Long-time NFL coach and defensive genius Buddy Ryan has passed away.

Ryan served as a sergeant in the U.S. Army during the Korean War before embarking on a coaching career that spanned 34 years. He was hired as the Eagles’ head coach after stints as defensive line coach and defensive coordinator throughout the NFL for 24 years. He took the Eagles from five wins in his first season to seven in his second, and then never won fewer than ten in his final three years as the head coach, while constructing one of the best defenses in football history. It inspired “Buddy’s Watching You.”

When hired, he proclaimed “You’ve got a winner in town,” but it was ultimately his 0-3 playoff record that cast him out of Kelly Green.

Ryan ended his career in 1995 as a two-time Super Bowl Champion, but never won a playoff game as a head coach. His legacy lives on in today’s NFL, not only in the defensive schemes he helped pioneer, but with his sons Rex and Rob Ryan, now working together as Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator of the Buffalo Bills. Ryan was 82-years-old.