- Associated Press - Wednesday, June 10, 2026

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Seth Ryan made no Super Bowl guarantees or any other headline-worthy declarations.

The son of Rex Ryan is off to a much quieter start to his New York Jets coaching career than his often brash, bold and boisterous father, who was the face - and voice - of the franchise as the head coach from 2009 to 2014.

“We’re gonna do the best that we can,” a smiling Seth Ryan said Wednesday. “That’s what you’re getting from me.”



It’s not exactly like father, like son. Or even like grandfather, like grandson in the case of Ryan, whose late grandad Buddy was the defensive line coach on the Jets’ Super Bowl-winning squad in 1969.

Seth Ryan, now 32 and the third generation of a coaching family to be on the sideline for the Jets, called an audible a few years ago. While Buddy, Rex and even uncle Rob made their names in the NFL as defensive whizzes, Seth decided on another coaching path.

“In my family, we have kind of a saying with all the coaches,” he 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.’


PHOTOS: A third-generation Ryan is coaching the Jets, but on offense and without the bravado


“So I chose offense to make sure that was gonna happen.”

Ryan was hired by coach Aaron Glenn in February to be the Jets’ pass game coordinator, working closely with offensive coordinator Frank Reich and quarterbacks coach Bill Musgrave.

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Glenn was familiar with Ryan from their four years together in Detroit, where Glenn was the defensive coordinator and Ryan the assistant wide receivers coach. After Glenn overhauled his Jets coaching staff during the offseason, he reached out to Ryan, who was the Lions’ assistant tight ends coach last season.

“The possibility of getting on his staff was something I’ve been wanting to do and was so thankful I got the call,” Ryan said. “I love AG. I love what he’s doing and what he is building here and something that aligns with my core values.”

And he couldn’t wait to let his father know where he was heading.

“I won’t repeat exactly what he said,” Ryan said with a big laugh. “But there was a lot of excitement and he was like, ’Man, I can’t wait for you to be there and hopefully help turn this around and help be a part of that.”

Ryan is now roaming the same halls his father once strolled. And he’s back on the fields on which he once ran as a kid while the Rex Ryan-led Jets were making consecutive trips to the AFC championship game.

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“I’m not blind to the fact how much this really means to myself and my family,” Seth Ryan said. “This is an organization I’ve been trying to get to for my career and I grew up here, went to high school in Summit, my wife is from Jersey. You know, this means a lot to our family.”

 

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