USA Today, July 28, 1985
With the summer owner’s meeting just a week away and a lot expected to be on their plates, USFL teams seemed eager to settle coaching vacancies this week. Lets go around the league and look at the coaching shifts that will impact the 1986 Season.
NEW JERSEY: Coach Ray Perkins is setting up his staff and there are some familiar names filling up the coordinator and assistant ranks. The most well-known is Perkin’s NY Giants OC Bob Lord, making the trip back to the Meadowlands with Perkins. He has also brought back another of his former NY Giants staff, former Special Teams Coach Romeo Crenell will be serving as the DC for the Generals.
DENVER: The Gold have opted to go a totally new direction with their hire of Houston Gambler OC Mouse Davis as their new head coach. Davis, known as the architect of the Run & Shoot Offense, is a far cry from the ground & pound style of the Gold’s first two coaches Red Miller and Craig Morton. Expect to see Denver QB Bob Gagliano throwing a lot more, and expect Denver to sign more wideouts this year to implement the wide open offense Davis is known for.
MEMPHIS: While it is not yet official, it appears that Memphis is looking very seriously at upgrading one of the worst defenses in the league by hiring Philadelphia Stars DC Vince Tobin to lead the Showboats. Tobin’s defenses in Philly have been consistently among the league leaders in scoring average and in takeaways.
WASHINGTON: Many were surprised that the Federals retained head coach Lee Corso for a 3rd season after a very disappointing ’85 campaign, but the former Indiana coach is back, but with some veteran help coming his way. Former Cleveland Browns head man Sam Rutigliano is coming to Washington as their new Offensive Coordinator and Assistant Head Coach. Rutigliano’s Browns were known for a solid balance of run & pass and a propensity to pull out close games at the end, earning the moniker “Cardiac Kids”.
PITTSBURGH: While Joe Pendry has been successful in building a running game for Mike Rozier, the Maulers have struggled both on defense and with the development of Todd Blackledge. Two new coaches are expected to remedy those issues. The new DC for the Maulers will be former Steeler player and Dallas Cowboy D-line coach Ernie Stautner. Brought in to help the Maulers passing game is new Offensive Assistant (Pendry will retain play calling) Roman Gabriel. Gabriel, a star QB in the NFL, served as OC for the Breakers in their first year before taking a hiatus, but returns to the USFL to help the Maulers.
NEW ORLEANS: Speaking of the Breakers, coach Coury is hoping to fix a broken passing game and get Tony Eason some developmental coaching as well with their pick of Paul Hackett as their new OC. Hackett, who served as QB Coach with Joe Montana in San Francisco, Brian Sipe in Cleveland, and also helped USC develop a balanced attack in the late 70’s, will be responsible for building an offense around Eason.
BIRMINGHAM: A lot went wrong for the Stallions in the ’85 campaign, but with Rollie Dotsch still having the full confidence of the ownership, the blame fell elsewhere. Birmingham’s defense was one of the worst in the league after two midling seasons in ’83 and ’84, so it was time for a new Defensive Coordinator. The Stallions looked to the NFL and Seattle Seahawks D-Line coach George Dyer. Dyer is expected to rebuild the Stallions line and bring some of the Chuck Knox toughness to Legion Field next season.
HOUSTON: With the departure of Mouse Davis, the Houston Gamblers are very likely to go a new direction with their offense. Coach Jack Pardee likes a lot of what he saw with the Run & Shoot, but he could not have liked two consecutive 7-9 seasons or the number of hits that star QB Jim Kelly took. The Gamblers have brought in Bruce Coslet to run a more traditional, but likely still pass-heavy offense around Kelly and the Mouseketeers (now Bruceketeers?). Coslet, recently of the Cincinnati Bengals, is likely to look at the success of both Michigan and Tampa Bay and their long ball, vertical game. With Kelly’s arm, we would not be shocked to see a longball offense similar to Banditball work out well for the Gamblers.