Rex Ryan

Introduction

Rex Ryan, the 63-year-old former head coach of the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills who has worked for years as an ESPN NFL analyst, surrendered to Nashville police on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, for booking on six outstanding misdemeanor warrants . The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department said the warrants charge him with striking two pedestrians — both with minor injuries — with his pickup truck shortly before midnight on Thursday, November 5, at 4th Avenue and Broadway in downtown Nashville . He is 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, and a judicial commissioner set his bond at $6,000 . Jail records show Ryan was released from custody early Wednesday morning .

Background Information

Ryan became the Jets’ head coach in 2009 and held the job through the 2014 season, compiling a 61-66 record across his eight seasons in New York; he then coached the Bills for two seasons before moving into broadcasting . He joined ESPN in 2017, shortly after being fired from his role as the Bills’ sideline manager . His best Jets teams reached the AFC Championship Game in consecutive years after the 2009 and 2010 seasons, and he is the son of the late Buddy Ryan, the NFL coaching legend who coordinated the 1985 Chicago Bears defense . Since leaving coaching he has been best known for his work at ESPN as one of the analysts on the network’s NFL pregame show, and he remained on air into the week before his arrest — most recently making headlines on November 1 for criticizing Las Vegas Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty’s comments about the Jets’ defense . His tabloid history also predates the case: while Jets coach he became national news over a foot-fetish story after a video involving his wife surfaced, a chapter the Post resurfaced in its arrest coverage .

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Arrested; six misdemeanor charges pending; defense counsel retained. The account below comes from the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department’s release and from court records summarized in Associated Press coverage. The charges are allegations: Ryan has not been indicted or tried and is presumed innocent. He has since retained Nashville criminal defense attorney David Raybin, who confirmed the representation and said he is cooperating with the police investigation .

According to the police account, the incident happened shortly before midnight on Thursday, November 5, at 4th Avenue and Broadway. Two pedestrians were crossing Broadway from 4th Avenue with a walk signal when the pickup truck turned right from 4th Avenue, ran over both victims’ feet and made contact with one of the individual’s legs; police described both injuries as minor . The pedestrians told police the vehicle kept going, then stopped for a red light at Broadway and Representative John Lewis Way, where they waved down the driver, identified by police as Ryan . They said he stepped out of the truck to argue with them, got back in, and drove away without exchanging information . The pedestrians photographed the truck’s license plate — which police said was registered to Ryan — and the driver, and the department said warrants were issued on that account before his Wednesday surrender . The six counts break down as two each of leaving the scene of an accident, failure to give information or render aid, and failure to obey a traffic control signal, all misdemeanors under Tennessee law .

Public Reaction and Consequences

The arrest drew immediate national attention because of who Ryan is rather than the scale of the alleged harm: police described the victims’ injuries as minor and did not identify them publicly . The Post promoted the story on X with the same “heated Nashville scene” framing in the hour after the arrest was announced . The New York Post framed the story with the tabloid irony of his history — “Feet are getting Rex Ryan into trouble again” — pairing the news with his mugshot and the 2010 foot-fetish episode from his Jets tenure . The department released Ryan’s booking photo along with its release, and wire coverage carried the surrender as the day’s leading NFL-adjacent story . Neither the police release nor the early coverage included any statement from Ryan; the Associated Press reported that a phone number believed to be his carried only an automatic outgoing message . Ryan’s first public response came through counsel: David Raybin, the criminal defense attorney he retained Wednesday, confirmed the representation and said “we are cooperating with the investigation,” adding that he had not yet received the facts from the police side because of the holiday . ESPN, Ryan’s employer, told Front Office Sports minutes after the arrest announcement that “We are aware and are in touch with Rex,” and offered no further comment . The Post also noted that Ryan had appeared on ESPN’s NFL programming over the weekend — after the November 5 incident but before his surrender — and that it was unclear when the network first learned of it . The Post noted it was not yet clear why Ryan was in Nashville this month, beyond a recent appearance on “Bussin’ with the Boys,” a podcast filmed in the city .

Current Status

Ryan surrendered for booking on Wednesday morning, November 11, was processed, and was released from custody early that same morning, according to jail records cited by the Post . A judicial commissioner set his bond at $6,000 . He is scheduled to appear in court next month . He has retained criminal defense attorney David Raybin, who said the representation began Wednesday morning and that he is “cooperating with the investigation” while awaiting the facts from the police side . The case is at the charging stage only: all six counts are misdemeanors, the police account is the sole public narrative of the November 5 incident, and Ryan has not been tried or convicted of anything . The two pedestrians were not named in the police release, and both of their injuries were described as minor .

Impact on Their Career/Life

Ryan’s day job is on television, not a sideline: since leaving coaching he has been one of ESPN’s NFL pregame analysts, and the arrest landed in the middle of the network’s season coverage with no immediate word that his role would change . He had been on the air days earlier — the November 1 segment criticizing Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty — and the misdemeanor case now runs alongside that broadcasting work into a court appearance next month . The episode’s lasting public footprint is the booking photo and the charge sheet: six misdemeanor counts that will play out in Nashville’s courts, with the victims’ minor injuries and the photographed license plate as the account that produced them . ESPN has so far changed nothing about his role publicly: the network said only that it was “aware and are in touch with Rex,” and Ryan remains on its NFL coverage as the misdemeanor case heads toward next month’s court appearance with defense counsel now in place . This page tracks the case as it moves toward that appearance.

Sources

Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, “Former NFL Coach surrendered for booking this morning,” November 11, 2026 — source
NY Post, “Rex Ryan arrested for allegedly running over pedestrians’ feet,” November 11, 2026 — source
WSMV (Caleb Wethington), “Former NFL coach accused of pedestrian crash in Nashville,” November 11, 2026 — source
Bleacher Report (Associated Press), “Rex Ryan Turns Himself in After Alleged Nashville Hit-and-Run Injured 2 Pedestrians, Police Say,” November 11, 2026 — source
@nypost on X, “Rex Ryan arrested for allegedly running over pedestrians’ feet in heated Nashville scene,” November 11, 2026 — source
NY Post, “ESPN has nine-word response to Rex Ryan’s shocking arrest,” November 11, 2026 — source
NY Post, “Rex Ryan’s lawyer: Ex-Jets coach addresses arrest,” November 11, 2026 — source