“I look at myself as the best defensive coach in football,” Ryan said Friday after the team’s first training-camp practice, via Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News. “That’s saying something because **** LeBeau is pretty darn good. Bill Belichick is pretty good. But that’s the way I’ve always believed. And you know what? I believe it because [of] the guys I coach with, there’s no doubt about that. And the guys I’ve coached. But that’s the truth. That’s kind of how I feel.”
Ryan’s brash confidence doesn’t apply very broadly.
“If it was a spelling bee, I’d bet against me,” Ryan said. “If it’s anything else — a fight, coaching football — I’m betting on me.”