“I know I am better than that,” former New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Rob Ryan says in recollection of his last two years with the Saints. In a joint interview with brother Rex Ryan with MMQB full of boasting, anger, profanity, and bashing of the Saints’ system, he says, “I am a way better coach than I was allowed to be, and that’s just the truth.” He blames the Saints’ attempts to copy the Seattle Seahawks’ scheme for his firing.
After the Saints’ successful 11-5 2013 season, they decided to change its scheme. At that time, the Saints finished fourth in the league in defense. After the 2014 and 2015 seasons, the Saints finished 31st in defense. Ryan says he regrets not speaking up to coach Sean Payton at that point. He claims he was sitting on his hands and that he didn’t sign off on that defense. Head coach Sean Payton, however, tells a different story. “The idea that it wasn’t his defense, or that he wasn’t in charge of it, is silly.”
Ryan’s claims that the system impaired his ability to do his job definitely left him in an in-between state of anger and self-assurance. “That’s not sour grapes. That’s me getting pissed off. Because I am great.” Ryan is now the assistant head coach/defense for the Buffalo Bills, alongside his brother, Rex. He plans “to go kick everybody’s ass.”
