The Buffalo Bills have fired Rex Ryan, the team announced in a press release Tuesday afternoon on the team’s off day. Anthony Lynn has been named interim head coach. General manager Doug Whaley will start searching for a long-term replacement immediately.
Ryan was 15-16 in his almost two years as Bills head coach, also from ‘15 to ‘16. That will make it easier to remember when we inevitably talk about one of the most frustrating runs as a head coach in team history.
Rex arrived with much fanfare, boasting runs to the AFC Championship game and saying he wouldn’t let Bills fans down. Well, he did, and after two straight seasons out of the playoffs, owners Kim and Terry Pegula are moving on from the first person they hired while running the Bills.
The timing of the decision is odd and screams of something else happening behind the scenes. Ryan met with members of the media on December 26th, today is the team’s off day, and then practice resumes tomorrow. Some have speculated he asked to be released if they had already made up their minds. That makes sense.
Lynn began the year as running backs coach before being promoted to offensive coordinator after two weeks. He’ll now take on his third role for the team in 2016 while looking to earn the permanent job moving forward.