Chicago Bears Defense Built Buddy Ryan Tough
This week the NFL world lost one of their greatest defensive minds in history, Buddy Ryan. His legacy and standard of grit built the Chicago Bears defense.
Buddy Ryan held the position of defensive line coach for the Buffalo Bills from 1961-1965, but emerged as a formidable line coach for the New York Jets (1968-1975) especially in their Super Bowl III triumph. He then moved on to the Minnesota Vikings for a year and eventually landed the coveted role of defensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears from 1978-1985.
Related Story: Top 2015 Chicago Bear Moments
When George Halas brought Ryan in as the defensive coordinator for the Bears, he had a vision of what a defense should look like. He envisioned eight men in a box, with six players along the line of scrimmage, four would play line technique while the other two in a linebacker technique. Then there are two players at linebacker depth playing linebacker technique and then three defensive backs. Even though the technique has the original 4-3 defense base set, it was named after strong safety Doug Plank who wore the number 46.
Basically, Ryan viewed players as a number when drawing up plays and when he put his vision on the board he displayed, moving safety number 46 (Plank) to the middle linebacker position, he circled it three times and decided to call it the 46 Defense. This would be the beginning of a defense that within two years, 1978-1979, Ryan would get them to a wild card spot. Ryan’s vision needed more time to cook, and with the right ingredients became a recipe for success.
The first thing that had to go was coach Neill Armstrong in 1982. But it seemed that Ryan was also on the chopping block until his players, the ones that he had built to be disciplined and embrace the team as a brotherhood, interceded on his behalf. Safety Gary Fencik and Alan Page wrote a letter signed by several players to implore owner George Halas to keep their beloved defensive coach. When Mike Ditka came on the scene, it appeared at one point that two hot-headed coaches were going to destroy a storied franchise.
But on the contrary, it just made the defense stronger. They just needed two integral pieces for a winning team, a tenacious quarterback, Jim McMahan and a blazing leader in linebacker Mike Singletary. Ditka and Ryan built a team of strong players, but it was a Chicago Bears defense that was built Buddy Ryan tough that took them to the Super Bowl. It’s not very common that a team hoists they defensive coordinator on their shoulders after a victories win. But then shortly after, Ditka was hoisted and you had a team that respected each other and what they had accomplished together.
Don’t get me wrong, Ryan was not always a saint nor was he loved by every player. But his drive to win and make mediocre players into monsters on the field was worth the tenure. He just didn’t expect them to love him back. In 2015, Ryan penned a letter to his players of the 1985 Super Bowl champion Chicago Bears which said,
"your text”To my guys,In 1981, many of you signed a letter to George Halas that saved my job. Now I’m writing a letter to all of you to say thanks. I wish I could be there to say it in person, but this will have to do. Thank you to the Super Bowl champion 1985 Chicago Bears, the greatest team in NFL history. You gave me the best memories of my coaching life.I’ll love every one of you until the day I die. I told you this a long time ago, and it’s still true. You guys will always be my heroes”. – Buddy Ryan"
Buddy once said, “Some say the 46 is just an eight-man front. That’s like saying Marilyn Monroe is just a girl.” He had a vision. It was a vision only the 1982-1985 Bears could see and understand. Just ask Mike Singletary who received the brunt of Ryan’s “kindness” as he berated Singletary in his rookie season. It was fellow player Jim Osborne who explained to Singletary that Ryan actually liked him but he just needed to close his mouth and do what he says.
More nfl spin zone: 30 Greatest NFL Coaches of All-Time
Patiently Singletary watched what Ryan was trying to accomplish, to win a championship. And that is what he did. Buddy Ryan was a visionary and he created the template of what a winning defense looks like. Today the Chicago Bears defense needs to take a page out of Ryan lore and become heroes once again, for Buddy.