John Mackovic

Infobox NFL PlayerCoach


Name=John Mackovic
Caption=
DateOfBirth=birth date and age|1943|10|1
Birthplace= Barberton, Ohio
DateOfDeath=
Position=Head coach
College=Wake Forest, 1965
Miami (Ohio), 1967
Career Hightlights=yes
Record=NFL
30-34-0
NCAA
94-78-3
coach=yes
coachingyears=1978-1980
1983-1986
1988-1991
1992-1997
2001-2003
2007
coachingteams=Wake Forest University
Kansas City Chiefs
University of Illinois
University of Texas
University of Arizona
US national team
Awards = 1979 Coach of the Year
Championships = 1990 Big Ten Conference
1994 Southwest Conference
1995 Southwest Conference
1996 Big 12 Conference

John Mackovic (born October 1, 1943 in Barberton, Ohio) is the head coach of the United States first national team for American football which was formed to compete in the American Football World Cup. The former college and professional American football head coach led his team to win the 2007 IFAF World Cup tournament.

Coaching career

Mackovic's coaching career began at Miami University (Ohio) as a graduate assistant in 1965. He then served stints as offensive coordinator at San Jose State and the University of Arizona before serving as offensive coordinator and assistant head coach at Purdue University in 1977.

Mackovic earned his first head coaching job in college football, taking over at Wake Forest from 1978-1980. Prior to his arrival, the Demon Deacons went 1-10; Mackovic led his teams to a 14-20 record including their first bowl game in 30 years. In 1979, he was named the Coach of the Year by the Walter Camp Football Foundation.

In 1981, Tom Landry hired Mackovic as assistant head coach and quarterback coach with the Dallas Cowboys, with whom he spent two season before accepting a head coaching job with the Kansas City Chiefs in 1983. Mackovic missed the playoffs in each of his first 3 seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs. After a season in which the Chiefs reached the playoffs as a wild card, Mackovic was fired because team owner, Lamar Hunt, recognized a lack of chemistry between Mackovic and his players. ["New York Times", January 9, 1987.] Specifically, the catalyst behind Mackovic's dismissal was a meeting between Hunt and eight of the most prominent Chief players. [Fish, Mike: "Apologies or No Apologies, Mackovic Has Had It.", "SI.com", November 15, 2002.] Mackovic's pro record with the Chiefs was 30-34, and was his last coaching position in the NFL.

Following a year off, Mackovic resumed his coaching career when he was hired as the head coach at the University of Illinois in 1988. Mackovic took over a team that went 4-7 before his arrival, but with whom Mackovic led to a 30-16-1, four straight bowl appearances and a Big 10 Conference Championship.

Mackovic's previous successes of turning around college programs led him to the University of Texas in 1992. Texas had just suffered a losing season and Mackovic again came in and turned the program around. His teams won back to back Southwest Conference Championships in 1994 and 1995, with the team also winning the inaugural Big 12 Championship Game in 1996. After the next season, however, Mackovic was fired after guiding the Horns to his first losing season (garnering only four wins in eleven games). The 1997 season included #11 Texas' 66–3 loss at home to an unranked UCLA team, the worst home loss in Longhorn history.Jim Hodges, [http://articles.latimes.com/1997/sep/14/sports/sp-32350 UCLA Takes Rout 66] , "Los Angeles Times", September 14, 1997, Accessed July 17, 2008.] During his tenure, Mackovic led the Longhorns to a 41-28-2 record, three bowl games and three straight Conference Championships.

Following his firing at Texas, Mackovic became a college football analyst for ESPN in 1998 for whom he worked until January 2001 when he accepted the head coaching job for the University of Arizona. Frustrated by an offense that was perceived as too conservative, Arizona hired Mackovic as head coach to replace Dick Tomey. In his two and a half year tenure, Mackovic never posted a winning record while clashing with high school coaches and his own players, highlighted in 2002 when Mackovic told tight end Justin Levasseur that he was a disgrace to his family. [Renning, Charles: "Team remains divided.", "Arizona Daily Wildcat", November 14, 2002.] Ultimately, forty players (including future Pro Bowl linebacker Lance Briggs) mutinied by taking their grievances to university president, Peter Likins. [Bob Baum, Associated Press] This meeting prompted the University's Board of Regents to discuss the state of the football program. [Associated Press] Ultimately, Mackovic offered a public apology to his players, the university and fans. ["Arizona Daily Wildcat", November 14, 2002.] Five games in his third season, Mackovic was fired and replaced (on an interim basis) by defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz [Fera, Brett: "Mackovic Gets Midseason Ax.", "Arizona Daily Wildcat", September 29, 2003.] , leading to Mackovic's worst tenure as a head coach, leaving Arizona with a 39% win rate (9-14 overall).

