John Perry Pardee (April 19, 1936 – April 1, 2013) was an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

. He played as a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). As a coach, he is the only head coach to helm a team in

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 ...

, the NFL, 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), the

World Football League The World Football League (WFL) was an American football league that played one full season in 1974 in sports, 1974 and most of its second in 1975 in sports, 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a w ...

(WFL), and the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL). Pardee was inducted into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive Tourist attraction, attraction devoted to college football, college American football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players ...

as a player in 1986.

Playing career

As a teenager, Pardee moved to Christoval, Texas, where he excelled as a member of the

six-man football Six-man football is a variant of gridiron football played with six players per team, instead of the standard eleven. It is generally played by high schools in rural areas of the United States and Canada. History Six-man football was developed in ...

team. He was an

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

fullback at

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

and a two-time

All-Pro All-Pro is an honor bestowed upon professional American football players that designates the best player at each position during a given season. All-Pro players are typically selected by press organizations, who select an "All-Pro team," a list t ...

with the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West ...

(1963) and the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

(1971). He was one of the few six-man players to ever make it to the NFL, and his knowledge of that wide-open game served him well as a coach. Pardee was one of the famed Junction Boys, the 1954 Texas A&M preseason camp held in

Junction, Texas Junction is a city in and the county seat of Kimble County, Texas, United States. Its population was 2,451 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History The community was founded in 1876 after the organization of Kimble County earlier ...

, by football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant. He was part of the 35 left from the roughly 100 players who went to Junction. After completing college at Texas A&M, Pardee was selected with the first pick of the second round (14th overall) in the 1957 NFL draft by the Los Angeles Rams as a

. Pardee played for the Rams from 1957 to 1970, sitting out the 1965 season to treat a malignant

melanoma Melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer; it develops from the melanin-producing cells known as melanocytes. It typically occurs in the skin, but may rarely occur in the mouth, intestines, or eye (uveal melanoma). In very rare case ...

in his left arm. Pardee was alerted to his own cancer after reading about Houston Astros pitcher Jim Umbricht, who died from an aggressive form of skin cancer. Pardee was traded from the Rams to the Redskins in a multiplayer deal during the first round of the

1971 NFL draft The 1971 NFL draft was held January 28–29, 1971, at the Belmont Plaza Hotel in New York City, New York. The Boston Patriots, who did not officially change their name to New England Patriots until after the draft, used the first overall pick ...

on January 28, 1971. He ended his playing career after two seasons with the Redskins at the end of the 1972 NFL season.

Coaching career

WFL

When the World Football League started in 1974, Pardee got his first head-coaching job with the Washington Ambassadors. The team later relocated to Norfolk, Virginia, as the Virginia Ambassadors, before finally moving to their third and final home in Orlando as the Florida Blazers. The Blazers made it to the 1974 World Bowl and lost by one point to the Birmingham Americans. Pardee's regular-season coaching record in 1974 with the Blazers was 14–6, and 2–1 in the 1974 WFL Playoffs and World Bowl. This was all the more remarkable considering that the Blazers went unpaid for the last three months of the season. Some of the Blazers players relocated to San Antonio as the Wings for the 1975 season, and Pardee also moved on, signing on as head coach of the Chicago Bears for the 1975 season.

First stint as a head coach in the NFL

In 1975, Pardee was hired by the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

as head coach. He spent the next three years there, leading Chicago to their first playoff berth in 14 years in 1977, before moving on to the

. In 1979, he led the Redskins to within one game of making the playoffs, but in the season's final week, they squandered a 13-point lead to the eventual NFC East champion

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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

and missed the playoffs. He was fired after going 6–10 in 1980. In 1981, he was hired as assistant head coach in charge of defense for the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

USFL

In 1984, Pardee returned to his native Texas by becoming the head coach of the Houston Gamblers. The Gamblers played spring football in the

. The Gamblers had one of the most potent offenses in professional football, the run and shoot offense, with Jim Kelly as quarterback. The Gamblers merged with the

New Jersey Generals The New Jersey Generals were a franchise of the United States Football League (USFL) established in 1982 to begin play in the spring and summer of 1983. The team played three seasons from 1983 to 1985, winning 31 regular season games and losing ...

in 1986, and Pardee was named head coach. With Kelly and Doug Flutie both vying for the role of starting quarterback, and Herschel Walker in the backfield, the Generals were poised to dominate the USFL, but the league folded prior to the 1986 season.

NCAA

Pardee returned to Houston in 1987 as head coach at the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

. During his three-year stint, the Cougars, using the same offense he coached in the USFL, produced the first-ever African American quarterback to win 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 ...

