[rQUOTEr]Former NFL head coach and influential defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan has died, agent James Solano confirmed Tuesday. He was 82. Ryan, who coached in the NFL for 35 seasons, was known for building some of football's top defenses behind a relentlessness that focused on creating havoc on the field. He was on the defensive staff of the Super Bowl-winning New York Jets in Super Bowl III in 1968. The Chicago Bears carried Ryan off the field next to coach Mike Ditka after Ryan's vaunted "46 Defense" helped the Bears destroy the New England Patriots 46-10 in Super Bowl XX. He later was head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles and Arizona Cardinals. His son, Rex, was on his dad's staff for two years with the Cardinals in the 1990s. Besides his legendary stay in Chicago, Buddy Ryan also was a defensive coordinator with the Minnesota Vikings and Houston Oilers. His stay in Houston was tarnished when the then-59-year-old Ryan took a swing at then-offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride on the sideline during a game. http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/16579465/former-nfl-coach-defensive-guru-buddy-ryan-dies-age-82[/rQUOTEr]
RIP Buddy The NFL (and pro sports in general) need more characters - especially on the coaching side.
RIP probably the greatest NFL defensive coach and the only assistant NFL coach to be carried off at the Super Bowl. I saw the 30 on 30 on the 1985 Bears awhile ago and it was really touching seeing him with Mike Singletary and the letter he wrote to his players. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OS6J1pDclWU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Too bad, probably got screwed by the Eagles who I have to believe would have eventually gotten to a Super Bowl with that defense; especially if they figured out how to pay Reggie White.
The Run-N-Shoot had fatal flaws that Ryan and Belichick both identified and publicly discussed, and Adams would have probably been more honest and consistent if just replaced Pardee outright after Buffalo; but there's literally no excuse for how Ryan behaved in that game and it could have risked a much bigger fracas, considering previous player altercations that season.
In the end, Gilbride was merely carrying out the head coach's system... he wasn't a run and shoot guru by any means, and he eventually won 2 SB's with Eli/Coughlin.
You could see the wr routes, mirror images of what the Oilers did, Victor Cruz reminded me of how explosive Ernest Givens could be.
Buddy was great for that 93 defense, but the way he pitted the offense vs the defense just killed the team. That team had fragile chemistry as it was and players always going at management over contracts and then instead of it only being the team vs the front office it became us vs us.