Rob Ryan Bashes New Orleans Saints for Defensive Debacle

Few coaches in the NFL aren’t afraid to speak their mind and veteran defensive coordinator Rob Ryan had lots to say about his ugly time with the New Orleans Saints.

It’s a job he’s held since 2004 with four different teams. In that time Ryan has fielded three defensive units to finish in the top 15 and two to finish in the top five. Add in the fact he’s the son of the famed Buddy Ryan, one of the greatest defensive minds in NFL history, and it’s safe to say the guy knows a thing or two about what top defenses look like. Some might’ve predicted he would own up to the struggles his New Orleans Saints units had in 2014 and 2015 (31st both season), but it was in fact the polar opposite.

Ryan went on the attack, believing he was undercut by head coach Sean Payton and the team front office who were trying to impose a scheme and players he didn’t want onto him.

Predictably it led to problems.

"“Oh, we are dead last in defense,” Ryan told Jenny Vrentas. “Well, yeah, you are going to be dead last playing this bull– defense. But it is my fault because I didn’t say anything. I never stood up and said, F– you, I ain’t coaching this. I promise you I’d say it now.”Rob, who is now a defensive assistant under Rex in Buffalo, said in many different ways that he was pushed to mimic the Seahawks’ defense in New Orleans and adopt a simpler, less multiple style of defense in New Orleans. And it all started with the signing of safety Jairus Byrd.“I think everything starts with the head coach and goes higher than that. They signed players; they signed a free-agent free safety (Jairus Byrd in 2014), and said, we are going to keep him in the middle of the field like the goalpost. Well, that’s great. He’s not going to make one play back there, and now we have changed the entire defense for one signing, and it ruined us.”"

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It wasn’t just that fact. Byrd of course has come in woefully beneath expectations since signing that big contract, due in large part to injuries. However, Ryan went on to explain that another huge reason for the drop off wasn’t just who they signed, but who they let go in the process.

"“He’s a great kid. But the truth of the matter is, you let an All-Pro safety walk, Malcolm Jenkins, and lost your two best leaders on the team, him and Roman Harper,” Rob Ryan continued. “We changed the entire style of play. It was strange. But hey, I did the best job I could. And it wasn’t good enough. They should have fired me. They probably should have fired everybody that made that decision to go in that direction. Now I’m going to move my whole family over here to Buffalo for a reason: to go kick everybody’s ass, including theirs.”"

Malcolm Jenkins was a rookie corner on their 2009 championship team and one of their more versatile playmakers on the back end but for some reason just never seemed to click consistently. Time has proven a lack of consistent direction in scheme, as Ryan indicated, may have played a part. In the two years since leaving Jenkins had perhaps his two best seasons in Philadelphia, reaching the Pro Bowl last year.

Roman Harper too was an unfortunate cut. He suffered some injury setback his final year with the team. Granted a release, he signed with the rival Carolina Panthers. In 2014 he played all 16 games and intercepted four passes. In 2015 he helped them reach the Super Bowl. So it seems he too was given up on a bit prematurely and that hasted the decline of the Saints defense.

Rob Ryan has since joined his brother Rex with the Buffalo Bills, and he is on a mission to show that what happened in New Orleans was not because of him but a series of poor decisions by a team who refused to let him do things his way.

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