Rex Ryan (born 1962) is an American football head coach for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). After serving as an assistant coach for 22 years, Ryan attained his first head coaching job in the NFL with the Jets in 2009. He is the son of former Philadelphia Eagles and Arizona Cardinals head coach Buddy Ryan and is the fraternal twin brother of Rob Ryan, defensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys. Upon graduating from Southwestern Oklahoma State University, Ryan spent the next 22 years serving as an assistant coach on different teams at both the college and professional level. At the behest of their head coach Brian Billick, Ryan joined the Baltimore Ravens in 1999 and spent nine years there. In 2005 he earned the title of defensive coordinator and in 2008 became the assistant head coach. Hours after the Ravens lost to the Steelers in the 2008 playoffs, Ryan accepted a contract offer from the Jets for their vacant head coaching position. He has become well known throughout the league for his outspoken manner, boisterous attitude and success with the Jets, and his teams are highly regarded by critics for their defensive capabilities.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rex_Ryan

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1577:

Sir Francis Drake left Plymouth, England, with five ships and 164 men on his round-the-world voyage. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Drake

1636:

The Massachusetts Bay Colony organized three militia units, an act considered to be the founding of the National Guard of the United States. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Guard_of_the_United_States

1862:

American Civil War: Union forces under Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside suffered severe casualties against entrenched Confederate defenders at the Battle of Fredericksburg in Fredericksburg, Virginia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fredericksburg

1937:

Second Sino-Japanese War: Japanese forces captured Nanjing in China and then began to commit numerous atrocities over the next several weeks. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanking_Massacre

2001:

The Parliament of India was attacked by five gunmen, resulting in 15 deaths, including those of the perpetrators. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_Indian_Parliament_attack

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

calendrical: Of, pertaining to, or used by a calendar system. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/calendrical

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

If our animosities are born out of fear, then confident generosity is born out of hope. One of the central lessons I have learned after a half century of working in the developing world is that the replacement of fear by hope is probably the single most powerful trampoline of progress. --Aga Khan IV https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Aga_Khan_IV