Imrem: It'd be nice if new Bears coach roars like Rex

Whomever the Bears hire as head coach - John Fox or someone else - he has a tough act to follow.

No, no, not Marc Trestman's. You or I could do that.

We're talking about the performance of the blustery blowhard that the Buffalo Bills introduced Wednesday as their new head coach.

Rex "The Roar" Ryan would have endeared himself to Bears fans as much as it did to Bills fans.

"We're going to build a bully," Ryan vowed to the assembled media.

Build a bully … don't you hope that the next Bears' head coach has the audacity to say something like that and then go out and do it?

Ryan's credentials aren't as gaudy as Fox's. The latter has a better winning percentage to go with taking the Panthers and Broncos to a Super Bowl apiece.

So if that's the kind of guy you're looking for in the next Bears' coach, indications are that you'll get it.

But if you want to have a helping of fun with your victories, Ryan is your man. Boy, did he ever light up the room in Buffalo.

The whole bully thing is a reminder that Rex Ryan is the son of a former Bears' defensive coordinator.

I remember sitting in Buddy Ryan's office in the old Halas Hall during the week of a Bears' game against the 49ers.

My mistake was asking Buddy about the matchup between geniuses - him and his "46 defense" against Bill Walsh and his "West Coast offense."

Buddy Ryan snorted and snickered at the very notion of two geniuses hooking up in the game. To him there was one and that one was him.

So it wasn't surprising years later when Buddy was introduced as the Cardinals' head coach and bragged, "There's a winner in town!"

Rex Ryan has no more trouble challenging Bill Belichick out loud than Buddy Ryan had challenging Bill Walsh.

Nor is it surprising that Rex Ryan would say in Buffalo, "We're going to see whether (teams) want to play us for 60 minutes."

Backing up the boasts is essential, of course. Rex nearly did after saying pretty much the same thing when he took over the Jets.

Rex came close, driving the Jets to the AFC championship game before losing, just as Fox drove those two teams to the Super Bowl before losing.

Ryan's excuse could be that he had the likes of Mark Sanchez and Geno Smith at quarterback with the Jets.

Still, it's hard to make a case that, on paper anyway, Ryan has had a better coaching career than Fox has.

But professional sports is entertainment, isn't it? That's what those flamboyant wide receivers tell us after dancing their end-zone dances, isn't it?

If the Bears were going to hire a quality head coach who also could keep you engaged from day to day - not just week to week - Rex Ryan would have been the right guy.

The McCaskeys never have been a fan of head coaches that have more to say than, "We're playing them one game at a time."

After Mike Ditka was head coach and Buddy Ryan his defensive coordinator, the McCaskeys preferred quieter types like Dick Jauron, Lovie Smith and Marc Trestman.

That explains why Rex Ryan never was mentioned as a candidate to fill the Bears vacancy.

The Bears aren't going to win a Super Bowl for quite awhile anyway, so why not have a coach who might walk into Halas Hall wearing a lamp shade?

Then Rex Ryan could promise to "build a bully" in the tradition of the great Bears' defense.

mimrem@dailyherald.com