Two coaching legends, Summit and Ryan pass away Tuesday

It was a sad day Tuesday, as coaching legends Pat Summit and Buddy Ryan passed away within hours of each other.
Summit, the winningest coach in Division I college basketball history, led Tennesse women’s basketball to NCAA titles in 1987, 1989, 1991, 1996-98 and 2007-08. Summitt had a career record of 1,098-208 in 38 seasons, plus 18 NCAA Final Four appearances.
She was 64 years old.
But, it was her on going battle with Alzheimer’s that garnered much attention the past five years.
“Since 2011, my mother has battled her toughest opponent, early onset dementia, ‘Alzheimer’s Type,’ and she did so with bravely fierce determination just as she did with every opponent she ever faced,” Tyler Summitt said. “Even though it’s incredibly difficult to come to terms that she is no longer with us, we can all find peace in knowing she no longer carries the heavy burden of this disease.”
Summitt is the only person to have two courts used by NCAA Division I basketball teams named in her honor: “Pat Head Summitt Court” at the University of Tennessee-Martin, and “The Summitt” at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.
“Pat’s vision for the game of women’s basketball and her relentless drive pushed the game to a new level and made it possible for the rest of us to accomplish what we did,” said UConn head coach Geno
Auriemma.
Ryan, the innovator of the “4-6” defense, was a two-time Super Bowl champion; once as a defensive line coach with the New York Jets in Super Bowl III and once with the Chicago Bears as defensive coordinator in Super Bowl XX.
He was 85 years old.
Ryan went through many controversial times in his tenure in the NFL, including punching Houston Oiler’s offensive coordinator, Kevin Gilbride, in the face during a playoff game against the Jets when he was the defensive coordinator in 1993.
And who could forget his ongoing feud with Chicago Bear’s head coach Mike Ditka.
While he was the Bears’ defensive coordinator, Buddy Ryan largely ignored Ditka, concluding that Ditka, knew nothing about defense. In 1985 they almost came to blows in the locker room during halftime of the Bears’ loss to the Miami Dolphins, the team’s only defeat that season.
But his defensive players on that Bear’s Super Bowl team loved him and his style of coaching. When Ditka was hired as the head coach of the Bears, the players lobbied owner George Halas to keep Ryan on as defensive coordinator.
In fact after the Super Bowl trouncing of the New England Patriots, the defensive unit carried Ryan off the field on their shoulders, while other players carried Ditka off of the field. This was the first time two coaches ever got carried off the field at the Super Bowl.
‘’He was many things to many people - outstanding coach, mentor, fierce competitor, father figure, faithful friend and the list goes on,’’ his son Rex Ryan said in a statement. ‘’But to me and my brothers Rob and Jim, he was so much more. He was everything you want in a dad -- tough when he had to be, compassionate when you didn’t necessarily expect it, and a loving teacher and confidant who cherished his family. He truly was our hero.”