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Why Damien Woody likes Jets' hire of Frank Reich (0:27)
Damien Woody weighs in on the Jets' decision to hire Frank Reich as offensive coordinator. (0:27)
Rich CiminiFeb 7, 2026, 12:43 PM ET
- Rich Cimini is a staff writer who covers the New York Jets and the NFL at ESPN. Rich has covered the Jets for over 30 years, joining ESPN in 2010. Rich also hosts the Flight Deck podcast. He previously was a beat writer for the New York Daily News and is a graduate of Syracuse University.
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.
Seth is the son of Rex Ryan, the Jets' head coach from 2009 to 2014. Rex Ryan was 46-50, plus a 4-2 record in the playoffs. The Jets haven't made the playoffs since 2010, Ryan's second season. He is now an ESPN analyst.
The Ryan family's roots with the Jets started in 1968, when Rex's father, Buddy Ryan, landed his first NFL coaching job as the defensive line coach.
The Jets won the Super Bowl in Ryan's first season, and he remained with the team through 1975. Later, he became the defensive coordinator of the celebrated 1985 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.
