Former NFL head coach Rex Ryan turned himself in to police in Nashville on Wednesday on misdemeanor charges after he allegedly struck two pedestrians with his pickup truck last week and drove away. The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department said Ryan, 63, surrendered on six outstanding misdemeanor warrants tied to an incident on November 5 on Broadway, in the city’s downtown entertainment district. The two pedestrians suffered minor injuries, and Ryan was later released.
Rex Ryan and the November 5 incident on Broadway
Police said Ryan was driving his pickup truck just before midnight on Thursday, November 5, when he made a right turn from 4th Avenue onto Broadway. The two pedestrians were crossing Broadway with a walk sign when the truck turned, and police said it ran over both of their feet and made contact with one person’s leg. The pedestrians waved the truck down at another red light, at Broadway and Representative John Lewis Way, and told officers that Ryan stepped out to argue with them before driving away. They took a photograph of the driver and the truck’s license plate, which helped officers identify Ryan as the registered owner.
The charges against Rex Ryan are all misdemeanors, according to court records. He faces two counts of leaving the scene of an accident, two counts of failure to give information or render aid, and two counts of failure to obey a traffic control signal. A judicial commissioner set his bond at $6,000, but Ryan qualified for pretrial release and was freed on non-financial conditions. He is scheduled to appear in court next month. Ryan arrived at Nashville’s Downtown Detention Center early on Wednesday morning and was released later that day.
ESPN said in a statement on Wednesday: “We are aware and are in touch with Rex.” The network did not say whether Rex Ryan’s television assignments would change. Ryan joined ESPN as an NFL analyst in 2017 and appears on “Sunday NFL Countdown” and other network programs. He was on the network on Sunday for the NFL pregame show and on Monday for a morning show, both of which are taped in New York.
Rex Ryan’s coaching career before ESPN
Rex Ryan was the head coach of the New York Jets from 2009 to 2014 and the Buffalo Bills in 2015 and 2016, compiling a 61-66 record. He led the Jets to the AFC championship game in each of his first two seasons, after the 2009 and 2010 campaigns, and became one of the league’s best known figures for his outspoken approach in news conferences. He has not coached since the Bills fired him with one game left in the 2016 season, though he interviewed in 2025 for the Jets’ head coaching vacancy, which went to Aaron Glenn.
His father, the late Buddy Ryan, was an NFL coaching great who coordinated the 1985 Chicago Bears defense. One of Ryan’s two sons, Seth Ryan, is in his first season as the Jets’ passing game coordinator. Online records did not identify an attorney for Rex Ryan, and a phone number believed to be his had an automatic outgoing message on which a message could not be left.
What happens next for Rex Ryan
The case will return to court next month, when Rex Ryan is due to appear on the six misdemeanor charges. Police have not said whether any further charges are expected, and the two pedestrians’ injuries were described as minor. For now, the arrest leaves a question over the television future of a coach who has spent the past decade as one of ESPN’s most recognizable NFL voices.
The arrest was first reported on Wednesday morning, and Nashville police issued a statement confirming that Rex Ryan had turned himself in. The statement said the warrants were for striking two pedestrians with his pickup truck, and it set out the charges in full. His arrest drew wide attention in NFL circles, in part because of his long television career and in part because the incident took place in one of Nashville’s busiest tourist areas.