Ron Calcagni (born February 6, 1957) is a former

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

for the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

Razorbacks football team from 1975 to 1978. Calcagni was born in

Youngstown, Ohio Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County, Ohio, Mahoning County. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of ...

. An All-State in high school, Calcagni was initially recruited by

Bo Rein Robert Edward "Bo" Rein (July 20, 1945 – January 10, 1980) was an American football and baseball player and football coach. He was a two-sport athlete at Ohio State University and served as the head football coach at North Carolina State Univ ...

to play for

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The universi ...

. However, Rein left North Carolina State to coach under

Frank Broyles John Franklin Broyles (December 26, 1924 – August 14, 2017) was an American college football player and coach, college athletics administrator, and broadcaster. He served as the head football coach for one season at the University of Missour ...

at Arkansas and convinced Calcagni to follow him there. Rein would return to North Carolina State as head coach before Calcagni graduated from Arkansas. Calcagni had a record setting career with Arkansas. His 25–4–2 winning record made him the 2nd winningest quarterback in Razorbacks history. Calcagni is perhaps best known for his role in the defeat of the heavily favored #2 ranked

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the " Sooners", a reference to a nickname given to the early participants in the Land R ...

in the

1978 Orange Bowl The 1978 Orange Bowl was the 44th Orange Bowl, edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Miami Orange Bowl, Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, on Monday, January 2. Part of the 1977 NCAA Division I football season#Bowl games, 1977� ...

. Following that upset victory Calcagni, running back

Ben Cowins Ben Cowins (born April 7, 1956) is a former college football running back who played for the University of Arkansas Razorbacks from 1975-1978. College career Cowins played alongside Ron Calcagni, Chicago Bears great Dan Hampton and record-setti ...

, and head coach

Lou Holtz Louis Leo Holtz (born January 6, 1937) is an American former football player, coach, and analyst. He served as the head football coach at The College of William & Mary (1969–1971), North Carolina State University (1972–1975), the New York ...

were on the September 11th, 1978 cover of ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twice ...

''

He also helped the Razorbacks to a

1976 Cotton Bowl Classic The 1976 Cotton Bowl Classic was a post-season college football bowl game between the co-Southwest Conference champion Arkansas Razorbacks"Major Conference Champions.1975 SWC Champions.Infoplease.com. Retrieved on April 11, 2010. and the Georgia ...

victory over the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

and a

Fiesta Bowl The Fiesta Bowl is an American college football bowl game played annually in the Phoenix metropolitan area. From its beginning in 1971 until 2006, the game was hosted at the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Since 2007, the game has been playe ...

tie with

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

. During his time at Arkansas Calcagni played alongside

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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine ...

great

Dan Hampton Daniel Oliver Hampton (born September 19, 1957) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive lineman for twelve seasons with the Chicago Bears from 1979 to 1990 in the National Football League (NFL). He was elected t ...

, running back Cowins, and record setting kicker Steve Little. The Razorbacks went 10–2 in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

, 5-5-1 in

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phil ...

, 11–1 in

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrati ...

and 9-2-1 in

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd government). * January 6 – ...

with Calcagni as starting quarterback.

Professional and coaching careers

Despite his success in college Calcagni was not drafted into the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the maj ...

. He played three seasons in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ...

for the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the Canadian F ...

and the

Ottawa Rough Riders The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded in 1876. Formerly one of the oldest and longest-lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup championship nine ...

before entering into a career as a coach. He worked as quarterbacks and receivers coach for the

University of Oklahoma , mottoeng = "For the benefit of the Citizen and the State" , type = Public research university , established = , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.7billion (2021) , pr ...

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

and the

University of Tulsa The University of Tulsa (TU) is a private research university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has a historic affiliation with the Presbyterian Church and the campus architectural style is predominantly Collegiate Gothic. The school traces its origin ...

. Calcagni worked as inside receivers coach for the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

from 1987 to 1991. Ron Calcagni currently is the head coach for the Pulaski Heights Middle School Panthers where he has won three district championships. He has also served as the President of Marketing for Arkansas Sports Entertainment. He is also the Physical Education teacher. In 2009, Calcagni was inducted into the University of Arkansas Sports Hall of Honor, and in 2015, he was inducted into the

Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame is the hall of fame and museum for sports in Arkansas, United States. The hall of fame inducted its first class in 1959. The hall's museum is located on the west end of the Verizon Arena in North Little Rock, Arkansas. ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Calcagni, Ron 1957 births Living people American football quarterbacks American players of Canadian football Arkansas Razorbacks football players Canadian football quarterbacks Houston Cougars football coaches Montreal Alouettes players Ottawa Rough Riders players Tulsa Golden Hurricane football coaches Winnipeg Blue Bombers coaches Players of American football from Youngstown, Ohio