Jack Bicknell (born February 20, 1938) is a retired

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

coach, most recently known for his long involvement in

NFL Europa NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally founded ...

and its predecessor, the

World League of American Football NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa) was a professional American football league that functioned as the List of developmental and minor sports leagues, developmental minor league of the Nati ...

(WLAF). He served as the head football coach at the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine, United States. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universitie ...

from 1976 to 1980 and at

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

from 1981 to 1988, compiling a career

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

record of 77–90–2. In 1984, Bicknell coached his Boston College Eagles team to a 10–2 mark including a victory in the Cotton Bowl Classic. His

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

that season, Doug Flutie, was awarded the

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy ( ; also known simply as the Heisman) is awarded annually since 1935 to the top player in college football. It is considered the most prestigious award in the sport and is presented by the Heisman Trophy Trust followin ...

. A native of

North Plainfield, New Jersey North Plainfield is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Somerset County, New Jersey, Somerset County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located within the Raritan River, Raritan Valley region. As of the 2020 United States census, the boroug ...

, Bicknell played quarterback at North Plainfield High School, graduating in 1955 and earning a scholarship to attend

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

.Lewis, Brian
"Bicknell interested in Rutgers coaching job"
'' Courier-News'', December 7, 1995. Accessed July 5, 2018. "Now, North Plainfield native Jack Bicknell would love nothing more than to come home as the next Rutgers football coach.... A 1955 North Plainfield grad, and a former Watchung Hills assistant, Bicknell's roots are strictly Central Jersey."

Coaching career

College

Bicknell was the head football coach at the

from 1976 to 1980, earning an 18–35–1 record. After that, he went to coach at

, where he stayed for ten years. At Boston College, he was 59–55–1, and was head coach in 1984 when

-winner Doug Flutie completed his famous Hail Flutie pass to Gerard Phelan to beat the

Miami Hurricanes The Miami Hurricanes, known informally as The U, UM, or The 'Canes, are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Coll ...

as time expired. Bicknell's son, Jack Jr., was the center for BC at the time of Flutie's miracle pass.

NFL Europe

Bicknell was named the head coach of the Barcelona Dragons from their inception in 1991 to their demise after the 2003 season. In October 2003 he was named head coach of the Scottish Claymores, a franchise which in 2005 was relocated to Germany as Hamburg Sea Devils, as rival to the local semi-pro Hamburg Blue Devils which had won several German and European titles. "Cowboy Jack" Bicknell has an overall record of 59–55 in his

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa) was a professional American football league that functioned as the List of developmental and minor sports leagues, developmental minor league of the Nati ...

career. He made four World Bowl appearances, and had been to three title games in six years. In 1991, ''El Caballero'' led the Barcelona Dragons to an 8–2 mark and a berth in the playoffs for the first World Bowl after surprisingly defeating the unbeaten London Monarchs in Wembley, but got shut out by them two weeks later in World Bowl '91 itself. In 1997, his Dragons won the first half of the season and went on to win World Bowl '97 in Barcelona. In 1999, the Dragons posted a league-best 7–3 mark before losing to Frankfurt in the World Bowl. His team posted a league-best 8–2 record in 2001 before losing World Bowl IX to the Berlin Thunder in Amsterdam. On 28 March 2007, at age 69, Bicknell stepped down as head coach of the Hamburg Sea Devils, citing health issues as the reason for his resignation.

Personal life

Bicknell is nicknamed "Cowboy Jack" because of his love for country music and horse riding. He and his wife, Lois, have three children, Jack, Jr., Wendy and Bob and five grandchildren. Both of his sons played for him at Boston College and are currently football coaches, Bob with the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

and Jack, Jr. with the

Wisconsin Badgers The Wisconsin Badgers are the College athletics in the United States, athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I ...

Head coaching record

College

Professional

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bicknell, Jack 1938 births Living people American football quarterbacks Barcelona Dragons (NFL Europe) coaches Boston College Eagles football coaches Hamburg Sea Devils coaches Maine Black Bears football coaches Montclair State Red Hawks football players Scottish Claymores coaches High school football coaches in New Jersey North Plainfield High School alumni Sportspeople from North Plainfield, New Jersey Players of American football from Somerset County, New Jersey Coaches of American football from New Jersey American expatriate sportspeople in Spain American expatriate sportspeople in Germany American expatriate sportspeople in Scotland