Who is USC's new LB coach Rob Ryan? Closer look at former Raiders defensive assistant's career

Former Las Vegas Raiders defensive assistant Rob Ryan is making a career change. After three seasons with the Raiders from 2022 to 2024, he is taking his talents back to a college football team, for the first time since 1999.

He has been hired by USC as the team's new linebackers coach. This was reported on Saturday by insider Bruce Feldman.

"Las Vegas Raiders defensive assistant Rob Ryan is getting hired at USC to be the Trojans' new linebackers coach. The 62-year-old worked together with Trojans DC D’Anton Lynn in 2021 on the Ravens staff and with the Bills in 2016."

A look back at Rob Ryan's coaching career

Rob Ryan has one of the longest-running coaching careers in football. With his move to USC, he is returning to college football for the first time since he was the defensive coordinator at Oklahoma State in 1999.

However, his coaching journey started in college football. He was hired as a graduate assistant at Western Kentucky in 1987.

Before he was hired by USC, Ryan had nine different coaching stints in the NFL since his last appearance as a college football coach. He was hired by the New England Patriots in 2000 as a linebackers coach and stayed with the team until 2003.

Then, from 2004 to 2015, he was a defensive coordinator for four different teams, the Oakland Raiders, Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints.

Ryan briefly held the position of assistant head coach for defense for the Buffalo Bills in 2016 but was fired mid-season. He then did not get another coaching job until 2019, when he was hired by the Washington Redskins.

The 62-year-old would then have two more coaching jobs in the NFL, with the Baltimore Ravens and Las Vegas Raiders, before getting hired by USC.

Rob Ryan's career highlights were winning the Super Bowl twice as a coach for the New England Patriots.

Rob Ryan briefly had a broadcasting career

Although Ryan has been a football coach for most of his career since 1987, he had a brief career as a broadcaster too. After he was fired by the Bills late in 2016, he took some time off and was eventually hired by Fox in 2017.

With Fox, he hosted a radio show with Mark Willard. He then became a weekly analyst for Sky Sports' NFL coverage in the UK and Ireland in 2018. However, he ended his broadcasting career after he was hired by Washington in 2019.