Just like Buddy? Not quite, but Rex Ryan loves defense

In some ways, new Jets coach Rex Ryan is a lot like his father, Buddy, the architect of the "46 defense" that propelled the 1985 Bears to victory in Super Bowl XX.

Like his father, Rex gets the most out of his players and gets them to play hard - all the time. You could even call him a "players coach," but not because he's easy on his players.

"They're going to see me as a genuine person," Rex said, "and they'll know how much I care about them and the passion I have for the game."

Rex looks for the same passion in his players. For the past 10 years with the Baltimore Ravens, the first six as defensive line coach and the last four as defensive coordinator, Rex was instrumental in directing what was perennially one of the NFL's best defenses.

"That's one of the things I've always noticed about Rex's defenses - they always played hard," said former Bears safety and No. 46 Doug Plank, a Buddy Ryan favorite for whom the 46 defense was named. Plank will be Rex's assistant defensive backs coach.

"We believe in the same defensive philosophies - an aggressive, attacking style of defense," Plank said. "You can't sit back and let the offense dictate. You go after them."

Where it all began

The relationship between Ryan and Plank goes back to the late 1970s, when Rex and his twin brother Rob attended Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire while Buddy was building one of the best defenses in NFL history with the Bears. The Ryan twins worked as Bears ball boys during training camp, and a window in the dorm room they shared served as Walter Payton's after-curfew escape route when he needed a break from the monotony of training camp.

The Ryans played football at Stevenson, though neither was a standout. At 6-feet-2 and 180 pounds, they didn't attract much attention from colleges after graduating from Stevenson in 1981. But the football coach at Southwestern Oklahoma State, Bob Mazie, had developed a friendship with Buddy during summer training camps, which were then held at Lake Forest College.

"Buddy took me aside," Mazie said, "and told me that he wanted me to take them to Oklahoma, get them enrolled in school and make football players out of them."

That never quite worked out, as the Ryans played only two seasons, but both have become successful coaches at the highest level. Rob was recently hired as the Browns' defensive coordinator after holding the same spot with the Raiders.

Now, Rex is taking over a new team, one that his father served as defensive line coach and helped mastermind the Jets' Super Bowl III upset of the Baltimore Colts. The Ryan family has coached in six Super Bowls with five different teams - Buddy with the New York Jets in 1968, the Minnesota Vikings in 1976 and the Bears in 1985; Rex with the Baltimore Ravens in 2000; and Rob with the New England Patriots in 2001 and 2003.

Developing his style

Rex Ryan occasionally utilizes a variation of the 46 defense and he adheres to many of its attacking principles. But in a lot of other ways he's nothing like his father, who often had no use for the media, upper management and sometimes the players and coaches on the other side of the ball - even those on his own team. "Gruff" would be a charitable way of describing the public Buddy Ryan.

Rex considers comparisons to his father high praise, but he realizes he can't be the same person as the old man.

"I'm gonna be me," he said. "If I'm compared to my father, I'll take that as a compliment. But if I grew up like him, being a master sergeant at 18 years old in Korea, I'd probably be a lot tougher."

Rex is plenty tough, but when it comes to dealing with the media, he is a joy. He's amusing and entertaining with a self-deprecating sense of humor. Unlike many of today's uptight, clandestine NFL head coaches, Rex is expansive and brutally honest, even if it can come across as a bit arrogant at times. One shining example of that was when he was asked what he'll be up against in the AFC East, shortly after signing a four-year, $11.6 million contract.

"I'd rather focus on what they're up against," Rex said. "We're going to have a team that's going to be physical. We're not going to back down from any challenge."

That was nothing compared to what Rex said the day he was introduced as the Jets' new coach.

"The only way I know how to handle a challenge is to hit that thing head on, and that's what we're going to do," he said. "The message to the rest of the league is, 'Hey, the Jets are coming, and we're going to give you everything we've got, and that's going to be, I think, more than you can handle.' "

High standards

Some first-time head coaches might be intimidated by the unexpected success of last year's rookie coaching class, which included the Ravens' John Harbaugh, the Atlanta Falcons' Mike Smith and the Miami Dolphins' Tony Sparano, all of whom took over teams with losing records and got them to the playoffs. But Rex isn't worried that the bar has been raised too high.

"I don't know if you can raise the bar any higher than I did in my first news conference," he said. "I want to be successful now, and I don't see why we wouldn't be successful this year."

Rex also interviewed a year ago for the Ravens' top job, which went to Harbaugh. But Rex was quick to accept Harbaugh's offer to join his staff after he and all of Brian Billick's assistants were fired.

"Sure, I felt sorry for myself for a little while, you know, like, 'Woe is me,' " Rex said. "But at the end of the day, I was staying in a place I loved. John was the right guy for the job."

Last season, under Rex's command, the Ravens had the second-best overall defense in the NFL. The Jets' defense was 14th in total yards, 29th in passing yards and 18th in points allowed. But Rex says they'll be just as good this season as the Ravens were in 2008.

"You know me," he said, "I'm not one to shy away from expectations. I think we'll be terrific."

Last week at the NFL's Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Rex was on the lookout for his kind of players.

"Some of them walk out and you're like, 'This kid has no idea what it's going to take,' " he said. "But some of them, you just know it's your kind of person. Everybody at this level has ability. I try to separate the guys that have the will. The will to prepare. The will to win, to do the little things. Does the guy really love football? Those are the things you look for. Does the guy understand football? Does he know the history of this game?

"(You're looking for) the gym-rat mentality - coaches' kids. Granted, I was a coach's kid and couldn't play a lick," he said, laughing.

But, like everyone else in the family, he can coach.