Buddy Ryan dies at the age of 82

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RIP to the magician who made the most dominant, scary, and feared defenses in the history of the NFL.

The 1985 Bears were his creation, and while the tension between him and Dikta was thick and often volatile, it still ended up with a Super Bowl ring one of the greatest teams of all time.

RIP to a legend :clap:
 

Blackhawkswincup

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A great defensive coordinator but his offensive limitations meant that as a HC he never took Eagles deep and well ,, Arizona was a mess before and after him

In a lot of ways he was similar to a guy like Wade Phillips today. Great DC and D coach ,, Meh HC

RIP Buddy
 

PanthersPens62

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RIP to the magician who made the most dominant, scary, and feared defenses in the history of the NFL.

The 1985 Bears were his creation, and while the tension between him and Dikta was thick and often volatile, it still ended up with a Super Bowl ring one of the greatest teams of all time.

RIP to a legend :clap:
Very well said. The 85 Bears were such a fun team to watch thanks to Buddy's incredible 46 defense.

RIP Coach.
 

Cubs2024WSChamps

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Buddy Ryan was nothing but somebody who knew how to use talent he had. He wasn't some defensive genius and while he had the 85 Bears to his credit he also has years of being a complete flop as a head coach. Finks built the 85 Bears whose defensive players were loyal to on account of none of them could stand diva Ditka.

Not to hijack a thread and RIP to a good, not great coach.
 

GKJ

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Buddy Ryan had the balls to stand behind the players in the 1987 strike. Ditka and Landry didn't.

And then he famously ran up the score against the Cowboys.

Which was hilarious and not stupid.


Buddy is revered in Philadelphia, far more than Andy Reid despite never winning a playoff game.
 

Voight

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Only non-HC to be carried off the field after a Super Bowl win.

If only he'd had won a couple of playoff games, people would appreciate him more.
 

Blackhawkswincup

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Only non-HC to be carried off the field after a Super Bowl win.

If only he'd had won a couple of playoff games, people would appreciate him more.

But he didn't

0-3 as a HC in playoffs with one loss come against his former team and HC he hated

Some guys are cut out to be HC's and succeed in that role. Buddy like guys such as Norv Turner/Wade Phillips proved to be a great coordinator/assistant but not cut out for HC job
 

Reality Check

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And then he famously ran up the score against the Cowboys.

Which was hilarious and not stupid.


Buddy is revered in Philadelphia, far more than Andy Reid despite never winning a playoff game.

In defense of Buddy, he had to go up against New York and Washinton while with Philadelphia. Which was arguably the toughest division in the NFC at that time.

The playoff record is indefensible. Thought it's worth pointing out one of those losses was the Fog Bowl. Plus the headache and backlash of releasing Cris Carter in his final season.

Definitely a better assistant than head coach(Ryan was on 1968 Jets coaching staff too). But not a poor head coach by any means. More so, a guy who could only get you to a certain point ala Wade Phillips.

What is interesting, to me, though was watching an NFL Top 10 and discovering that the '77 Falcons were actually better the '85 Bears defense in several statistics. Thus why they were ranked #1 all-time as of now.
 

Sports Enthusiast

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No idea what month they shot the 30 for 30 but he looked terrible in it. I'm amazed he lasted all these months after.

I do find it interesting that Rex isn't beloved by all fans of his teams but Buddy is revered as a guy you love as your guy but hate if he's on the opposition. Rex isn't wildly popular in buffalo. I was young when Ryan was a head coach. He definitely would be an odd ball in today's game. I feel like Rex wants to be him but I also think Rex has a personality and while he's loyal to his players he's not that old school fierce and intimidating guy.
 

Blackhawkswincup

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No idea what month they shot the 30 for 30 but he looked terrible in it. I'm amazed he lasted all these months after.

I do find it interesting that Rex isn't beloved by all fans of his teams but Buddy is revered as a guy you love as your guy but hate if he's on the opposition. Rex isn't wildly popular in buffalo. I was young when Ryan was a head coach. He definitely would be an odd ball in today's game. I feel like Rex wants to be him but I also think Rex has a personality and while he's loyal to his players he's not that old school fierce and intimidating guy.

Buddy has had health issues for a few years actually
 

mongolman

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In defense of Buddy, he had to go up against New York and Washinton while with Philadelphia. Which was arguably the toughest division in the NFC at that time.

The playoff record is indefensible. Thought it's worth pointing out one of those losses was the Fog Bowl. Plus the headache and backlash of releasing Cris Carter in his final season.

Definitely a better assistant than head coach(Ryan was on 1968 Jets coaching staff too). But not a poor head coach by any means. More so, a guy who could only get you to a certain point ala Wade Phillips.

