Drift back to Minnesota in the mid-70s. Former New York Jets defensive assistant Buddy Ryan is interviewing with Vikings legendary coach Bud Grant for the team's defensive line coach position.
Bud Grant: You have any dogs?
Buddy Ryan: Yes
about 5 minutes pass
Bud Grant: Do you hunt with them?
Buddy Ryan: No
about 5 minutes pass
Bud Grant: You got the job.
This little interview may be odd, but it does speak volumes about Bud Grant. He knew all along that Ryan had the job. Grant knew what he wanted, and knew what Ryan offered. He just wanted to make Ryan sweat. Buddy Ryan was many things as a football coach, good and bad. He was a fantastic, innovative defensive coach. He was also a jackass. He would probably take that as a compliment. From my first awareness of Ryan as the Vikings line coach in the '70s to the Bears defensive coordinator in the 80s to his somewhat failed head coaching gigs with the Eagles and Cardinals to his coordinator work with the Oilers in the 90s, I have had so many conflicting opinions of Ryan. It is impossible to ignore his genius but it is equally hard to ignore his narrow vision. He should not have been a head coach. He sees only defense and completely ignores offense. His narrow vision was evident early. He was fired from his first job as a high school football coach and athletic director because he spent the entire athletic budget on the football team. This pattern repeats throughout his career. As a defensive coordinator he fought with the offensive coaches. With the Chicago Bears, he never listened to or respected head coach Mike Ditka. F-bombs were standard features of his conversations with Ditka. With the Oilers a decade later, he literally fought with offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride. Ryan gained perhaps his greatest attention by punching Gilbride, on camera, during a game. Classy. The Oilers ran the "run and shoot" offense. An offense Ryan called the "chuck and duck" for it's complete disregard for protecting the QB and repeatedly putting his defense in difficult spots. I always thought that Ryan's anger should have been directed at head coach Jack Pardee. After all, Pardee installed the offense. Gilbride simply acted on that direction. Ryan always had an "every one's out to get me" mentality that was only loosely based on reality. It's sad to see his defensive genius tainted in this way. Nearly every attacking defensive scheme run today pulls aspects of Ryan's ideas. Any team that has employed one of his sons, Rex and Rob, obviously carries the older Ryan's legacy. This number is growing rapidly. The Ravens, Patriots, Raiders, Browns, and now the Jets and Cowboys have all employed a junior Ryan. Rex Ryan says that his father's greatest influences were Weeb Ewbank, Bud Grant and George Halas. That's quite a trio of Hall of Famers. It's unfortunate that he didn't learn some of their head coaching skills, the ability to see the whole team. Rex, in his two seasons as head coach of the Jets, appears to have the big picture vision. He has a similar defensive genius as his father, but he sees the whole team. His first big move as head coach was to bargain a lot on a potential franchise QB in Mark Sanchez. Spending a ton on an offensive player doesn't sound like a Ryan move.
It's only a guess of mine, but I'll bet that Buddy Ryan's greatest moments in the NFL were a couple of acts by his players. His Bears defensive players sent a letter to Halas pleading with him to keep Ryan when the entire coaching staff was fired. This act influenced Halas enough to keep Ryan. It also ticked off Ditka when he had no say in his defensive coordinator. The second was when his defensive players carried him off the field following Super Bowl XX. This is the only time an assistant coach has ever been carried off the field. This probably ticked off Ditka too. I'd like to have seen what Buddy Ryan could have done if he had a better overall team view. Maybe we will through his sons.
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