Comments (0) Best New Coach in Town - 2009
Rex Ryan
Is that a cannonball in Rex Ryan's stomach, or is he just glad to be a head coach in New York? Everyone loves a fat man (except for the blubbery but tightly wound former Jets head coach Eric Mangini, who was fired). Now you've got to give it up to Tom Coughlin, who won a Super Bowl with the Giants—but he's about as lovable as Patton. Ryan? He's tough, but he's damn funny, and, boy, is he fat: The new Jets coach reported to the team's training camp this past summer at 340 pounds, up 30 since the end of last season. It's not that he's nervous about his first head-coaching job—the guy just loves to eat. More important to Jets fans, though, is that Ryan's got more football than cholesterol in his blood: His dad, Buddy Ryan, was one of the most inventive defensive coaches in the NFL, and Ryan got high marks as a defensive genius assistant for the Baltimore Ravens. Unlike his daddy, though, Ryan is self-deprecating and downright funny. New York won't be too tough a town for him: The sportswriters like him, and the fans will, too. The guy's already admitted that he's not only fat but dyslexic. If he can just figure out his O's and X's, everybody will be happy.
