Every week of the 2015 Chicago Bears season, Chicago Sun-Times Sports will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the 1985 Bears by speaking with players from the team including Jimbo Covert, Dan Hampton, Dennis McKinnon and Otis Wilson.
Dan Hampton and Dennis McKinnon, two members of the 1985 Chicago Bears, but on opposite sides of the ball, spoke about the divide that existed between head coach Mike Ditka and defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan.
Hampton spoke on behalf of the defense.
“Buddy was hired before Ditka was,” Hampton said. “Buddy felt like he was a mini head coach with autonomy and he didn’t have to answer to Ditka.”
McKinnon represented the offense.
“There was some animosity between offense and defense, of course,” McKinnon said. “At certain points during the year, the defense was getting so much credit for how devastating they were against the opposition. And rarely does the defensive coordinator get more coverage than the head coach.
“Believe me, that particular year, the offense carried and won a lot of games for the 1985 Bears, as well as the 46 famous defense that won a lot of games for us. Collectively, there were a lot of games where we needed each other when we didn’t have our best when we stepped on the field.”
