted out of his contract after two years. He’ll take over a team with a familiar framework. The Bills, buoyed by a stingy defense, have a glaring hole at quarterback.
Ryan wants to bring much of his defensive staff, including right-hand man Dennis Thurman in some capacity. He also wants to bring quarterback coach David Lee with him back to Buffalo.
The Jets fired Ryan after missing the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season. Ryan won four road playoff games en route to two AFC Championship Games in six years with the Jets.
