It was a only a matter of time before Buddy Ryan, the one-time head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles and the father of current New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan, would chime on on Tony Dungy's scolding of Rex for his foul language on HBO's Hard Knocks series.
In typical Buddy Ryan fashion, he misses the mark completely:
Appearing with John Gonzalez and Vai Sikahema of 97.5 The Fanatic in Philadelphia, the elder Ryan discussed Dungy's criticism of Rex.
As to Dungy's point that he wouldn't hire Rex Ryan, Buddy Ryan said, "I don't think he had applied for a job with what's his name, either."
As to Dungy's statement that he hopes Commissioner Roger Goodell tells Rex to tone it down, Buddy Ryan said, "Well, it's none of Dungy's business."
The "elder" Ryan is 76 years old. So, I'll just assume age is the reason he is calling legendary NFL head coach Tony Dungy "what's his name." And to address Buddy's silly suggestion that it's none of Dungy's business as to whether or not Roger Goodell tells Rex to tone down the F bombs, it's just another case of the elder Ryan simply not knowing WTF he is talking about.
Other than Goodell himself, there is no greater ambassador to the NFL than Dungy. Goodell has worked with Dungy on a number of NFL-related initiatives, like the re-instatement of Michael Vick and the Players Advisory Forum. Dungy is also beloved by just about every conceivable market demographic that the NFL caters to today, especially the "family" demo. Like it or not, the NFL tailors itself as a family experience. This is likely why its TV ratings destroy just about anything else out there. And families, especially those in the Midwest, might turn away from an NFL that promotes a fat, loud-mouthed coach who has never won anything dropping F bombs left and right on a show that SOLE PURPOSE is to promote the league.
For me, Rex's cursing doesn't offend me. I curse like a sailor. Then again, I'm a married guy with no kids who spends a ton of time on the east coast. I'm not who the NFL markets itself towards (families in the Midwest, or 'middle America'). And having grown up in 'middle America' and spent a lot of time thee, I can tell you right now that the key demographic for the NFL is likely not very pleased at how Rex Ryan is acting on the boob tube.
As for Buddy, I can understand him defending his son, but he's in the wrong here. It also doesn't help Buddy's cause that he is known as a classless buffoon. He never won a playoff game head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles and his offenses never scored more than 7 points in any one of his losses. The man was clueless when it came to understanding offensive football.
The act he is most famous for is punching an assistant coach (Kevin Gilbride) during a game! In today's NFL, Ryan would have been suspended indefinitely for doing something as grossly unprofessional as that. Since Ryan has never apologized for the incident (the Houston Oilers, the team he worked for at the time, didn't even suspend him!) it's kind of hard to take anything he says seriously on the subject of coaching conduct.
In Buddy's warped world, as long as Rex doesn't stab someone on the sidelines, everything is OK. Cursing? No big deal. Punching coaches? Hey, he was asking for it. Take shots at a legendary coach like Tony Dungy, a man who has actually won a playoff game along with a championship while turning around two historically bad NFL franchises? Sure! Why not.?
Gotta love the Ryan family.
Buddy's record with Philadelphia was 43-36 with an 0-3 playoff record. He should STFU next time he has anything critical to say of Tony Dungy. Win something first. Then, you can talk. Such a basic concept simply hasn't taken with the Ryan family.