Amid all the Robert Griffin news that has been pouring in since his injury on Sunday, it would have been easy to overlook the fact that Rob Ryan, brother of Jets head coach Rex Ryan, was dismissed from his position as the Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator, according to ESPN. The move by the all-powerful owner of the Cowboys left everyone from players and fans to analysts and bloggers such as myself scratching their heads.
The simple truth is that it was Rob Ryan's defense that kept the Cowboys in the playoff hunt for the first two thirds of the season. They were a high energy unit that didn't make dumb mistakes. They gave their team chances to win games. Unfortunately, the Cowboys' offense couldn't do the same.
Make no mistake about it. Rob Ryan will have a job as an NFL defensive coordinator next season if that's what he still wants to do. His defenses are notoriously relentless, and his personality transfers over in a positive way to the players he coaches. Rob Ryan will be fine. It's the Cowboys we should be worried about.
Jerry Jones consulted "outside counsel" in making decisions this offseason. For a control freak, that's a big step, but he ultimately made the final decision on Rob Ryan's job status. The strange part is that Jones didn't fire his head coach. While Rob Ryan was giving the Cowboys chances to win games, Jason Garrett was busy squandering those opportunities, and the Cowboys offense looked nothing short of laughable at times throughout the 2012 campaign.
Cowboys players are, by-and-large, upset about the firing, and some have taken to Twitter to voice their displeasure, but linebacker Bruce Carter best summed it up, simply saying, "WTF!"
