The Buffalo Bills didn’t wait until Black Monday to axe head coach Rex Ryan, instead making his ousting official in the late morning on Tuesday. Rex is gone, as is his brother, Rob Ryan, who was serving as the team’s assistant head coach and defensive coordinator.
In the interim, the Bills promoted offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn to serve as head coach for the final game of the year. Lynn is in an interesting position, given his elevation to offensive coordinator early in the season seemed like a scapegoat move by Ryan, who fired his previous offensive coordinator after several defensive collapses.
But Lynn did run a mildly successful offense, and it’s unclear at this point if he has a chance to earn the full job going forward. For Ryan, it’s another failed shot at being a head coach and it’s likely he’ll either need to hit the broadcast booth or resume his life as a defensive coordinator if he wants to be employed in 2017.
So why does this matter to us here at Niners Nation?
Well, it doesn’t specifically, but any and all head coach movement should be worth noting at the very least. The San Francisco 49ers will likely make some serious changes this offseason, possibly including parting ways with general manager Trent Baalke and head coach Chip Kelly.
There have been various reports, but the general consensus seems to be that if Baalke is gone, then whoever the next general manager is will wind up deciding Kelly’s fate. Kelly has said that the 49ers haven’t discussed his future with the team, and he’s said these conversations won’t occur until after Week 17.
So there are a few possible reasons for this. One is that Kelly has a legitimate shot at returning next season. One is that the 49ers see no real point in making a change even if Kelly is going soon, as there are no interim options currently on the coaching staff worth giving a one-game audition to.
One is that Jed York is in charge and trying to predict his whims and where they’re going to take him is a fool’s errand.
Let’s see where this all goes.