He rose quickly through the ranks of the Buffalo Bills coaching staff this season and is believed by some to be a rising candidate for coaching possibilities elsewhere in the National Football League. But Anthony Lynn, who was tapped yesterday to replace fired head coach Rex Ryan on an interim basis, says his only focus now is to prepare the Bills for their season finale this weekend.
Late Wednesday morning, Lynn met with reporters for his first time since the previous day's dismissals of Rex and Rob Ryan from the organization. He called the events of the past 24 hours "challenging" as he spoke of replacing a man he calls his friend.
"I'm sure you guys have a lot of questions about the future and where we're going with this, but right now my focus is right in front of me, getting these guys ready to play the New York Jets and play the best we can and win this game," Lynn said.
He informed reporters that he learned about Ryan's dismissal from the man himself. He wished his former boss, who was let go just shy of two full seasons with the Bills, would have had more time to lead the team.
"This is a business," Lynn said. "As much as I like to think football is a relationship business, there's a business side of it. Ownership made that decision and there's nothing we can do about that now but move forward."
Lynn's coaching career began in 2000 with the Denver Broncos. He also worked with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Dallas Cowboys and Cleveland Browns before joining Ryan's staff with the New York Jets in 2009. He stayed with the Jets until the end of the 2014 season.
The Jets parted ways with Ryan at the end of that season. Lynn interviewed for the opening but, after he did not get the job, he came to Buffalo in early 2015 to join Ryan's staff with the Bills as a running backs coach.
After the second week of the 2016 regular season, Lynn was promoted to offensive coordinator after Greg Roman was fired from the position.
Lynn is considered by many to be a top head coaching prospect but he told reporters he has not yet thought about long-term plans, whether they are with the Bills or anywhere else in the NFL.
"I'm not really thinking that far down the road, because I don't want to miss out on anything right now," he said. "
