John Phillip Bengtson (July 17, 1913 – December 18, 1994) was an

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 ...

player and coach. He was a longtime assistant coach 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 ...

and 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), chiefly remembered as the successor to

Vince Lombardi Vincent Thomas Lombardi ( ; June 11, 1913 – September 3, 1970) was an American professional football coach and executive in the National Football League (NFL). Lombardi is considered by many to be among the greatest coaches and leaders in Ame ...

as head coach of the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

in 1968.

Career

Bengtson was a native of

Roseau, Minnesota Roseau () is a city in and the county seat of Roseau County, Minnesota, United States. Its population was 2,744 at the 2020 census. History A post office called Roseau has been in operation since 1895. The city took its name from the nearby ...

, and played tackle under

Bernie Bierman Bernard W. Bierman (March 11, 1894 – March 7, 1977) was an American college football coach best known for his years as head coach of the Minnesota Golden Gophers football program. Between 1934-41, his Minnesota teams won five national champio ...

at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

during the 1930s. In 1934, he earned All-America honors with the Golden Gophers, working in tandem with a player who went to coaching immortality: quarterback Bud Wilkinson. Bengtson took his first assistant coaching job at the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

in 1935, but soon returned to his alma mater as line coach, staying through the 1939 season. Beginning in 1940, he moved to

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, where he served as an assistant coach for 12 years. Bengtson moved to the professional level in 1952 with the nearby

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

. In seven seasons with the Niners, Bengtson served under three head coaches: (

Buck Shaw Lawrence Timothy "Buck" Shaw (March 28, 1899 – March 19, 1977) was an American football player and coach. He was the head coach for Santa Clara University, the University of California, Berkeley, the San Francisco 49ers, the United States Air F ...

, Red Strader, Frankie Albert) before being dismissed with Albert after the 1958 season. Soon after, he was one of the first four assistants hired in Lombardi's first week with the Packers in early February 1959. Bengtson was the only assistant coach to stay for the entire nine-year tenure of Lombardi (1959–1967). His work as

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...

of the Packers established his coaching ability and put him in line to succeed Lombardi. From 1961 to 1967, the Packers captured five NFL titles, and the first two

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

s. Bengtson replaced Lombardi following the 1967 season; his low-key approach was in sharp contrast to the often-volatile Lombardi. With the aging of key players, this translated into mediocrity for the franchise. Bengtson's Packers were 20–21–1 in his three seasons as head coach. After a 6–8 record in 1970, he was relieved of his duties, replaced by Missouri head coach

Dan Devine Daniel John Devine (December 23, 1924 – May 9, 2002) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Arizona State University from 1955 to 1957, the University of Missouri from 1958 to 1970, and the Universi ...

for the 1971 season. Devine lasted four seasons with the Packers, moving back to the collegiate level at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

following the 1974 season. Lombardi's former quarterback,

Bart Starr Bryan Bartlett Starr (January 9, 1934 – May 26, 2019) was an American professional football quarterback and head coach for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Alabama Crimson T ...

, became the head coach of the Packers in 1975. In 1985, Bengston was inducted into the

Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame The Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame is a team-specific hall of fame honoring players, coaches, executives and other contributors to the history and success of the Green Bay Packers, an American football team in the National Football League (NFL). ...

. Bengtson resurfaced with 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 ...

and

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 ...

, becoming the interim head coach of the Patriots in late 1972. Later, he was named the team's Director of Pro Scouting, staying through the 1974 season. Bengtson died at age 81 after a long illness at his home in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

on December 18, 1994.

Head coaching record

* ''Interim head coach''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bengtson, Phil 1913 births 1994 deaths People from Roseau, Minnesota American football tackles Green Bay Packers general managers Green Bay Packers head coaches Minnesota Golden Gophers football coaches Minnesota Golden Gophers football players Missouri Tigers football coaches NFL general managers New England Patriots head coaches New England Patriots coaches San Diego Chargers coaches San Francisco 49ers coaches Stanford Cardinal football coaches Players of American football from Minnesota Coaches of American football from Minnesota Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame