Seth Ryan out to replicate excitement around Jets from dad Rexs days but with own coaching twist
Seth Ryan remembers running around the practice fields at the Jets training center as a teenager.That was back when his dad, Rex, was the team’s head coach.
Now, Seth is the one with the coaching office.Text with Brian Costello all season as he brings Sports+ subscribers the latest Jets intel from on the field and off.
Seth Ryan is now a 32-year-old who was named the passing game coordinator of the Jets as part of an overhaul of the team’s coaching staff in Aaron Glenn’s second year on the job.Ryan is the third generation of his family to coach the team.
His grandfather, Buddy, was an assistant from 1968-75 and was part of the Super Bowl III coaching staff. “This is an organization I’ve been trying to get to for my career,” Seth Ryan said Wednesday after an OTA practice.“I grew up here, went to high school in Summit [N.J.].
My wife is from Jersey.You know, this means a lot to our family.”Unlike his father and grandfather, who were defensive geniuses, the younger Ryan has been an offensive coach since he got his start with the Chargers in 2019. “In my family, we have kind of a saying with all the coaches,” Ryan said.
“So my grandfather told my dad: I need you to be a little bit better than me.My dad told me: I need you to be better than me.
So I chose offense to make sure that I knew that was going to happen.”Ryan had been on the Lions coaching staff under Dan Campbell since 2021.It was there that he worked with Glenn, who was the Detroit defensive coordinator from 2021-24.
When Glenn overhauled his Jets staff in January, he hired Frank Reich as offensive coordinator and wanted Ryan to be part of his staff. “I’ll tell you what: Seth Ryan, just keep your eye on him,” Glenn said in late March at the league meetings.“Just telling you that right now, he’s going to be a hell of a coach [with] the ideas that he brings.” Ryan experienced two trips to the AFC Championship game when his father was the head coach.
The team has...