James David "Buddy" Ryan (February 17, 1931 – June 28, 2016) was an American football coach in the National Football League (NFL) and American Football League (AFL). During his 35-season coaching career, Ryan served as the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles and Arizona Cardinals, as well as the defensive coordinator of the Chicago Bears and Houston Oilers of the NFL. Ryan began his professional coaching career as the defensive line coach for the New York Jets of the AFL for the team's Super Bowl III victory. He became the defensive line coach for the Minnesota Vikings, overseeing the Purple People Eaters. He then became the defensive coordinator of the Chicago Bears, who won Super Bowl XX. As defensive coordinator of the Bears, he is credited with creating the 46 defense, and the 1985 team led the league in nearly all defensive statistical categories. Ryan then coached the Eagles, served as defensive coordinator of the Oilers, and coached the Cardinals. He was the father of NFL coaches Rex Ryan and Rob Ryan. Early years Ryan was born on February 17, 1931, and raised in a "small, agricultural-based community" outside of Frederick, Oklahoma. His obituary in The New York Times references the confusion about the year Ryan was born: "His birth year was often listed as 1934; as Rex Ryan said in his memoir, his father had subtracted a few years from his true age to come off as more youthful when first looking for an NFL job." Ryan played college football for Oklahoma A&M University (now Oklahoma State) where he earned four letters as a guard between 1952 and 1955. He served as a sergeant in the United States Army during the Korean War. Coaching 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) Ryan was determined to continue coaching football when he returned, and not at the high school ranks. However, with so many great coaches already in Texas, college jobs were