Early Life
Rex Ryan, and his fraternal twin, Rob, were born in Ardmore, Oklahoma, on December 13, 1962, to Doris and Buddy Ryan. When the boys were aged two, their parents amicably divorced. Following the divorce, their mother attended the University of Chicago to earn her doctorate. Rex, Rob and their older brother Jim moved with her to Toronto, Canada, where she secured an administrative position at the University of Toronto. During the course of his upbringing, Rex wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father, a defensive pioneer in the NFL known for developing the 46 defense, and by age six Rex and Rob knew they wanted to pursue coaching careers.
In Canada, there was little emphasis on football, much to the disappointment of Rex. By the time Rex was a teenager, Doris realized he and his brothers were too much to handle for a single mother trying to advance her career. She decided it was in the best interest of the brothers to send them to live with their father, who was the defensive line coach for the Minnesota Vikings at the time. The reasons behind this were two-fold; to keep them out of trouble and to help them expand their knowledge of the game of football where it was more prevalent.
In 1978, when Buddy was hired by the Chicago Bears as their defensive coordinator, Rex, Rob and Jim followed their father to Illinois where the family settled in Prairie View. The brothers attended Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire.
Rex went on to attend Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford, Oklahoma, alongside Rob, and played for the football team as a defensive end. He graduated from Southwestern Oklahoma in 1986, and in 2011 was inducted into the university's Hall of Fame.
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