Rex Ryan arrested: Check charges against ex-NFL coach, ESPN analyst

Rex Ryan was arrested on Wednesday. Former NFL head coach was taken in custody in Nashville for allegedly running over the feet of two pedestrians in his truck last week, according to authorities.

Ryan was driving a pickup truck when he allegedly ran over the feet of both individuals, who had the right of way crossing a main street in Nashville's honky-tonk and music tourist district Thursday night, police said.

The pedestrians involved, who sustained minor injuries, waved Ryan down at another red light and said he stepped out to argue with them, according to police. They took a photo of the driver and the truck's license plate, police said.


Ryan, an ESPN football analyst, was on the network Sunday for the NFL pregame show and Monday for a morning show, both of which are taped in New York. Ryan showed up at Nashville's Downtown Detention Center early Wednesday, according to the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office. He was later released.

Online records did not identify an attorney for Ryan. A phone number believed to be Ryan’s had an automatic outgoing message, and a message could not be left.

Rex Ryan Charges

Ryan was charged with 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, according to court records. All are misdemeanors.

A judicial commissioner set Ryan’s bond at $6,000, but he qualified for pretrial release, which means he was released on non-financial conditions. He is scheduled to appear in court next month.

Ryan is a former head coach of the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets, leading the Jets to the AFC championship game in consecutive years after the 2009 and 2010 seasons.

While with the Jets, Ryan became one of the team’s — and the NFL’s -- most popular figures, especially during his first few seasons as coach, because of his brash, colorful approach in news conferences that became must-watch TV.

He has not coached since being fired by the Bills with one game left in the 2016 season, though he has since expressed an interest in coaching and interviewed in 2025 for the Jets’ head coaching vacancy when Aaron Glenn was hired.

Ryan is best known now for his work at ESPN as one of the analysts on the network’s NFL pregame show. “We are aware and are in touch with Rex,” ESPN said in a statement Wednesday.