Barbara Barker is an award-winning sports features writer and columnist who has covered sports in New York for
If the Buffalo Bills’ newest assistant coach were named Kevin Smith, not Kathryn Smith, the hiring might have merited a single line in a news release last week. Instead it became headline news and ignited a Twitter and sports talk radio debate as people either heralded Rex Ryan as an outside-the-box visionary or labeled him a grandstanding publicity-seeker.
In truth, Rex may be a little bit of both, but that’s fine. Because by elevating a qualified employee who has spent 13 years with the Jets and Bills to a visible sideline position, he has achieved two very important things.