, Andre Ware. His team also became the first major college team in NCAA history to have over 1,000 total offensive yards in a single game, racking up 1,021 yards while beating SMU, 95–21. Not long after Pardee's arrival, however, Houston was slapped with crippling

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

sanctions due to numerous major violations under his predecessor, Bill Yeoman. Among them, the Cougars were banned from bowl games in 1989 and 1990 and kicked off live television in 1989. As a result, most of the nation never got a chance to see the Cougars set numerous offensive records during the 1989 season.

Second stint as a head coach in the NFL

In 1990, Pardee packed up the run-and-shoot offense and moved across town, and back to the NFL, by joining the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston, Texas, from its founding in 1960 Houston Oilers season, 1960 to 1996 Houston Oilers season, 1996. The Houston Oilers began play as a charter member of the Ame ...

. He spent five years coaching a team that made the playoffs each of his first four years there, led by Hall of Fame quarterback

Warren Moon Harold Warren Moon (born November 18, 1956) is an American former professional Gridiron football, football player who was a quarterback for 23 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL). He spent most of h ...

. In 1991, the Oilers won their first division title since 1967 in the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, AFL–NFL merger, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Foot ...

. During his time with the Oilers, Pardee fell victim to NFL notoriety during the 1992 season, when in that season's playoffs, the Oilers surrendered a 35-3 third-quarter lead to the Buffalo Bills, losing in overtime to the eventual

conference A conference is a meeting, often lasting a few days, which is organized on a particular subject, or to bring together people who have a common interest. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always d ...

champions 41–38. The Oilers won another division title in 1993 on the strength of winning their last 11 games despite their season being wracked with turmoil on and off the field. However, after losing in the second round of the playoffs, owner Bud Adams made good on a threat to hold a

fire sale A fire sale is the sale of goods at extremely discounted prices. The term originated in reference to the sale of goods at a heavy discount due to fire damage. It may or may not be defined as a closeout, the final sale of goods to zero inventor ...

if they did not make the Super Bowl. The highest-profile loss was Moon, who was traded to the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

. Without Moon, the Oilers were a rudderless team. Pardee was fired following a 1–9 start to the 1994 season, and was replaced by defensive coordinator Jeff Fisher.

CFL comes to America

He continued his coaching career in the

. In 1995, he was named head coach of the CFL expansion team, the Birmingham Barracudas. Canadian football is more wide open than American football, with a field that has an additional 10 yards added to each endzone, as well as a 55 yardline and wider field. Birmingham owner Art Williams thought Pardee's roots in the six-man game made him a natural fit. The 'Cudas were part of a failed experiment to expand the CFL into the United States. With Matt Dunigan at quarterback, Birmingham made the playoffs, but lost in the first round. However, due to dreadful attendance late in the season and the league's refusal to approve the team's proposed relocation to

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the List of municipalities in Louisiana, third-most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge. The bulk of Shreveport is in Caddo Parish, Lo ...

, for 1996, the 'Cudas were shuttered at the end of the season along with the CFL's other American teams.

Return to coaching

In December 2007, Pardee, then 71, was contacted by athletic director Dave Maggard about the vacant head coaching job at the University of Houston. Signaling interest, he made it as far as a finalist for the position, but the school moved forward with

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

co-offensive coordinator Kevin Sumlin.

Personal life

Pardee was married for 50 years to Phyllis Lane Perryman and had five children and 12 grandchildren. Pardee's youngest son, Ted, is the color commentator for the Houston Cougars football radio broadcasts. Ted's son Payton Pardee is the head coach of the San Antonio Brahmas of the United Football League. In November 2012, Pardee was diagnosed with gallbladder cancer and his family reported that he only had six to nine more months to live, The cancer spread to other organs and Pardee moved to a

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

hospice Hospice care is a type of health care that focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's pain and symptoms and attending to their emotional and spiritual needs at the end of life. Hospice care prioritizes comfort and quality of life b ...

. Pardee died April 1, 2013. The family has established a memorial

scholarship A scholarship is a form of Student financial aid, financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, Multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion, athleti ...

fund in Pardee's name at the University of Houston. He was survived by his wife Phyllis, five children, and 12 grandchildren. Jack's youngest grandson, Luke Pardee, was then a quarterback at Texas Christian University,

Head coaching record

USFL

College

NFL

CFL

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pardee, Jack 1936 births 2013 deaths American football fullbacks American football linebackers Birmingham Barracudas coaches Chicago Bears head coaches Houston Cougars football coaches Houston Gamblers coaches Houston Oilers head coaches Los Angeles Rams players Texas A&M Aggies football players Washington Redskins head coaches Washington Redskins players NFL defensive coordinators Florida Blazers coaches College Football Hall of Fame inductees Western Conference Pro Bowl players People from Audubon County, Iowa Coaches of American football from Iowa Players of American football from Iowa Coaches of American football from Texas Players of American football from Tom Green County, Texas Deaths from cancer in Colorado Deaths from gallbladder cancer in the United States NFL Coach of the Year winners