Buffalo Bills Fire Rex and Rob Ryan

The Buffalo Bills announced Tuesday that they have decided to fire head coach Rex Ryan and defensive coordinator Rob Ryan.

Rex Ryan did not even last two seasons with the team and the decision to relieve him of his duties came on the heels of a 34-31 overtime setback against the Miami Dolphins on Saturday.

The Bills were eliminated from playoff contention with the loss and will not appear in the postseason for the 17^th consecutive year. Buffalo has been beaten in six of their last nine games overall and dropped to 1-7 on the year against teams with a winning record.

Ryan’s history with Buffalo

Ryan went 15-16 with the Bills and now owns a 61-66 overall record as an NFL head coach. He was fired in 2014 after six seasons with the New York Jets. He led the Jets to playoff appearances in each of his first two years in charge before four consecutive losing campaigns.

The Bills hired Rex Ryan to replace Doug Marrone in January of 2015 and inked him to a five-year contract worth in excess of $27 million.

ESPN’s Jeff Darlington reported Tuesday that Ryan had lost the attention of several players in his locker room. One player told Darlington, “There were too many cooks in the kitchen. Guys were pissed. He lost the defense.”

Hiring of Rob Ryan

Rex’s twin brother Rob was added to the staff as defensive coordinator prior to this season. Rob has made several stops around the league as a defensive coordinator yet has not really made much of a positive impact anywhere. Prior to joining the Bills, Rob had served as the D-coordinator for the Oakland Raiders, Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints. He was fired by the Saints in November of 2015.

What’s next for Rex Ryan?

Rex Ryan said prior to joining the Bills that Buffalo would be his final coaching stop. ESPN says that he is expected to draw substantial interest as a television personality if he chooses that career path.

Ryan exuded extreme confidence that he would be the one to lead the Bills out of their lengthy postseason drought, but it was never meant to be. The team fired offensive coordinator Greg Roman just two games into the season and replaced him with Lynn, who had served as the running backs coach on Ryan’s staff in the past.

The Bills would win the first four games following Roman’s firing, but three losses in the last four games dropped them out of the playoff picture altogether.

Lynn named interim coach

Offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn will stay on as interim coach for the Bills’ season finale against the Jets. The team announced that E.J. Manuel will start at quarterback instead of Tyrod Taylor.

Ryan had previously announced that Taylor would start the game, but the organization has opted to play Manuel in order to avoid a potential serious injury to Taylor in an otherwise meaningless game.

Former Ohio State quarterback Cardale Jones will likely serve as Manuel’s backup.