R.I.P Dan Reeves

 Dan Reeves was a successful NFL coach, coaching in the Super Bowl four times and a member of the Denver Broncos Ring of Honor passed away on January 1st. Besides the Broncos he also coached the New York Giants and Atlanta Falcons. 

News of his death...

He will be missed by fans, friends and family.

R.I.P Bobby Bowden

 Bobby Bowden the legendary football coach who turned Florida State University into a football powerhouse passed away at the age of 91. He was 31-6 at Howard, now Samford. Then he coached West Virginia where he went 42-26 in six years. At Florida State he went 304-97-4 and guiding the Seminoles to two National Championships. In the ACC he won 12 conference championships in 18 seasons.

                                           Sports Center Tribute:

He will be missed by his fans, friends, players he coached, and family.

Roy Williams calls it a Career

 Roy Williams the legendary Coach of the North Carolina Tar Heals and Kansas Jayhawks announced his retirement from coaching.

Why is he legendary? He is a Hall of Famer enshrined in the College Basketball Hall of Fame and The Basketball Hall of Fame. Williams is the only Coach to win over 400 games at two Division One schools and the only Coach to lead two schools to at least four Final Fours. Roy coached three National Championship teams at North Carolina. Obviously along the way he was awarded many awards.

His career record 903-264. 46 of his players went into the NBA. He leaves behind an incredible legacy in college basketball. He will be missed by his peers, fans and players. However at the age of 70 his life continues in retirement.

R.I.P Marty Schottenheimer

 Following a football season where the current Cleveland Browns coach was named Coach of the Year, a season where the Kansas City Chiefs fall in the Super Bowl, former NFL Coach Marty Schottenhiemer has passed away. 

I mentioned Cleveland first because that is where Marty started his head coaching career. Leading the Browns to the playoffs 4 of his 5 years including two trips to the AFC Championships. In Cleveland he had a record of 44-27 and was 2-4 in the playoffs with the Browns.

He Coached the Chiefs next. Making the playoffs 7 out of 10 seasons and adding another trip to the AFC Championship game. He was 101-58-1 with the Chiefs and 3-7 in the postseason. His career earned him a spot in the Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame.

His next stop was with the Washington Redskins, now the Washington Football Team, they went 8-8 in his one season.  The Football Team somehow made the playoffs this season. On a side note I actually met the Coach in Pennsylvania during training camp.

His final NFL coaching stop was with the San Diego Chargers. In 5 seasons there his team made the playoffs twice. He compiled a 47-33 record but was 0-2 in the playoffs.

The Coacwill be missed by his family, friends and fans.

R.I.P John Chaney

John Chaney was well on his way to having a successful coaching career before he become the coach at Temple. Ten seasons at Division II Cheyney State and the Coach had put together a 225-59 record. He finished first in his conference nine out of ten years. He even garnered a National Championship at that level and was named Coach of the Year.

In basketball loving Philadelphia Chaney became the Coach of the Temple Owls. In a 24 year career at Temple he compiled a 516-253 record. He was named Coach of the Year in 1988. His teams won eight regular season conference titles and six conference tournament championships.

A 741-312 record as a head coach earned him inductions in the Basketball Hall of Fame and the Collee Basketball Hall of Fame. The great coach passed away January 29, 2021 at the age of 89.

He will be missed by his fans, friends and family.

R.I.P Coach Tony Ingle

 If you are a BYU Cougar basketball fan you might have heard of Tony Ingle. He was an assistant coach from 1989 to 1996. He was an interim head coach for part of a season going 0-19. He started his coaching career at Gordon and then Alabama-Huntsville. 

Obviously 0-19 was not good for his career and he was replaced. His hoops career continued as a scout for the NBA Utah Jazz. He went on to coach Kennesaw State where he won an NCAA Division II Championship and finished his career at Dalton State where he won an NAIA Championship.

His death was related to complications with Covid-19. He will be missed by his family, friends and those he coached! 

R.I.P John Thompson

 In 1984 John Thompson became the first African American coach to win a major NCAA Basketball Championship. The list of African American coaches to win a National Championship stands at four today. It is a difficult challenge as team would need to win a 68 team tournament. That being said the number of championships would increase if African Americans held more than 18 percent of the head coaching jobs in the major conferences. John Thompson proofed he cared about his student athletes as young men when he stood u to a notorious drug kingpin in the late 80s. Thompson was a fierce competitor.  I gained a lot of respect for him as a person listening to his talk show on 980 in Washington DC. He carried himself with a lot of class.

He is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame and the College Basketball Hall of Fame. John Thompson lead the Georgetown Hoyas to a 596-239 record over 27 years.  An amazing tenure in the coaching occupation. His teams had 19 seasons where they had more than 20 wins. He coached four Final Four teams.

The Georgetown Hoyas basketball team glory days were the ones coached by John Thompson. Georgetown miss him, Washington misses him, his fans, friends and family miss him.

