High school Ryan began his coaching career at Gainesville High School in
Gainesville, Texas, in 1957 as an assistant coach under Dub Wooten. When Wooten became head coach at
Marshall High School in 1959, Ryan was promoted to head coach at Gainesville where he was also the athletic director. After one season at Gainesville, he spent one year as an assistant coach in
Marshall, Texas.
College In 1961, after completing service in the military, (which included playing on the Fourth Army championship football team in Japan)
New York Jets Ryan joined the
New York Jets of the AFL in 1968. He and
Walt Michaels' defensive game plan was instrumental in holding the NFL's
Baltimore Colts to seven points in
Super Bowl III and earning Ryan his first
Super Bowl ring. Seeing the emphasis that
Weeb Ewbank placed on protecting
Joe Namath and his fragile knees, Ryan created multiple blitz packages (i.e. the "59 blitz", the "Taco Bell blitz", and the "Cheeseburger blitz") reasoning that the
quarterback is the focal point of any offense, and that a defense must attack the offense's strength and centerpiece.
Minnesota Vikings In 1976 and 1977, Ryan served as defensive line coach for the
Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings' defensive line, known as the "
Purple People Eaters", was heralded for its ability to punish rivals. The 1976 Vikings won the NFC Championship and appeared in
Super Bowl XI. In 1977, the Vikings won the
NFC Central and reached the NFC Championship game. During his time with the Vikings, he started working on a defensive nickel scheme designed to disrupt the passing game. That formed the early basis of the
46 defense. While Buddy had the title of DL coach, at the insistence of head coach Bud Grant he was actually running the defense.
Chicago Bears In 1978, owner
George Halas brought in Ryan as defensive coordinator. With the Bears, Ryan created the
46 defense, named after then Bears safety
Doug Plank, but it wasn't until 1981 that the scheme was perfected. The defensive players were so loyal to Ryan that when Bears head coach
Neill Armstrong was fired in 1982, they urged Halas to name Ryan head coach or at least have the new coach keep Ryan as defensive coordinator. though Ditka mostly left the defense in Ryan's hands "Ditka challenged Ryan to a fight during halftime" of the Bears' 1985 matchup versus the
Miami Dolphins, with the team at 12–0 and trailing 31–10 in a nationally televised
Monday Night Football broadcast. "The guys on the team had to separate them—the offense getting Ditka away from Ryan and defensive guys holding Buddy." The Bears went on to lose the game 38–24, which was their only loss of the season. However, the team would go on to
Super Bowl XX where they would dominate the New England Patriots 46–10. The Bears defense carried Ryan off the field on their shoulders "...right behind Mike Ditka", who was also being carried off the field. The Bears defense set several NFL records in 1985, and led the league in turnovers forced and surrendered the fewest yards, points, and first downs.
Philadelphia Eagles That offseason, Ryan was hired by the
Philadelphia Eagles as their head coach. Ryan released
running back Earnest Jackson, who had rushed for more than 1,000 yards in both of the previous two seasons, and limited the playing time of veteran quarterback
Ron Jaworski. Ryan coached players such as
Randall Cunningham,
Reggie White, and
Andre Waters and drafted
Pro Bowlers
Seth Joyner,
Clyde Simmons,
Jerome Brown,
Eric Allen,
Cris Carter,
Fred Barnett, and
Keith Jackson. The Eagles made the playoffs in 1988, 1989, and 1990. On October 25, 1987, he came under fire after a game against the
Dallas Cowboys by scoring a touchdown in the final seconds, when the outcome was no longer in doubt. This was apparently Ryan's revenge against Dallas head coach
Tom Landry, who Ryan felt had
run up the score against the Eagles' replacement players during the
1987 players' strike, using many of the Cowboys players that had crossed the picket line. The controversy marred a season in which the Eagles improved to 7–8, which included a 31–27 win over the eventual Super Bowl champion Redskins at Veterans Stadium. On November 22, 1989, Ryan found himself at the center of another scandal, when Cowboys head coach
Jimmy Johnson alleged Ryan had taken out a "
bounty" on two Cowboys players—then-current Dallas (and former Philadelphia) placekicker
Luis Zendejas and quarterback
Troy Aikman in a game dubbed "
Bounty Bowl" played on
Thanksgiving Day at
Texas Stadium. Ryan's Eagles compiled an 8–2 record against the Cowboys. On January 8, 1991, Ryan was fired by the Eagles after going 43–35–1 in five seasons, a total that included an 0–3 record in playoff games. As quoted by Eagles owner
Norman Braman, "It is time to stop being a bridesmaid and become a bride." Ryan was replaced by his offensive coordinator in
Rich Kotite, whom he had hired from the Jets the previous year. Ryan subsequently became an NFL commentator for
CNN.
Houston Oilers Ryan became the defensive coordinator for the
Houston Oilers in 1993, and his unit helped propel the Oilers to an 11-game winning streak at the end of the
1993 NFL season. On January 2, 1994, in the Oilers' final regular season game against the
New York Jets, Ryan was involved in a sideline altercation with the offensive coordinator
Kevin Gilbride during the nationally telecast game. Ryan had been criticizing Gilbride's "
run and shoot", referring to it as the "chuck and duck." Ryan thought that two defensive players were injured on last-minute defensive stands when the offense could have simply run the clock out. At the end of the first half in the game against the Jets, Gilbride called a pass play, and when
Cody Carlson fumbled the snap, Ryan started yelling at Gilbride, who then started walking towards Ryan, yelling back. When they were at arm's length, "Ryan ... attempted to punch Gilbride in the jaw" "Kevin Gilbride will be selling insurance in two years," Ryan said a few days after the incident. The Oilers lost to the
Kansas City Chiefs 28–20 in a divisional round match at the
Astrodome two weeks later on January 16. After scoring the Chiefs' first touchdown on a 7-yard pass from
Joe Montana,
Keith Cash fired the football at an image of Ryan's face on a banner hanging beyond the end zone. Holding no grudge against Ryan, Cash explained, "I saw it as I was crossing the goal line, and it was just impulse. I just let it fly."
Arizona Cardinals After being given a large share of the credit for the success in Houston in 1993, Ryan was named head coach and general manager of the
Arizona Cardinals in 1994. On arriving in Phoenix, Ryan announced, "You've got a winner in town." Ryan was cited as providing a spark of interest in the team with his outspoken nature; he also named his two sons in Rob and Rex to be assistant coaches. Ryan went 8–8 his
first year, which came with an offense that was in the bottom five of both total offense and scoring offense; the eight wins were the most for the franchise since the move to Arizona along with their first non-losing season since 1984. The following year did not go as well. He was fired after the Cardinals crumbled to 4–12 the
following season, which saw them lose seven of their final eight games. After a miserable 37–13 loss on
Monday Night Football to the
Dallas Cowboys to close the year out, Ryan (who mistakenly left the field before the final seconds) was fired by owner
Bill Bidwill on December 26. Bidwill cited the lackluster effort by the team as the pushing factor in his decision. He spent two seasons in Arizona ==Legacy==