Former NFL head coach and influential defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan passed away Tuesday, according to his agent and family.
Buddy, the father of the Bills’ Rex and Rob Ryan, was 82.
Ryan, who coached in the NFL for 26 seasons, built some of football’s top defenses with their relentlessness, physical, chaotic approach.
“I wonder who just lost their defensive-coordinating job in heaven,” former Chicago Bears defensive tackle Steve McMichael told ESPN.
Buddy’s death was confirmed by the Buffalo Bills, who employ his twin sons Rex (the team’s head coach, pictured above) and Rob Ryan.
James David “Buddy” Ryan was a Korean War vet who went to Oklahoma State, then got a Master’s from Middle Tennessee State.
In 1968, in his first pro job, Ryan was the linebackers coach for the Joe Namath-led Jets, which scored a major upset Super Bowl win.
“That’s something my dad was very proud of,” said Rex Ryan. “When [former Jets coach Weeb] Ewbank hired him, he had to make a difference.”
“If he felt he wasn’t making a difference,” Rex recalled his father telling him, “then his career as a professional coach would be short.”
Ryan’s first job as a defensive coordinator came in 1976 with the Minnesota Vikings under Bud Grant, like Ewbank a Hall of Fame coach.
It was with the rival Bears, however, where he concocted the “46 defense” that overwhelmed the NFL with its aggressiveness and unpredictability.
Ryan’s defenders, featuring Hall of Famers like linebacker Mike Singletary and ends Dan Hampton and Richard Dent, ran it to perfection.
“Some say the 46 is just an eight-man front,” said Ryan.
“That’s like saying Marilyn Monroe is just a girl.”
Ryan’s defense propelled the Bears to a 15-1 season and Super Bowl title, and they are often considered the best team in NFL history.
The Bears routed New England in the championship game, 46-10, after which Ryan and head coach Mike Ditka were both carried off the field.
After Chicago, he went on to the Philadelphia Eagles as head coach for five seasons, from 1986-90, making the playoffs three times.
Following that, he returned to defensive coordinator duties with the Houston Oilers, then coached the Arizona Cardinals in the mid-90s.
