Saints employ Rob Ryan to revamp defense
By: Lance Snow
Updated: February 9, 2013
Courtesy New Orleans Saints:
The New Orleans Saints have announced two coaching staff additions. The club has hired Rob Ryan as defensive coordinator and Stan Kwan as assistant special teams coach. The announcements were made by Executive Vice President/General Manager Mickey Loomis.
The New Orleans Saints have announced two coaching staff additions. The club has hired Rob Ryan as defensive coordinator and Stan Kwan as assistant special teams coach. The announcements were made by Executive Vice President/General Manager Mickey Loomis.
"I'm pleased the opportunity has presented itself for us
to be able to add both Rob Ryan and Stan Kwan to our coaching staff," said Head
Coach Sean
Payton. "In regards
to Rob, we have experience in preparing and playing against his defenses and
they've always been challenging in terms of the different looks and pressures
that they feature. We've had the chance to visit with each other and talk about
our visions for our team and I'm excited about moving forward as we prepare for
the 2013 season. Rob is enthusiastic about joining our team and getting right
to work. Stan is a veteran coach that understands all nuances of the special
teams games and will work closely with Greg McMahon. He has a wealth of
knowledge and I believe he will be a good fit on our
staff."
"I am excited and thrilled to be joining the New Orleans
Saints," Ryan said. "I have had the opportunity to get to know Sean Payton and
his staff a bit better recently and I am excited about joining the team. I have
a ton of respect for Mr. Benson, Mickey (Loomis) and the organization and I'm
ready to get to work on all facets of the game. This is a great opportunity and
we're getting started right away."
A nine-year veteran as a defensive coordinator, Ryan
joins New Orleans after spending the last two seasons running the defense of the
Dallas Cowboys. Under his tutelage in 2011, Dallas' team defense improved to
14th overall in the NFL after finishing
23rd in 2010, ranking seventh against the run. In 2012, the
Cowboys were one of only three teams in the NFL to have two players with 11 or
more sacks, as LB DeMarcus Ware led the team with 11.5 and LB Anthony Spencer posted a career-high 11 takedowns. Both
players were selected to the Pro Bowl. Cowboys opponents were held to a 43.9 %
third down conversion rate, ranked tenth in the NFL, despite an influx of
injuries at several key positions throughout the course of the season. In Ryan's
first season with the Cowboys, Ware finished second in the NFL with 19.5
sacks.
Prior to joining the Cowboys staff, Ryan served as the
defensive coordinator of the Cleveland Browns from 2009-10. In 2010, the Browns
defense tied for eighth in the NFL with 19 interceptions, as six different
players posted multiple picks to tie for the third-most players with two-or-more
interceptions on a team that season. Ryan guided a pair of standout rookie
defensive backs in Joe Haden who led the team in interceptions (5) and
T.J.
Ward, who led the
Browns in tackles (105). On the ground, Cleveland allowed just seven rushing
touchdowns, tied for fourth-fewest in the league. In Ryan's first season in
Cleveland, the defense did not allow a touchdown in three games and the Browns
posted 40 sacks, tied for eighth in the
league.
Prior to Cleveland, Ryan served five years as Oakland's
defensive coordinator from 2004-08. In 2006, the Raiders led the league in pass
defense (150.8 yards-per-game) and finished third in total defense (284.8
yards-per-game). CB Nnamdi Asomugha and DE Derrick Burgess were each selected to the Pro Bowl twice during his
tenure. Ryan also spent four seasons (2000-03) as the linebackers coach for the
New England Patriots. In his time with the Patriots, Ryan was a part of two
Super Bowl championship teams - XXXVI and XXXVIII - while working with two of
the league's top linebackers in Teddy Bruschi and Willie McGinest.
Ryan's NFL coaching career began when he spent two
seasons (1994-95) as the defensive backs coach under his father, Buddy, for the
Arizona Cardinals, where they had the NFL's third ranked defense in 1994 and led
the league with 42 takeaways in 1995.
After playing three years at outside linebacker at
Southwestern Oklahoma State, Ryan broke into the coaching ranks with graduate
assistant jobs at Western Kentucky (1987) and Ohio State (1988). He then landed
his first full-time coaching position at Tennessee State where he spent five
seasons tutoring running backs, linebackers and the defensive line. Following
his NFL stint with the Cardinals, Ryan spent three seasons as defensive
coordinator at Oklahoma State.
Kwan comes to New Orleans for his 23rd year as
an NFL assistant. He spent the past three seasons (2010-12) as the assistant
special teams coach for the Buffalo Bills, where they ranked first in the NFL
last season (2012) in punt return average (17.1 avg.) with two touchdowns and
were fourth-best in the league in kick-off return average (27.0 avg.). He spent
ten years with the Detroit Lions (1997-2000, 2004-09), including his final three
seasons in charge of the club's special teams units and also had stints with the
San Diego Chargers (1991-96) and Arizona Cardinals (2001-03). Under his
guidance, the special teams units of each team Kwan has helped guide have been
consistently well schooled and prepared. The Phoenix native played baseball at
San Diego State for three years prior to joining the Chargers after
graduation.
