Tag: Ray Perkins

Tony Dungy credits Giants, Ray Perkins for his coaching career

Tony Dungy went to the Hall of Fame as a head coach and says it likely wouldn’t have happened without the New York Giants and Ray Perkins.

Long before Tony Dungy entered the Hall of Fame as a coach, he was a player who spent time with the Pittsburgh Steelers and San Francisco 49ers.

During the final season of his playing career, Dungy had a cup of coffee with the New York Giants, where he played under then-head coach Ray Perkins.

Perkins was impressed with Dungy’s knowledge of the game and believed that he should get into coaching following his retirement. And in 1981 after that had happened, Perkins came calling.

“I played two years for the Steelers, and I played a year for the 49ers, and then my third year to the Giants. Ray Perkins was the head coach, a guy named Bill Belichick was the special teams coach. I lasted kind of midway through training camp and got cut, and realized it was probably time to hang it up,” Dungy recalled, via the New York Post.

“When I got cut, Coach Perkins said, ‘I really like a lot of things about you, you’re just not a very good player. But one day, you might be a good coach.’ I didn’t think too much of it, I thought it was just small talk. … And so the beginning of winter of 1981, Coach Perkins called me and he said, ‘Hey I was curious about that. I’d like to talk to you about coming on the Giants coaching staff.’ So I called Tom Moore, who recruited me, coached me in college, and he was on the staff in Pittsburgh, and I said, ‘Hey, I might have a chance to go to the Giants, what do you think?'”

That’s about as far as things went between Dungy and the Giants. Although he had considered joining them, a more appealing opportunity immediately presented itself.

“Apparently (Moore) talked to Coach (Chuck) Noll, ’cause Coach Noll called me the next day and he said, ‘Are you really serious about looking into coaching? If you really want to try coaching, you ought to come here.’ So instead of getting on the plane to New York, I got on the plane to Pittsburgh, and at 25 years old I was a defensive assistant with the Steelers. But probably wouldn’t have happened if Ray Perkins hadn’t called me.”

Perkins and the Giants lit the match that led to a Hall of Fame career but have nothing to show for it themselves.

Dungy spent eight seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers before joining the Kansas City Chiefs as a defensive backs coach (1989-1991) and later the Minnesota Vikings (1992-1995).

In 1996, Dungy was hired as head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He wrapped up his career as head coach of the Indianapolis Colts (2002-2008), winning Super Bowl XLI along the way.

Dungy was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016.

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Throwback Thursday: Giants upset Cowboys in 1980

In the latest Giants Wire Throwback Thursday, we head back to 1980, when the lowly New York Giants upset Tom Landry’s Dallas Cowboys.

The 1980 season was one of the worst in the history of the New York Football Giants. After a 41-35 road victory against the St. Louis Cardinals to open the season, Big Blue lost eight straight games before they would win another.

That win came in Week 10 against the Dallas Cowboys, a team they had lost 12 consecutive and 14 out of 15 games to. Their last win over Dallas had come in 1974, their last home win in 1970.

On Nov. 9, the Cowboys came into Giants Stadium with a 7-2 record and were headed back to their usual spot in the NFC playoffs. The Giants were headed to the bottom of the NFC East and a 4-12 season that would earn them the second overall pick in the 1981 NFL draft (which turned out to be Lawrence Taylor).

In a textbook case of “any given Sunday,” the Giants, coached by Ray Perkins and led by second-year quarterback Phil Simms, rose up and bit Tom Landry’s bunch in a shootout.

In a back-and-forth game, the Cowboys took a 35-28 lead into the fourth quarter. The Giants scored 10 unanswered points to close out the game — a 20-yard TD pass from Simms to tight end Tom Mullady tied the game at 35, and Joe Danelo’s 27-yard field goal with 27 seconds to play was the winner.

The kick was set up by a flea flicker from Simms to running back Leon Perry back to Simms and then downfield to tight end Mike Friede. The Giants ran three running plays after that to set Danelo up for the win.

The defense allowed 35 points but was the key to the game as they intercepted Cowboys quarterback Danny White five times, four of those resulting in points.

