Rob Ryan pushes back on nepotism narrative in coaching: 'You've got to do the job'

Rob Ryan made his return to college football official two weeks ago after a quarter-century in the NFL, where he and his twin brother, Rex, followed in the path laid by their famous NFL coaching father, Buddy Ryan, as two of the sports’ most entertaining coaches.

Now back in college football after being hired at USC as the Trojans’ assistant head coach for defense and linebackers coach, the 62-year-old Rob Ryan is embracing the opportunity to work directly under second-year USC defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn, who got his start in coaching under Rex.

Given all the familial connections at play in his own illustrious coaching career, Rob Ryan doesn’t hide the impact “nepotism” played in his own coaching career, even if it’s not what ultimately defined it. Of course, it also didn’t hurt, and played a roundabout role in Rob Ryan‘s decision to join Lynn at USC.

“100-percent it influenced me,” Rob Ryan said about Lynn’s longstanding relationship with Rex Ryan. “(Lynn) brought it up to me and I’m like, ‘Ah, you’re out of your mind.’ But I got to thinking about it, and he kept selling it, and … this is a young Mike Tomlin, the way I look at (Lynn). D’Anton’s as sharp as can be, he’s a wonderful person. He’s a great teacher. So my son’s on the staff and I’m teaching him like my father – clear nepotism. Man, (when Buddy Ryan) hired me and Rex to coach with the Cardinals (in 1994), we’d been college coaches … complete nepotism, absolutely.

Rob Ryan excited to influence son’s budding coaching career at USC

“Well once you get there, you’ve got to do the job. Both of us coached in the league 25 years, I think we were decent coaches. I’d say we were probably some of the best that ever coached, but we needed a chance,” Rob Ryan continued. “I’m not bragging, I’m just telling the truth. And I want to do the same for my son. So to have him have a chance to be around the best young coach, these coaches – I call them young because they’re young compared to me – so it’s an opportunity. And it’s awesome.”

Rob Ryan then recalled how D’Anton’s father, longtime NFL assistant and former Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn, was convinced to join Rex Ryan‘s Buffalo Bills staff in 2015, but only after Rex hired D’Anton as a defensive assistant — his first actual coaching opportunity.

“It’s a match made in Heaven,” Rob Ryan added. “Rex and Anthony Lynn – not D-Lynn, Anthony, his dad – they go way back. And the only way Rex could get Anthony (with the Bills), … he was like, ‘By the way, I’m going to hire your son, so you can tell your wife you that turned (me) down and your son.’ So that’s where D’Anton got his first start under Rex. That makes A-Lynn come with him, and the rest is history.”

Rob Ryan joins a rebuilding USC defense that finished 15th in the Big Ten and 77th nationally in total defense after allowing an average of 377.1 yards per game in 2024.