James A. Myers (November 12, 1921 – July 17, 2014) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

coach. He coached for 40 years at the collegiate and professional level. He is probably most remembered for his time as line coach and (since 1971) associate head coach with the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divi ...

under

Tom Landry Thomas Wade Landry (September 11, 1924 – February 12, 2000) was an American professional football player and coach. He was the first head coach of the Dallas Cowboys in the National Football League (NFL), a position he held for 29 seasons. Dur ...

. He was also an offseason member of the

Card-Pitt Card-Pitt was the team created by the temporary merger of two National Football League (NFL) teams, the Chicago Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers, during the 1944 season. It was the second such merger for the Steelers, who had combined with ...

team in 1944, playing as a

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

was the contraction of the Cardinals and Steelers teams during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and was generally considered one of the worst teams in history, finishing 0–10 and outscored by 220 points. After serving as line coach under

Red Sanders Henry Russell "Red" Sanders (May 7, 1905 – August 14, 1958) was an American football player and coach. He was head coach at Vanderbilt University (1940–1942, 1946–1948) and the University of California at Los Angeles (1949–1957), compili ...

at the

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

and later

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...

(UCLA), Myers became head coach at

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the ...

in 1957, where he compiled a 4–5–1 record. He then succeeded Bear Bryant in a similar capacity at

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

in 1958. Myers, the fourth candidate pursued by the Aggies after

Duffy Daugherty Hugh Duffy Daugherty (September 8, 1915 – September 25, 1987) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at Michigan State University from 1954 to 1972, compiling a record of 109–69–5. His 1965 and 1966 teams won ...

, his coaching mentor Sanders and

Frank Leahy Francis William Leahy (August 27, 1908 – June 21, 1973) was an American football player, coach, college athletics administrator, and professional sports executive. He served as the head football coach at Boston College from 1939 to 1940 and at ...

rejected its offers, was approved by both university president Dr. Marion Thomas Harrington and the faculty athletic council. He withdrew his name from consideration when the alumni blocked his appointment in an attempt to land a more high-profile coach and the Board of Regents were recruiting

Eddie Erdelatz Edward J. Erdelatz (April 21, 1913 – November 10, 1966) was an American collegiate and professional football player and coach who served as head football coach of the U.S. Naval Academy for nine years. Erdelatz was also the first head coach of ...

who eventually spurned them. A telegram of support signed and sent by the student body successfully convinced Myers to reconsider and become the Aggies' head coach. His record in four seasons from 1958 to 1961 was 12–24–4. Myers frequently used a

single-wing In American and Canadian football, a single-wing formation was a precursor to the modern spread or shotgun formation. The term usually connotes formations in which the snap is tossed rather than handed—formations with one wingback and a ha ...

formation he had learned at

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

under head coach

Robert Neyland Robert Reese Neyland (; February 17, 1892 – March 28, 1962) was an American football player and coach and officer in the United States Army, reaching the rank of brigadier general. He served three stints as the head football coach at the Univ ...

. Myers was hired by Tom Landry to coach the Dallas Cowboys offensive line in 1962. He was promoted twice, first to offensive coordinator in 1970 and then associate head coach in 1977. Myers died at the age of 92 on July 17, 2014.

Head coaching record

References

1921 births 2014 deaths American football guards Dallas Cowboys coaches Iowa State Cyclones football coaches Tennessee Volunteers football coaches Texas A&M Aggies athletic directors Texas A&M Aggies football coaches UCLA Bruins football coaches Vanderbilt Commodores football coaches Wofford Terriers football coaches People from Madison, West Virginia Card-Pitt players {{1950s-collegefootball-coach-stub