Yesterday, we introduced the Ryan Index, a measure of defensive ability and aggressiveness. I looked at every coach who has spent time as a head coach or defensive coordinator, and calculated their Ryan Index for each season. For each team, I gave the same score to the head coach and the defensive coordinator. [1]In the interest of time, I also gave the same score to each head coach in the case of multiple head coaches. Not ideal, but good enough! By this measure, Buddy Ryan ranks 4th on the Ryan Index. Over the span of his 18 seasons, his teams were a total of 14.2 standard deviations above average, or 0.79 per season. That trails only three HOF coaches:
Ironically, Buddy’s son Rob checks out as the least Ryan-like of any coach in history. With all apologies to Katie Nolan, Rob has coached some horrible defenses and some defenses that were horrible at creating big plays.
I’m short on time today, so please leave your thoughts and questions in the comments.
References
| ↑1 | In the interest of time, I also gave the same score to each head coach in the case of multiple head coaches. Not ideal, but good enough! |
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