Rob Ryan with pic of his dad with his Eagles gear on his play sheet (Photo)

Jan 4, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Rob Ryan looks on before the 2013 NFC wild card playoff football game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports /

One of the toughest tasks that the New Orleans Saints have to face tonight in their NFC Wild Card Playoff game against the Philadelphia Eagles is finding a way to stop that potent offense. Thankfully, the Saints have one of the best defensive coordinators in the league in Rob Ryan.

In case you didn’t know, Rob’s dad, Buddy, was the head coach for the Eagles back in the early 90s. That’s where Rob and his brother Rex–head coach of the New York Jets–learned a majority of their defensive knowledge from.

Now part of what makes Rob such a good coordinator of defense is that he loves to get inside the heads of his opponents, and he’s good at it with some of the more complex schemes that he implements.

I’m not sure, though, if something Rob has tonight is something that he’s using to play some mind games, or use for inspiration, but it’s still interesting nonetheless.

Ryan has a picture of his dad on the back of his play sheet this evening, with his Eagles garb on:

ryan /

Knowing Rob, he probably thinks that some sort of mind game.

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