Buddy Ryan: A coaching style that doesn’t exist today
By Tom Ignudo
One of the most prominent defensive minds in the NFL and Philadelphia Eagles’ history will be calling plays from a new sideline.
Former Philadelphia Eagles head coach, Buddy Ryan, passed away at the age of 85 on June 28th. Without winning one playoff game, he left a mark on Philadelphia not many coaches nor players leave on the city. You don’t hear people talk about Andy Reid, the most successful coach in Eagles’ history, with the same enthusiasm they talk about Ryan.
Like some of the most adored athletes in the history of Philadelphia sports, namely Allen Iverson, Brian Dawkins and Charles Barkley, Ryan brought the same of heart, rawness and intensity to the sidelines.
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Ryan was the embodiment of the fans who sat in the 700-level at Veterans Stadium. While, I admit, I was born four years after Ryan was fired as the Eagles’ head coach, I was too young to watch his entertaining tenure in Philadelphia, but from what I’ve read and watched over the past week, it really makes me wonder, would a coach like Ryan last today in the age of social media? Would his actions on the field lead some difficult consequences?
The answer would probably be yes, especially with the way NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has been running the show. For example, one incident that would have been investigated heavily by the league where the Bounty Bowl games in 1989 against the Dallas Cowboys. After Bounty Bowl I, Jimmy Johnson, former head coach of the Cowboys, said after they were beaten 27-0 by the Eagles, that Ryan put a bounty on quarterback Troy Aikman and former Eagles punter Luis Zendejas.
This later set stage for “Bounty Bowl II” three weeks later at Veterans Stadium where the Eagles won 20-10, which later turned into a mess in South Philadelphia featuring Eagles fans throwing ice, snowballs and beer onto the field. We all saw the drama that unfolded when the NFL investigated the New Orleans Saints for The “Bounty gate” scandal several years back.
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Goodell threw the book at New Orleans by suspending head coach Sean Payton, defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, general manager Mickey Loomis and assistant coach Joe Vitt.The Saints were also fined $500,000 and forced to forfeit second-round draft selections in 2012 and 2013.
Ryan was also the coach who wrote this in his playbook about quarterbacks:
"“A quarterback has never completed a pass when he was flat on his back. We must hit the QB hard and often. QB’s are over-paid, over-rated, pompous bastards and must be punished. Great pass coverage is a direct result of a great pass rush, and a great pass rush is simply a relentless desire to get to the QB.Never miss an opportunity to punish the opponent. We must dominate and intimidate the enemy. If the opponent is worried about you, he is not thinking about carrying out his offensive assignment. If you play aggressive, physical, and smart–you cannot be beaten.”"
If Ryan thought this way nearly 25-years ago when you were actually allowed to hit the quarterback, I’m convinced he would be voicing his opinion to league about the flags called in today’s game. It was typical for Ryan to go against the grain.
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After being fired as the Eagles’ head coach in 1990, he became the Houston Oilers’ defensive coordinator in 1993. And during the final regular season game against the New York Jets, Ryan punched offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride because he was keeping his defense on the field for too long. (watch a short documentary about the incident on NFL Films here.)
This leads me to believe Ryan would not have been a big fan of Chip Kelly. Imagine the gifs, memes and edited videos that would have been created on Twitter during the Ryan/Gilbride incident. Those gifs and memes are circulating the web now, but the way Ryan acted would have most likely made him a trending topic at the time of his coaching career if such technologies existed.
Not only was Ryan known for his off-the-wall behavior at times and time in Philadelphia, but he was the former defensive coordinator of the Chicago Bears, and mastermind behind the 46 defense that lead to Chicago becoming Super Bowl Champs in 1985. Ryan started his coaching career at Buffalo University, where he was the defensive line coach from 1961-65. He got his start in the NFL with the Jets as a defensive line coach in 1968, until he later began to oversee the “Purple People Eaters” for the Minnesota Vikings from 1976-77 as the team’s defensive line coach.
Along with being the head coach of the Eagles, he also was the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals from 1994-95. He finished with a 55-58-1 career record as a head coach. I just wish I got see to see Ryan in the flesh, being the character I hear he once was from older fans I speak to daily. Unfortunately the closest thing I’ll get to him are his sons, Rex Ryan and Rob Ryan.
Sheesh.