Buddy Ryan was a defensive mastermind and innovator who was a head coach in the NFL for seven seasons during the 1980s and 1990s. Best known as the defensive coordinator of the 1985 Chicago Bears, one of the most dominant defenses in NFL history, Ryan was a combative figure. “I get along with everybody, as long as they do things my way,” he once said. In 1994, as defensive coordinator of the Oilers, Ryan punched the team’s offensive coordinator, Kevin Gilbride, in the face on national TV. Born in 1931 in Oklahoma and a veteran of the Korean War, Ryan was the architect of the 46 defense and inspired his teams into playing aggressive and physical football. Once, as Eagles’ head coach, Ryan said that his team would beat the Redskins so badly in an upcoming game that “they’ll have to be carted off in body bags.” Philadelphia won 28-14, and several Redskins players left the game with injuries, including two quarterbacks. Mike Ditka, who was Ryan's head coach with the Bears yet almost got into a physical fight with Ryan at halftime of the Bears’ only loss in 1985, at Miami, called him “way ahead of his time.” The father of former NFL head coach Rex Ryan and the assistant, Rob Ryan, Buddy died in Kentucky where he owned a ranch in 2016.