R.I.P Pat Dye

Pat Dye passed away yesterday. He was a successful college football head coach compiling an impressive record of 153 win, 62 losses and 5 ties. His playing career with the Georgia Bulldogs and in the CFL helped prepare him for coaching. He ironically started his coaching career at the University of Alabama and ended his career at Auburn.

His first Head Coaching stop was with the East Carolina Pirates. His six year tenure was enough to get his inducted into the East Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame. Highlights included a Conference Championship and all of his teams enjoyed winning seasons. He switched to Wyoming where he lead the Cowboys to a 6-5 record.

 Next stop was in Auburn where he coached for 12 seasons winning 99 games. He won the SEC four times. He coached Bo Jackson. After his coaching career he was a radio show host and author.

The college football world has lost a very successful coach who will be missed by family, friends and fans!

 

R.I.P Don Shula

90 years is a long life. In his life he became a coaching legend in the NFL, a successful restaurateur, an author and a family man. He coached the Miami Dolphins for 26 seasons. Currently the longest active coach in the NFL with one team is Bill Belichick with 20 seasons. Shula's 33 seasons (his first 7 with the Baltimore Colts) ranks him tied with Curly Lambeau for 2nd place. George Halas tops the list which you can read here.

Don Shula is the only Coach in the NFL to have an undefeated season including playoffs when his 1972 Dolphins won the Super Bowl. Shula had a 2-4 record in Super Bowls. He stopped coaching at the end of the 1995 season. He still has the most wins of any coach in NFL history. He is inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame. If your gonna be a coach I guess being the winningest Coach would put you near the top. 

He co-wrote three books. Two of those with Ken Blanchard of the One Minute Manager fame. I might have to look them up. I'm sure he has some good insights on motivation and leadership. He was involved in a lot of charities as well. He will be missed by fans, the community and family.

  

Steve Spurrier The Ole Ball Coach calling in quits

Steve Spurrier likes winning! He was good at it. However, a mediocre season for him last year and the South Carolina Gamecocks starting the season 2-4 Steve has decided to retire.

As a player he won the Heisman Trophy Award while with the Florida Gators and played in the NFL.
He was a successful coach in the USFL.

He found success coaching Duke. The Blue Devils were not a football powerhouse but  Spurrier coached them to winning seasons two out of his three seasons there.

At Florida, Spurrier coached a powerhouse to a National championship, and nine top 10 seasons.

The NFL he did not have success but returned to the SEC where he had success again at South Carolina.

The record 228-89-2.  His quotes and personality will be missed.

Bye, Bye Billy Donovan

Billy Donovan has resigned from being the men's head basketball coach at the University of Florida.



One really can't blame Donovan for leaving to try coaching at the next level the NBA. After a sub par season with the Gators last season he was going to have a challenge there. Likewise with the Oklahoma City Thunder he will have a challenge. You can read about him joining the Thunder here from an article by USA Today.

I wasn't taking a shot at the Coach. As a college basketball fan I have nothing but respect for the man. As a Gator fan I love what he has done with the program. I feel sorry for the Gators next coach. It is always a difficult challenge to follow a legend and that is exactly what the coach will be doing.

At the college level and mostly at Florida Billy Donovan has had a Hall of Fame career. He certainly has become a legend. In 21 years of College Basketball head coaching he has compiled a 502-206 record. His first two seasons were with Marshall Thundering Herd.

His stats are quite impressive at the University of Florida. In his 19 years at the school he delivered two National Championships and four Final Four Appearances. In the 77 years of Gator basketball before Billy the Kid arrived they had only gone to one Final Four and zero National Championships. Before Donovan the Gators had only won one Conference Championship and zero conference tournament. Billy guided them to six SEC Championships and four conference tournament championships.The best stat for his legacy might be that he averaged 24.6 wins a season in the 77 years before him the team averaged 11.5.

Beyond the stats Billy Donovan knew the game and spoke intelligently about it. He developed nine first round NBA picks. He was a coach who delivered and as a fan you always had hope for your team with Billy Donovan being courtside. Donovan turned a football school into a basketball power. The Blue and Orange of Gator Country will certainly miss him! I look forward to see how he meets his next challenge and wish him the best of luck with the Oklahoma City Thunder!

R.I.P Don Zimmer

The title of Don Zimmer's book Zim: A Baseball Life is a great way to sum up Don Zimmer's life. 66 of his 83 years of life were spent in professional baseball. Playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, New York Mets, Cincinnati Reds and Washington Senators.

Don Zimmer managed the San Diego Padres, Boston Red Sox, Texas Rangers, and the Chicago Cubs. He coached the Montreal Expos, New York Yankees, San Francisco Giants, Colorado Rockies, and Tampa Bay Rays.

He was old school and I don't think I will ever forget this game...

Here is a tribute to him..

He was involved with a lot of history of the game, he was knowledgeable of the game, and was a link in the games history. He will be missed may he rest in peace.