Two of the interceptions were made by Pro Bowl linebacker Brad Van Pelt, who had been publicly lobbying the team to trade him, preferably to the Detroit Lions in his native state of Michigan.

“I had forgot what it feels like to win,” said the eight-year veteran after the game.

Simms threw for 351 yards in the game, the most by a Giants quarterback since Fran Tarkenton had 327 yards against St. Louis in 1969.

Friede, who played just two seasons, both for the Giants, had the best game of his career with seven receptions for 137 yards.

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Former Alabama coach and player, Ray Perkins, dies at 79

Ray Perkins played wide receiver for the Alabama Crimson Tide from 1964-1966. During his time in Tuscaloosa, Perkins helped lead

Ray Perkins played wide receiver for the Alabama Crimson Tide from 1964-1966. During his time in Tuscaloosa, Perkins helped lead Alabama to two national championships and was named an All-American in 1966.

Perkins passed away on Wednesday morning in Tuscaloosa, according to Cecil Hurt of the Tuscaloosa News. He was 79 years old.

While Perkins was a star for the Crimson Tide in the 1960s, he is perhaps best known for his coaching career.

FILE – In this Dec. 5, 1966, file photo, Alabama football players hoist coach Paul “Bear” Bryant to their shoulders after the Crimson Tide finished an unbeaten, untied season with a 31-0 triumph over Auburn in Birmingham, Ala. Identifiable players are, from left, John Mosley, Ray Perkins, Jerry Duncan and Wayne Trimble. Despite Alabama’s success in the 1960s, the Tide was only voted No. 1 nine times. (AP Photo/Charles Kelly, File)

After a five-year NFL career with the Baltimore Colts, where Perkins won a Super Bowl, he began his long coaching career as an assistant at Mississippi State.

Perkins would return to the NFL in 1974 as a receivers coach with the New England Patriots for four seasons before taking over as offensive coordinator with the San Diego Chargers in 1978.

Perkins would get his first shot as a head coach with the New York Giants from 1979-1982.

He returned to his alma mater as head coach from 1983-1986, replacing the legendary Bear Bryant. Perkins finished with a 32-15-1 record with the Crimson Tide during his four seasons in charge.

It was during his four years as head coach of the Crimson Tide where he coached some of the best players in school history, including Derrick Thomas and Cornelius Bennett.

In 1987, he accepted the job as head coach of the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where he spent the next four years.

His last major head-coaching job was in 1992 with Arkansas State.

Perkins returned to the New England Patriots as offensive coordinator from 1993-1996, under Bill Parcells, where he mentored No. 1 overall pick, Drew Bledsoe.

NEW ORLEANS, LA – JANUARY 23: New England Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe (L) talks with offensive coordinator Ray Perkins during their team workout 23 January at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Patriots will play the Green Bay Packers 26 January in Super Bowl XXXI in the Louisiana Superdome. (ELECTRONIC IMAGE) (Photo credit should read R. EMMETT SULLIVAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Perkins spent two stints with the Cleveland Browns as an assistant coach and spent one year with the Oakland Raiders in the late 1990s and 2000.

He returned to coaching in 2012 as head coach of Jones County Junior College in Mississippi, where he coached for two years. His final season in coaching was spent as a volunteer coach at Oak Grove High School in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

Perkins also served as Alabama’s athletic director for a time and was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 1990.

Perkins lived in Tuscaloosa after his retirement.

 

 

 

Jeremy Pruitt discusses the passing of Ray Perkins

Former Alabama head coach Ray Perkins died Wednesday.

Former Alabama head coach Ray Perkins died Wednesday.

He was 79.

Perkins served as Alabama’s head coach from 1983-86, compiling a 32–15–1 record. He was 1-3 against Tennessee.

The former Alabama head coach played for the Crimson Tide from 1964-66.

Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Ray Perkins talks to his team during the 1986 season. Mandatory Credit: Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY NETWORK

Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt discussed the passing of Perkins on Wednesday and knowing him from his time coaching and living in Alabama.

