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Rich Cimini
Following his father and grandfather, Seth Ryan is now a member of the New York Jets’ coaching staff.
Ryan, 31, was hired Saturday as their new passing-game coordinator, a source told ESPN. He replaces Scott Turner, who was fired two weeks ago amid a coaching staff overhaul by Aaron Glenn.
This is a rarity in the NFL: three generations of a coaching family with one franchise.
Chicago Bears, followed by a head coaching stint with the Philadelphia Eagles.
The family’s Jets ties run deep.
Rex and his twin brother, Rob, worked as Jets ball boys in the late 1960s. Rex remembers frolicking on a Fort Lauderdale, Florida, beach as a 6-year-old during the run-up to the Super Bowl III in Miami. Some of the team’s stars — Joe Namath, Winston Hill, Gerry Philbin, et al. — became his childhood idols. During his tenure as head coach of the franchise, a Philbin jersey hung in his office at One Jets Drive.
On the day he was introduced as head coach in 2009, Rex was presented with his father’s old warmup jacket from the ’68 season. On the inside, it had «RYAN» written in black marker.
Breaking with family tradition, Seth Ryan is an offensive-minded coach. He spent the past five seasons with the Detroit Lions, first as an assistant wide receivers coach and then as the assistant tight ends coach. Glenn was on that staff for four seasons. Prior to that, he was an offensive quality control coach for the Los Angeles Chargers.
Seth Ryan attended Summit High in New Jersey, only a few miles from the Jets’ training facility. He played at Clemson and was a member of its 2016 College Football Playoff championship team.
