Jack Pardee

College coach infobox
Name = Jack Pardee
DateOfBirth = birth date and age|1936|4|19
Birthplace = Exira, Iowa
OverallRecord = 87-77 (NFL)
22-11-1 (College)
CFbDWID = 1812
Player = Y
Years = 1954-1956
1957-1970
1971-1973
Team = Texas A&M
Los Angeles Rams
Washington Redskins
Position = FB / LB
Coach = Y
CoachYears = 1975-1977
1978-1980
1984-1985
1987-1989
1990-1994
1995
CoachTeams = Chicago Bears
Washington Redskins
Houston Gamblers
University of Houston
Houston Oilers
Birmingham Barracudas
FootballHOF = 1986
CollegeHOFID = 50046
BBallHOF =

John Perry Pardee (born birth date|1936|4|19 in Exira, Iowa) is a former American football linebacker and the only head coach to join a team in the National Football League, NCAA Southwest Conference, United States Football League, World Football League and Canadian Football League.

Playing career

As a teenager, Pardee moved to Christoval, Texas where he excelled as a member of the six-man football team. (Pardee is the only six-man player to later have played or coached in the NFL [ http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/hssports/football/stories/MYSA101506.01W.FBHsixman.main.30a4103.html] Football: The six-man world. San Antonio Express-News at www.mysanantonio.com, October 14, 2006.] ). He was an All-American linebacker at Texas A&M University and a two-time All-Pro with the Los Angeles Rams (1963) and the Washington Redskins (1971).

Jack Pardee was one of the famed Junction Boys, the 1954 Texas A&M preseason camp held in Junction, Texas, by football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant. He was part of the 35 left from the approximately 100 players who went to Junction, Texas. After completing college at Texas A&M, Pardee was drafted in the second round by the Los Angeles Rams as a linebacker, who played for the Rams from 1957–1970, while meanwhile battling Melanoma cancer in 1965, sitting out the season. From 1971–1973, Pardee played for the Washington Redskins, for the remainder of his playing career.

Coaching career

When the World Football League started up in 1974, Pardee got his first head coaching chance with the Florida Blazers. The Blazers, based in Orlando, made it all the way to the World Bowl and lost by one point to Birmingham. The team relocated to San Antonio for the 1975 season, and Pardee would move on too. In 1975, he was hired by the Chicago Bears as head coach. He spent the next three years there before moving on to the Washington Redskins.

In 1984, Pardee returned to his native Texas by becoming the head coach of the Houston Gamblers. The Gamblers played spring football in the United States Football League. The Gamblers had one of the most potent offenses in pro football, the Run and Shoot offense, with Jim Kelly as quarterback. The Gamblers merged with the New Jersey Generals in 1986, and Pardee was named head coach. With Kelly at quarterback, and Herschel Walker in the backfield, the Generals were poised to dominate the USFL. But the league's move to a fall schedule ruined any chance of that. There would be no 1986 season, and the Generals disbanded with the rest of the league.

Pardee returned to Houston in 1987, by becoming the head coach at the University of Houston. During his three year stint, the Cougars, utilizing the same offense he coached in the USFL, produced the first ever African-American quarterback to win the Heisman Trophy...Andre Ware.

In 1990 Pardee packed up the Run and Shoot offense and moved across town, and back to the NFL, by joining the Houston Oilers. He spent five years coaching a team which made the playoffs each of his first four years there, led by Hall of Fame Quarterback Warren Moon. In 1994, after going 1–9, Pardee resigned.

He continued his coaching career in the Canadian Football League. In 1995, he was named head coach of the Birmingham Barracudas. The "Cudas" were part of a failed experiment to expand the CFL into the United States. With Matt Dunigan at quarterback, Birmingham made the playoffs, but lost in the first round. After just one year, the Barracudas disbanded and all American teams, except Baltimore, were finished.

In December 2007, Pardee, then 71, was contacted by athletic director Dave Maggard about the vacant head coaching job at the University of Houston. Signaling interest, he made it as far as a finalist for the position, however the school moved forward with Kevin Sumlin, 43, an offensive coordinator out of Bob Stoops Oklahoma program.Mark Schlabach, [http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/columns/story?columnist=schlabach_mark&id=3158996 Yellow Jackets, Wolverines, Midshipmen earn high marks] , ESPN.com, December 17, 2007.]

Personal life

He has been married for 45 years and has 5 children and 12 grandchildren. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1986.

Head Coaching Record

College

CFB Yearly Record Subhead
name = Houston Cougars
conf = Southwest Conference
startyear = 1987
endyear = 1989CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1987
name = Houston
overall = 4–6–1
conference = 2–4–1
confstanding = 7th
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
ranking = —
ranking2 = —CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1988
name = Houston
overall = 9–3
conference = 5–2
confstanding = 2nd
bowlname = Aloha
bowloutcome = L
ranking = —
ranking2 = 18CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1989
name = Houston
overall = 9–2
conference = 5–2
confstanding = 2nd
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
ranking = —
ranking2 = 14CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
name = Houston
overall = 22–11–1
confrecord = 12–8–1CFB Yearly Record End
overall = 22–11–1
bcs = no
poll = two

NFL

References