Bills Officially Hire Rex Ryan As Head Coach

Update:

The Buffalo Bills officially announced the hiring of Rex Ryan as the next head coach on Monday.

Statement from Bills owner Terry Pegula:

“Following an extensive search, we are pleased today to announce that Rex Ryan is our new head coach. Rex brings a wealth of experience and enthusiasm to the position that we feel will be a tremendous benefit to our players and the entire Bills organization. He was very impressive during the interview process, as were many of the candidates to which we spoke, and we feel Rex is the best fit for our team. We look forward to his leadership and expertise in directing our team to the playoffs and bringing a championship to Buffalo for our fans.”

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ESPN’s Adam Schefter first reported that the Buffalo Bills are finalizing a contract with Rex Ryan to be their next head coach.

• According to Schefter, Ryan received a five year contract that will pay him an annual salary of $5.5 million.
• Jones adds that new Bills owners Terry & Kim Pegula made it clear they wanted Ryan as their head coach.

Coordinator Notes:

• ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that Ryan is likely to hire former 49ers OC Greg Roman to run his offense.
• Vic Carucci, citing a high-ranking team source, reports that Buffalo has “every intention” of keeping DC Jim Schwartz.
• Adam Caplan reports that Ryan has told Schwartz that he would him to stay on as their defensive coordinator.
• Caplan notes that Schwartz has experience coaching a 3-4 defense in the past.

Last night, reports surfaced that the Bills were bringing Ryan back for a second interview in Florida, so it was clear that he was a finalist for the job.

Ian Rapoport reports that an offer from the Bills came late last night and although many thought the Falcons would get involved in the bidding, they elected to pass.

According to Jason Cole, Ryan was tempted to wait on the Falcons, but the situation is a good fit for him, even though he once again is in need of a quarterback.

The move does come as a bit of a surprise given how quickly things progressed and the fact that it appeared as though the 49ers and Falcons were his two best options.

Buffalo has a solid defense in place, which is likely appealing to Ryan. There is also some young talent on the offensive side of the ball.

The Bills put together an exhaustive head-coaching search in which they considered: Bills DC Jim Schwartz, Bengals OC Hue Jackson, Lions DC Teryl Austin, Colts OC Pep Hamilton, Chargers OC Frank Reich, Broncos OC Adam Gase, Browns OC Kyle Shanahan, Patriots OC Josh McDaniels, former Redskins HC Mike Shanahan, Seahawks OC Darrell Bevell, Seahawks DC Dan Quinn, Eagles OC Pat Shurmur, and 49ers OC Greg Roman.