Nick Eatman at dallascowboys.com does the honors and makes the official announcement that Rob Ryan has been named defensive coordinator of the Dallas Cowboys today.
The only real surprise is that the announcement took this long and the lack of fanfare with which it's been announced: The Cowboys announced the hiring in a press release today. No word yet on any contract details.
We've been all over this story over the last couple of days, and the only thing really left to say is "Welcome to the Dallas Cowboys, Rob Ryan. Do us proud."
Now that the defensive coordinator is on board, the Cowboys will start filling the assistant coaching positions. Ryan is expected to bring in some new assistant coaches. There has been speculation over the last few days that Ryan may bring defensive line coach Bryan Cox and secondary coach Jerome Henderson as defensive assistants to Dallas with him. With LB coach Reggie Herring possibly following Wade Phillips to Houston, Don Martindale's name has been brought up as a potential successor. Martindale was the DC in Denver last year and also has a history with Ryan.