As John Harbaugh fills out his staff as the next head coach of the New York Giants, he recently admitted he is open to the idea of turning back the clock and working with a former coordinator who was a fan-favorite coach of the New York Jets.
It was unclear who the NY Giants would hire after they took the bold step of firing Brian Daboll in November. There were some good options on the market, like Mike McCarthy or Kevin Stefanski, but not one that truly excited Big Blue fans. Then the Baltimore Ravens gifted them the perfect option.
When they fired Harbaugh after 18 seasons with the franchise, the NY Giants immediately went into an aggressive pursuit of the 63-year-old. After offering him all the money he and his staff would need, and restructuring the organization into a way he is more comfortable with, they got their replacement for Daboll.
Now, the new head coach is reshaping the football side of the organization and looking to fill out his staff for the 2026 season. There has been a lot of speculation about who could land the top coordinator spots, including bringing Todd Monken from Baltimore to be his offensive coordinator.
Could Rex Ryan join the NY Giants staff?
There have also been some who suggested the wild idea that former NY Jets head coach Rex Ryan could be an option for DC, since the pair worked together during Harbaugh’s first year as head coach in Baltimore. When asked about that idea this week, the new coach was very open to the possibility.
“Why not? Could you imagine Rex coming back in here? I’m not ruling anything out,” Harbaugh told WFAN radio. “A guy like Rex — he’s around the game, [and] he knows the game. He’s going to have to get updated a little bit with some of the scheme stuff, but I’ll tell you, no one calls a better game than Rex Ryan.”
- Rex Ryan record: 61-66
Ryan landed the NY Jets job after four impressive seasons as the DC of the Ravens. He guided Gang Green to a pair of AFC Championship games in his first two seasons before missing the playoffs the next four years. He became the head coach of the Buffalo Bills in 2015 but only lasted two seasons. He has been out of the coaching game ever since and has focused on his role as an NFL analyst for ESPN.
