RIP Buddy Ryan: Defensive Architect of 1985 Bears Dies at 82

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• published: 29 Jun 2016
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RIP Buddy Ryan: Defensive Architect of 1985 Bears Dies at 82 by Dan Pompei, Chicago Tribune. Read to you by Eric Jefry. Buddy Ryan, the famed inventor of the 46 defense who was carried off the field by his players after the Bears' victory in Super Bowl XX, died Tuesday morning. He was 82. The Bears confirmed Ryan's death. James Solano, Buddy Ryan's agent, told the Associated Press he died in Kentucky but did not give a cause. Ryan's health had deteriorated in recent years. An ESPN documentary in which Ryan was featured earlier this year reported he had been affected by stroke and cancer. Ryan spent 26 seasons as an NFL coach and was a part of three staffs that appeared in Super Bowls, but his crowning achievement was as defensive coordinator of the 1985 Bears. "The 85 Bears was the best defense there ever was, and ever will be," Ryan said in 2011. "They had a great scheme and great players." As a defensive assistant under Weeb Ewbank with the Jets in the late 1960s, Ryan began thinking of creative ways to rush the passer when he saw how pressure affected Jets quarterback Joe Namath. According to Hall of Fame defensive tackle Alan Page, who played for Ryan in Minnesota and with the Bears, Ryan started tinkering with the 46 in the late '70s when he was the Vikings defensive line coach. Initially, it was a nickel defense designed to stop the pass.