Every Business Has One: Veteran, Funny Dude Who Imparts Wisdom In The Youngins; Meet Raiders’ Rob Ryan
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Story by Alan Snel Photos by Hugh Byrne
Every business no matter the industry always has that older veteran guy, often with a funny, unique personality who is kept around to impart some wisdom into the youngins at the organization.
The Raiders have such the coach.
He’s 61-year-old, long-haired Rob Ryan, a defensive coach who has been around the NFL block just a few times with teams like the Cowboys, Saints, Bills, Ravens, Commanders, Browns and Patriots.
He goes by the title of “senior defensive assistant.”
The Raiders rolled out Ryan this morning among three assistant coaches to answer media questions before mini camp practice today.
LVSportsBiz.com enjoyed listening to Ryan’s comments, often spiced with some amusing language and humorous descriptions.
On edge rusher Maxx Crosby’s influence on fellow defensive end Malcom Koonce:
Ryan: “Maxx makes everybody tougher. Maxx makes everybody better. Maxx makes everybody get tattoos. I mean, he’s just a badass.”
That led to the next obvious question: Did Ryan get a tattoo himself?
The answer was yes.
Ryan: “Yeah. It’s been a while ago though. And this thing here is like, I need to change the narrative
man. I was out of football and I’m like I’m a fish out of water. And my son, who is a male model up in
London, said, ‘Dad you need get this. Get an evil eye tattoo. And I’m like, really? So, me and my wife went out and got evil eye tattoos. Next thing I know, I get a job. It’s unbelievable. That’s a true story, but my son’s like, ‘Dad, show me it.’ So, I showed it to him. ‘You didn’t get the eyelashes, did you?’ Eyelashes? Oh, no. Apparently, I did. So, there you go. But they work if you need a job.”
Then, there were Ryan’s comments on cornerbacks Jack Jones and Nate Hobbs.
“Yeah. And they are beautiful people now, they are something else. Like sometimes you get
some guys that are a little touched, but I tell you what, they can play. They can play and you can throw
that ball out there against Jack if you want to, but look out, because half the time he’ll bring it back against you. And [Nate] Hobbs, like his trading card – I don’t know if you guys collect cards – but his training card I don’t know what position it says because he plays everywhere.
“And he’s smart, he’s tough. He’s dependable and has courage. I love those guys that will hit an offensive tackle 200 pounds bigger, whip his tail, and come off and make the tackle. It’s like, nobody tell him you’re not supposed to do that. Like, this guy is fantastic. So, any system, any team would be lucky to have him for sure.”
Ryan explained why he’s a big believer in permanent full coach Antonio Pierce, who was the interim coach after former coach Josh McDaniels was fired on Halloween.
“Because he’s real. Like, he’s real. Now this is the genuine article, he’s straight out of Compton, literally, so he’s a complete badass and he’s just great people. But he wants our players and our coaches to be themselves, so that’s what’s great. Like, he’s not changing.
“You are who you are, like little Jack’s Jack, Maxx is Maxx, but he wants you to be yourself and bring them all together and create a culture that is awesome to see and be a part of, and I’ve been through a lot of them, but I just absolutely love what he’s doing. He’s a star, and then he’s got a son that’s going to be brilliant. Right now, he’s on offense.
“I’m sure he’ll be switching to defense because that’s where he probably belongs, but he’s special. You see him. He’s real. Like, oh it’s coach talk. He ain’t boring nobody. He is going to be himself and he’s going to make us winners.”