In 2006, Mackovic again returned to coaching when he was named as the head coach of the U.S. national team. He led Team USA to win the 2007 IFAF World Cup in their first appearance in the American Football World Cup held in Kawasaki, Japan.

Head Coaching Record

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1978
name = Wake Forest
overall = 1-10-0
conference = 1-5
confstanding = 6th
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 =
championship =

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1979
name = Wake Forest
overall = 8-4-0
conference = 3-2
confstanding = 4th
bowlname = Tangerine
bowloutcome = L
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 =
championship =

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1980
name = Wake Forest
overall = 5-6-0
conference = 2-4
confstanding = 4th-T
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 =
championship =

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1988
name = Illinois
overall = 6-5-1
conference = 5-2-1
confstanding = 4th
bowlname = All-American
bowloutcome = L
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 =
championship =

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1989
name = Illinois
overall = 10-2-0
conference = 7-1
confstanding =
bowlname = Citrus
bowloutcome = W
bcsbowl =
ranking = 10
ranking2 = 10
championship =

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1990
name = Illinois
overall = 8-4-0
conference = 6-2
confstanding = 1st-T
bowlname = Hall of Fame
bowloutcome = L
bcsbowl =
ranking = 24
ranking2 = 25
championship = conference

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1991
name = Illinois
overall = 6-6-0
conference = 4-4
confstanding = 5th
bowlname = John Hancock
bowloutcome = L
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 =
championship =

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1992
name = Texas
overall = 6-5-0
conference = 4-3
confstanding = 2nd-T
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 =
championship =

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1993
name = Texas
overall = 5-5-1
conference = 5-2
confstanding = 2nd-T
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 =
championship =

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1994
name = Texas
overall = 8-4-0
conference = 4-3
confstanding = 2nd-T
bowlname = Sun
bowloutcome = W
bcsbowl =
ranking = 23
ranking2 = 25

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1995
name = Texas
overall = 10-2-1
conference = 7-0
confstanding = 1st
bowlname = Sugar
bowloutcome = L
bcsbowl =
ranking = 14
ranking2 = 14
championship = conference

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1996
name = Texas
overall = 8-5-0
conference = 7-2
confstanding = 1st
bowlname = Fiesta
bowloutcome = L
bcsbowl = yes
ranking = 23
ranking2 = 23
championship = conference

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1997
name = Texas
overall = 4-7-0
conference = 2-6
confstanding = 4th
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 =
championship =

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 2001
name = Arizona
overall = 5-6-0
conference = 2-6
confstanding = 8th
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 =
championship =

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 2002
name = Arizona
overall = 4-8-0
conference = 1-7
confstanding = 9th-T
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 =
championship =

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 2003
name = Arizona
overall = 1-4-0
conference =
confstanding =
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 =
championship =

References

* [http://cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/coaching/alltime_coach_year_by_year.php?coachid=1426 Coaching Record @ cfbdatawarehouse]
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DEFD8153CF93AA35752C0A961948260&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fSubjects%2fC%2fCoaches%20and%20Managers]
* [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/inside_game/mike_fish/news/2002/11/15/fish_straight_shooting/]
* [http://wc.arizona.edu/papers/96/57/02_1.html]
* [http://media.www.dailycollegian.com/media/storage/paper874/news/2002/11/15/Sports/Arizonas.Mackovic.Vows.To.Change.After.Player.Uprising-1551764.shtml]
* [http://espn.go.com/ncf/news/2002/1115/1461286.html]
* [http://wc.arizona.edu/papers/96/57/02_5.html]
* [http://wc.arizona.edu/papers/97/25/02_1.html]

External links

*http://www.usafootball.com/teamusa/staff/john-mackovic/