John David Rosenberg (born 1947 or 1948) is a former

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. His coaching career has spanned over 30 years at a variety of levels, including collegiate and professional teams in the United States, and pro club teams in the

Italian Football League Italian Football League (IFL) is the top level American football league in Italy established in 1980. History In the 1970's teams formed and played in Italy. In 1980 the first official American football league in Italy was established and crow ...

and

German Football League The German Football League (GFL) is an American football league in Germany and was formed in 1979. Playing rules are based on those of the American NCAA. In 1999, the league switched its name from ''American-Football-Bundesliga'' to ''German Foot ...

in Europe. Most notably, he served as head football coach at Brown University from 1984 to 1989, compiling a record of 23–33–3. Rosenberg is credited by some as the creator of the

zone blitz In American football, a zone blitz is a defensive tactic that sends additional players to rush the opposing team's quarterback, whilst also unexpectedly redirecting a supposed pass rushing player into pass coverage instead. This tactic also likel ...

defense made popular by the Pittsburgh Steelers. His career has included national championships in three countries.

United States

Penn State

Rosenberg was an assistant coach at Penn State for 11 seasons, working for head coach

Joe Paterno Joseph Vincent Paterno (; December 21, 1926 – January 22, 2012), sometimes referred to as JoePa, was an American college football player, athletic director, and coach. He was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions from 1966 to 2 ...

. During this time he coached in 11

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivi ...

s, including the National Championship team in 1982. He coordinated recruiting from 1974 to 1977, and also served as defensive backfield coach from 1977 to 1982.

Philadelphia

In 1983, he was an assistant coach with the Philadelphia Stars in the first year of the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(USFL).

Jim Mora Sr. James Ernest Mora (born May 24, 1935) is a former American football coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons. He was the head coach of the New Orleans Saints from 1986 to 1996 and the Indianapolis Co ...

was head coach and

Carl Peterson Carl D. Peterson (born May 26, 1943) For more than 50 years, Carl Peterson was a creative force in the world of American Football, starting at the high school level, through small college ball, to major college football, and on to professional fo ...

, former

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

of the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The ...

, was the general manager.

Brown University

Rosenberg was the head coach at Brown University in the

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight school ...

from 1984 to 1989. He led the Bears to three consecutive winning seasons, including a 7–3 mark in 1987. He resigned in 1990 following a 2–8 season in 1989 and a season with no victories in 1988. School officials acknowledged that calls from alumni for his dismissal had been growing. He had a 23–33–3 record in his six seasons at Brown.

Germany

Munich

In 1994, he went to Europe for the first time as head coach of the Munich Thunder of the

Football League of Europe The Football League of Europe (FLE) was a Europe American football league. It was founded in 1994, renamed 1995 in American Football League of Europe (AFLE) and dissolved after the 1995 season because of the ongoing financial problems. The trophy g ...

(FLE), which disbanded after one season. In 1995, he was head coach of the

Berlin Adler The Berlin Adler ( en, Berlin Eagles) is an American football club based in Berlin, Germany. The club is one of the most successful clubs in the sport in Germany, having won six German Bowls as well as a ten ''Ladies Bowls'' and five ''Junior Bow ...

in the

(GFL). He also was the defensive coordinator of the

Cologne Crocodiles The Cologne Crocodiles are an American football team from Cologne, Germany. The club's greatest success came in 2000, when it won the German Bowl for the first and, so far, only time. Prior to this, the club had made five losing appearances in t ...

from 1998 to 1999 and the

Munich Cowboys The Munich Cowboys are an American football team based in Munich, Germany. The club, together with the Düsseldorf Panther and the Ansbach Grizzlies, is one of the oldest in Germany.

from 2000 to 2001. He was the head coach for the Cowboys from 2007 from 2009. In 2010, he was head coach of the Plattling Black Hawks.

Hamburg

In 2002, he was head coach of the

Hamburg Blue Devils The Hamburg Blue Devils are an American football team in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded in 1992. The Blue Devils are one of the most successful American football clubs in Germany, having won four German Bowls as well as three Eurobowls. Durin ...

in the GFL, winning the

German Bowl The German Bowl is the annual national championship game in the sport of American football in Germany. It is contested by the two best teams of the German Football League. The New Yorker Lions, from Braunschweig, are the record winners of the Ger ...

for the German National Championship. In 2004, he coordinated the defense of the

Braunschweig Lions The New Yorker Lions are an American Football team from Braunschweig, Germany. Until late 2010, the team was known as the Braunschweig Lions.

, Germany's most winning team with many German Bowl appearances and ten National Championships.

Italy

In 2005, he became the head coach of the Bergamo Lions, one of Europe's most successful teams. Bergamo had won the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

League League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

for 10 straight years and won the

Eurobowl The Eurobowl was the championship final game of a tournament style playoff to determine the champion of all of the American football leagues in Europe. The tournament featured the top or champion clubs from each countries top league that was cal ...

(equivalent to European soccer's Champions League) in American Football in 2000, 2001, and 2002. He won the

title in 2005 and lost the Eurobowl championship game to the

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and ...

from the

Austrian Football League The Austrian Football League (AFL) is the highest level of American football in Austria founded in 1984. The Austrian Football League (AFL) has always been considered among the best and strongest leagues in Europe. The league plays by rules based ...

, finishing with a 13–1 record.

Personal

Rosenberg received a bachelor's degree from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

, where he studied

social psychology Social psychology is the scientific study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people or by social norms. Social psychologists typically explain human behavior as a result of the ...

and organizational behavior. He received a master's degree in counselor education from Penn State in 1972. Rosenberg grew up in

Newton, Massachusetts Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is approximately west of downtown Boston. Newton resembles a patchwork of thirteen villages, without a city center. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the population of Ne ...

. He now lives in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

where he has done some writing and editing for films and television projects with football themes. He also was a

sports radio Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often- boisterous on ...

talk show host in the early 1990s. He holds a U.S. Patent for a

board game Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well. Many board games feature a co ...

he created in the late 1970s.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosenberg, John Place of birth missing (living people) Living people American football linebackers Brown Bears football coaches Cal State Northridge Matadors football coaches Harvard Crimson football players Los Angeles Valley Monarchs football coaches Sportspeople from Newton, Massachusetts Players of American football from Middlesex County, Massachusetts Penn State College of Education alumni Penn State Nittany Lions football coaches Villanova Wildcats football coaches Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars coaches Year of birth missing (living people) American expatriate sportspeople in Germany American expatriate sportspeople in Italy American expatriate players of American football