Who is Ryan Clancy from Give a Boy a Gun and what is their importance?

Ryan Clancy plays football at Middletown High School. When Brendan moves into town, Brendan and Ryan's friends Gary form a bond, as if they live in their own separate world, pushing Ryan out. When there's trouble at the gym, Ryan is the one that ends up tackling Brendan in the gym and holding him down, while the other boy, Paul, unties everyone else. Ryan does not participate in the kicking and beating of Brendan, but he doesn't try to stop the boys that are kicking Brendan in his head either.