What is interesting, to me, though was watching an NFL Top 10 and discovering that the '77 Falcons were actually better the '85 Bears defense in several statistics. Thus why they were ranked #1 all-time as of now.

Hindsight being what it is, it was tough love from Buddy. Carter had a big time problem with drugs and alcohol. He's even credited Buddy with saving his life.

As many have pointed out he wasn't the best HC, good not great. But many people in Philly still fondly remember his tenure with the team, they amazing players that played for him, his feuds with fellow coach in the east, etc. He was a damn good defensive coach. RIP.
 

Voight

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Hindsight being what it is, it was tough love from Buddy. Carter had a big time problem with drugs and alcohol. He's even credited Buddy with saving his life.

As many have pointed out he wasn't the best HC, good not great. But many people in Philly still fondly remember his tenure with the team, they amazing players that played for him, his feuds with fellow coach in the east, etc. He was a damn good defensive coach. RIP.

A lot of stuff I've read points out that Philly fans love him more then Reid, despite the latter having more a lot more post season success.
 

mongolman

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A lot of stuff I've read points out that Philly fans love him more then Reid, despite the latter having more a lot more post season success.

I'd put them on the same level as each other, but that's just me personally. Obviously Reid had the success (I don't think anyone would take that away from him), but I think his stubbornness and poor last few seasons soured some peoples opinion of him. I honestly can't rationalize why I like Buddy so much, maybe I just overly romanticize that era of Eagles football (whether that's rational or not, I don't know).
 

Phileeguy

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I'd put them on the same level as each other, but that's just me personally. Obviously Reid had the success (I don't think anyone would take that away from him), but I think his stubbornness and poor last few seasons soured some peoples opinion of him. I honestly can't rationalize why I like Buddy so much, maybe I just overly romanticize that era of Eagles football (whether that's rational or not, I don't know).

Fellow Eagle fan, and I have a thought on that. And that thought is that Buddy was a tough, no-nonsense, brash, tell-it-like-it-is, sunuva***** of a character. Comparatively, Reid was a piece of white bread.

And as much as we say we'd like to see a SB winner I think deep down we (and this is the collective we I'm using here, not specifically me or you) as Eagle fans like having characters like Buddy about as much. Maybe not having had any SB wins has something to do with that. If you're not going to win the big games, at least entertain us.

Reid won more big games, but Buddy entertained us whenever a camera was on him.
 

Gene Parmesan

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I'd put them on the same level as each other, but that's just me personally. Obviously Reid had the success (I don't think anyone would take that away from him), but I think his stubbornness and poor last few seasons soured some peoples opinion of him. I honestly can't rationalize why I like Buddy so much, maybe I just overly romanticize that era of Eagles football (whether that's rational or not, I don't know).

Well one of the criticisms of the Buddy Ball era was wasting the prime of Randall Cunningham and lack of any kind of offensive structure. It was pretty much sandlot football with the league's ultimate weapon at the time.
 

mongolman

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Fellow Eagle fan, and I have a thought on that. And that thought is that Buddy was a tough, no-nonsense, brash, tell-it-like-it-is, sunuva***** of a character. Comparatively, Reid was a piece of white bread.

And as much as we say we'd like to see a SB winner I think deep down we (and this is the collective we I'm using here, not specifically me or you) as Eagle fans like having characters like Buddy about as much. Maybe not having had any SB wins has something to do with that. If you're not going to win the big games, at least entertain us.

Reid won more big games, but Buddy entertained us whenever a camera was on him.

I think that's a fair assessment. Pretty much what I was think and tried to say, but you just said it much better than myself.
 

mongolman

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Well one of the criticisms of the Buddy Ball era was wasting the prime of Randall Cunningham and lack of any kind of offensive structure. It was pretty much sandlot football with the league's ultimate weapon at the time.

I can see that criticism. But you also have to remember this was the time when the NFC East was one of, if not THE, best divisions in the NFL. I mean they had some pretty stiff competition from the Giants, Cowboys, and Redskin when all of those teams were in their prime. If memory serves me correctly that's when the St. Louis/Arizona(Phoenix) Cardinals were in the East, but I can't for the life of me remember how competitive they were.
 

Gene Parmesan

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I can see that criticism. But you also have to remember this was the time when the NFC East was one of, if not THE, best divisions in the NFL. I mean they had some pretty stiff competition from the Giants, Cowboys, and Redskin when all of those teams were in their prime. If memory serves me correctly that's when the St. Louis/Arizona(Phoenix) Cardinals were in the East, but I can't for the life of me remember how competitive they were.

Yeah they were but Randall burned those teams. Imagine if they had a gameplan?
 

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