“Growing up in the state, I knew of Coach Perkins,” Pruitt said. “When I became an assistant coach there, I recruited south Mississippi for several years and I ran across him there. I saw him when he came on campus a few times.

“He has been a great ambassador to our game, to our league.”

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Former Giants coach Ray Perkins dies at 79

Former New York Giants head coach Ray Perkins, who also coached at Alabama, has died at the age of 79.

Ray Perkins, the first head coach hired by George Young when he took over the as general manager of the New York Giants in 1979, has passed away. His family confirmed his death to the website AL.com. He was 79.

Perkins was born one day before the attack on Pearl Harbor — December 6, 1941 — in Petal, Mississippi and played his college football at Alabama as a wide receiver under legendary coach Paul “Bear” Bryant. He earned SEC Player of the Year honors and was named an All-American in 1966. He went on to play in the NFL for the Baltimore Colts from 1967-1971, where he played in two Super Bowls.

Upon his retirement as a player, Perkins went into the coaching ranks where his most notable achievement would be the man who replaced Bryant at Alabama in 1983.

Perkins began his coaching career as an assistant at Mississippi State and moved on to the professional ranks in New England and San Diego before Young, who knew Perkins for their days in Baltimore, hired him to help turn around the Giants, who had jus two winning seasons since 1963 and had not qualified for the playoffs during that stretch.

Perkins went 6-10 in his first season and 4-12 in his second. His disciplinary style was questioned consistently as the team’s results and fortunes were still in the dumpster. That changed in 1981, when the Giants drafted Lawrence Taylor and posted a 9-7 record, qualifying them for the postseason as a wild card. They defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in the wild card round before losing to the eventual Super Bowl champion San Francisco 49ers in the divisional round.

Perkins came back for the 1982 season, which was marred by a long work stoppage. The Giants went 4-5 in the abbreviated season and failed to make the playoffs. Perkins left after the season to head back to Alabama to take the head coaching vacancy left by Bryant’s death in January of 1983.

Giant fans will remember Perkins as the man who got them back into respectable NFL circles after 18 years of what is now known as the “wilderness years.” He is also responsible for the hiring coaches Bill Parcells, Bill Belichick, Ron Erhardt and Romeo Crennel, the backbone of the Giants’ great staff of the 1980s.

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Former Alabama, Giants, Bucs coach Ray Perkins dies at 79

Former Alabama, Giants and Bucs head coach Ray Perkins has died at 79

Ray Perkins, a star wide receiver for Alabama who went on to coach the Crimson Tide and New York Giants, has died at the age of 79.

Perkins, who had heart troubles over the past few years, died at his home on Wednesday.

Perkins was a star receiver at Alabama in the 1960s. He went on to become coach of the New York Giants. He left New York to replace BearBryant as the Alabama coach following the 1982 season. He then left Alabama to return to the NFL in 1986, when he took the head coaching job in Tampa Bay.

He played professionally for the Baltimore Colts under coach Don Shula from 1967-71.

Per Al.com:

Perkins coached the Crimson Tide for four seasons from 1983-1986 and put together a record of 32-15-1 during that time, including a 3-0 record in bowl games. He eventually left Alabama following the 1986 season and signed a lucrative contract to take the head coaching job with the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 1990.

Before Perkins, a native of Petal, Miss. took the Alabama job following the 1982 season he was head coach of the New York Giants. Although he only had one winning season, he helped build the team that his successor, Bill Parcells, would win two Super Bowls with in 1986 and 1990. He hired future NFL head coaches Parcells, Bill Belicheck and Romeo Crennel as young assistants.

He was later head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Arkansas State University. He has also coached for the Patriots, Browns, and Raiders.
From 1964-66 he was a wide receiver at Alabama. During this time in Tuscaloosa, Alabama compiled a 30-2-1 record, including two national championships and three SEC titles. As a senior, he was team captain, SEC Player of the Year, and All-American. He played in two Orange Bowls and one Sugar Bowl, and set records in both. He was drafted by the Baltimore Colts and played five years there. He played in Super Bowl III in 1969 and Super Bowl V in 1971 when the Colts were Super Bowl champions.