Buddy Ryan

Ryan began his coaching career at Gainesville High School in Gainesville, Texas, in 1957 as an assistant coach under Dub Wooten. When Wooten became head coach at Marshall High School in 1959, Ryan was promoted to head coach at Gainesville where he was also the Athletic Director. After one season at Gainesville, he spent one year as an assistant coach in Marshall, Texas.[6]

In 1961, after completing service in the military, (which included playing on the Fourth Army championship football team in Japan)[6] Ryan was determined to continue coaching football when he returned, and not at the high school ranks. However, with so many great coaches already in Texas, college jobs were hard to find. Carl Speegle, a former coach of Ryan's, contacted Dick Offenhamer, the head coach of the Buffalo Bulls of the University at Buffalo (UB), who needed a defensive line coach and was also preparing for the program's first season at the NCAA Division I level. From 1962 through 1965, the Bulls defense ranked among the national leaders, posting 12 shutouts in that span as well as producing Gerry Philbin. In 1964, Lou Saban, the head coach of the Buffalo Bills of the American Football League (AFL), reportedly offered Ryan a similar job with the Bills, but he received a $2,000 raise from UB to stay. In 1965, Ryan took a job at Pacific, before finishing his college coaching career the following season with Vanderbilt.[7]

Ryan joined the New York Jets of the AFL in 1968. He and Walt Michaels' defensive game plan was instrumental in holding the NFL's Baltimore Colts to seven points in Super Bowl III and earning Ryan his first Super Bowl ring. Seeing the emphasis that Weeb Ewbank placed on protecting Joe Namath and his fragile knees, Ryan created multiple blitz packages (i.e. the "59 blitz", the "Taco Bell blitz", and the "Cheeseburger blitz") reasoning that the quarterback is the focal point of any offense, and that a defense must attack the offense's strength and centerpiece.[8]

In 1976 and 1977, Ryan served as defensive line coach for the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings' defensive line, known as the "Purple People Eaters", was heralded for its ability to punish rivals.[9] The 1976 Vikings won the NFC Championship and appeared in Super Bowl XI. In 1977, the Vikings won the NFC Central and reached the NFC Championship game.[10] During his time with the Vikings, he started working on a defensive nickel scheme designed to disrupt the passing game. That formed the early basis of the 46 defense.[11]

In 1978, owner George Halas brought in Ryan as defensive coordinator. With the Bears, Ryan created the 46 defense, named after then Bears safety Doug Plank, but it wasn't until 1981 that the scheme was perfected.[11] This was due in large part to Mike Singletary's ability to single-handedly dominate the middle of the field.[12] The defensive players were so loyal to Ryan that when Bears head coach Neill Armstrong was fired in 1982,[13] they urged Halas to name Ryan head coach[14] or at least have the new coach keep Ryan as defensive coordinator.[13] Ultimately, Mike Ditka was hired as the head coach. Ryan and Ditka "feuded openly",[15][16] though Ditka mostly left the defense in Ryan's hands[17] "Ditka challenged Ryan to a fight during halftime"[18] of the Bears' 1985 matchup versus the Miami Dolphins, with the team at 12–0 and trailing 31–10 in a nationally televised Monday Night Football broadcast. "The guys on the team had to separate them—the offense getting Ditka away from Ryan and defensive guys holding Buddy."[19] The Bears went on to lose the game 38–24, which was their only loss of the season. However, the team would go on to Super Bowl XX where they would dominate the New England Patriots 46–10. The Bears defense carried Ryan off the field on their shoulders[20] "...right behind Mike Ditka", who was also being carried off the field.[16] This was the first time two coaches were ever carried off the field at the Super Bowl.[21]

The Bears defense set several NFL records in 1985, and led the league in turnovers forced and surrendered the fewest yards, points, and first downs.[22]

That offseason, Ryan was hired by the Philadelphia Eagles as their head coach.[23] Ryan released running back Earnest Jackson, who had rushed for more than 1,000 yards in both of the previous two seasons,[24] and limited the playing time of veteran quarterback Ron Jaworski. Ryan coached players such as Randall Cunningham, Reggie White, and Andre Waters and drafted Pro Bowlers Seth Joyner, Clyde Simmons, Jerome Brown, Eric Allen, Cris Carter, Fred Barnett, and Keith Jackson. The Eagles made the playoffs in 1988, 1989, and 1990.[25]

On October 25, 1987, he came under fire after a game against the Dallas Cowboys by scoring a touchdown in the final seconds, when the outcome was no longer in doubt.[26] This was apparently Ryan's revenge against Dallas head coach Tom Landry, who Ryan felt had run up the score against the Eagles' replacement players during the 1987 players' strike, using many of the Cowboys players that had crossed the picket line.[27] The controversy marred a season in which the Eagles improved to 7–8, which included a 31–27 win over the eventual Super Bowl champion Redskins at Veterans Stadium.

On November 22, 1989, Ryan found himself at the center of another scandal, when Cowboys head coach Jimmy Johnson alleged Ryan had taken out a "bounty" on two Cowboys players—then-current Dallas (and former Philadelphia) placekicker Luis Zendejas and quarterback Troy Aikman in a game dubbed "Bounty Bowl" played on Thanksgiving Day at Texas Stadium.[28][29] Ryan's Eagles compiled an 8–2 record against the Cowboys.

Ryan was fired by the Eagles in 1991 after going 43–35–1 in five seasons, a total that included an 0–3 record in playoff games.[30] He subsequently became an NFL commentator for CNN.[31]

Ryan became the defensive coordinator for the Houston Oilers in 1993, and his defensive team helped propel the Oilers to an 11-game winning streak at the end of the 1993 NFL season. On January 2, 1994, in the Oilers' final regular season game against the New York Jets, Ryan was involved in a sideline altercation with the offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride during the nationally telecast game.[32]

Ryan had been criticizing Gilbride's "run and shoot", referring to it as the "chuck and duck."[33] Ryan thought that last-minute defensive stands lost him two players to injuries when the offense could have simply run the clock out. At the end of the first half in the game against the Jets, Gilbride called a pass play, and when Cody Carlson fumbled the snap, Ryan started yelling at Gilbride, who then started walking towards Ryan, yelling back. When they were at arm's length, "Ryan ... attempted to punch Gilbride in the jaw"[33] before linebacker Keith McCants and several other Oilers players separated them.[34] "Kevin Gilbride will be selling insurance in two years," Ryan said a few days after the incident.[35]

The Oilers lost to the Kansas City Chiefs 28–20 in a divisional round match at the Astrodome two weeks later on January 16. After scoring the Chiefs' first touchdown on a 7-yard pass from Joe Montana, Keith Cash fired the football at an image of Ryan's face on a banner hanging beyond the end zone. Holding no grudge against Ryan, Cash explained, "I saw it as I was crossing the goal line, and it was just impulse. I just let it fly."[36]

After being given a large share of the credit for the success in Houston in 1993, Ryan was named head coach and general manager of the Arizona Cardinals in 1994.[37] On arriving in Phoenix, Ryan announced, "You've got a winner in town."[38] Ryan went 8–8 his first year, but was fired after the Cardinals crumbled to 4–12 the following season. He spent two seasons in Arizona[38] and compiled a record of 12–20.[39]