On one of my recent posts on my Facebook page The NFL in the 1970s, I questioned everyone who follows that page about the prospect of replacing a legendary head coach. It only happened a few times during the decade of the 1970s, with mixed results. But it started in grand fashion, right at the beginning of the decade.
Replacing Don Shula
In 1970, Don Shula left Baltimore for the sunny climates of South Florida. His efforts would soon turn the Miami Dolphins into a dynasty. But who replaced him in Baltimore? That would be Don McCafferty, and he was beginning his rookie season as an NFL head coach.
Yes, McCafferty had a bunch of experienced veteran players on his roster. But he also had some pretty productive younger players at the skill positions on offense. As the year wore on, the Colts went on to a six-game winning streak, and they somehow made it into the playoffs.
It was during the postseason that McCafferty and his players really hit their stride. They shut out Cincinnati in the AFC Divisional Playoffs, 17-0. Then they defeated the always tough Oakland Raiders in the 1970 AFC Championship Game, 27-17. Finally, in Super Bowl V, Baltimore came from behind to beat Dallas in the final seconds, 16-13. Thus, Don McCafferty became the first rookie head coach in NFL history to win a Super Bowl.
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Replacing Hank Stram
McCafferty’s rookie experience at winning a Super Bowl was the exception, and not the norm. Replacing a legendary head coach often was not too successful. Take the story of Paul Wiggin. Hank Stram had been the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs in each of their first 15 seasons of existence from 1960 to 1974.
He led the Chiefs to three AFL Championships and a victory in Super Bowl IV in 1969. But following a 5-9 season in 1974, Kansas City decided to make a change in 1975.
In stepped Paul Wiggin, a former defensive end for the Cleveland Browns during the 1960s. Wiggin was not as successful as his predecessor in Kansas City, however.
He was fired after his Chiefs team won just 11 of their first 35 games. A 44-7 loss at Cleveland in the seventh week of the 1977 season was all that Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt needed to see. Assistant coach Tom Bettis took over for Wiggin in week eight of the 1977 season.
Wiggin’s plight in Kansas City showed just how difficult it was (and still is) to replace a coaching legend.
Replacing Chuck Knox
Near the end of the decade of the 1970s, another man tried his luck at replacing a legend. Chuck Knox of the Los Angeles Rams won five consecutive NFC Western Division titles from 1973 to 1977. But Knox was never able to get the Rams to the Super Bowl. His replacement, Ray Malavasi, almost did in 1978, when Los Angeles made it to the NFC Championship Game.
The following year, however, Malavasi was able to guide his Rams to Super Bowl XIV. The team’s ownership had enough patience with him, and in two years, he brought them more success than the post-merger Los Angeles team had ever seen before.
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Replacing Paul Brown
One team made an incorrect choice when they replaced a legendary head coach in 1976, and they only had that legendary leader to blame for it. Paul Brown was the owner and the head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals, and he retired at the end of the 1975 season. He decided to promote Bill “Tiger” Johnson to be Cincinnati’s new head coach, instead of selecting his most gifted offensive assistant coach, future Hall of Famer Bill Walsh. The choice was one of the worst of Brown’s life.
Johnson’s teams produced winning records in 1976 and 1977. But in 1978, Cincinnati began the year winless in their first five games, and Brown decided to pull the plug on Johnson. Bill Walsh, in contrast, became the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers in 1979. Two years after that, Walsh and his 49ers were putting a Vince Lombardi Trophy in San Francisco’s trophy case.
It’s the same old story in practically any form of business. Pick a person to replace a legend, and you had best pick the RIGHT person.
Trivia Question:
Who coached the Cincinnati Bengals immediately after Paul Brown fired Bill “Tiger” Johnson?
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Host of Pro Football in the 1970s - Joe Zagorski
Throughout his days, Joe spent some time as a sportswriter and has been a member of the Pro Football Researchers Association since the mid-1980s. Joe is also a proud member of the Pro Football Writers of America.
Joe Zagorski Books
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