Police say both pedestrians had right of way and suffered minor injuries

Former NFL coach and ESPN analyst Rex Ryan turned himself in Wednesday to face misdemeanor charges accusing him of striking two pedestrians with his car in downtown Nashville and leaving the scene, police said.

Nashville police said the two pedestrians had the right of way crossing a main street in the city’s popular downtown tourist area last week when Ryan allegedly turned at a red light, running over their feet. Both pedestrians suffered minor injuries, police said.

Ryan arrived at Nashville’s Downtown Detention Center early Wednesday, according to the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office, and was later released.

Ryan 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, according to court records. All are misdemeanors.

A judicial commissioner set Ryan’s bond at $6,000, but he qualified for pretrial release, which means he was released on non-financial conditions. Ryan is scheduled to appear in court next month.

Online records did not identify an attorney for Ryan. A phone number believed to be Ryan’s had an automatic outgoing message, and a message could not be left.

Ryan appeared on ESPN on Sunday for the network’s NFL pregame show and again Monday for a morning show, both taped in New York. “We are aware and are in touch with Rex,” ESPN said in a statement Wednesday.

Ryan is best known now as one of the analysts on ESPN’s NFL pregame show. He previously served as head coach of the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets, leading the Jets to the AFC Championship Game in consecutive years after the 2009 and 2010 seasons.

With the Jets, Ryan became one of the team’s — and the NFL’s — most popular figures, especially during his first few seasons as coach, because of his brash, colorful approach in news conferences that became must-watch TV.

He has not coached since being fired by the Bills with one game left in the 2016 season, though he has expressed interest in coaching and interviewed in 2025 for the Jets’ head coaching vacancy that went to Aaron Glenn.

Ryan’s father, the late Buddy Ryan, was an NFL coaching legend who coordinated the 1985 Chicago Bears defense that was one of the best in history. Seth Ryan, one of Rex Ryan’s two sons, is in his first season as the Jets’ passing game coordinator.