Tom Rossley (born August 9, 1946) is a former

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 and player. He was the head football coach at

Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a Private university, private research university in Dallas, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17, 1911, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, ...

(SMU) from 1991 to 1996, compiling a record of 15–48–3.

Coaching career

Early career

Rossley started his coaching career in 1969 at the high school level. After serving as a graduate assistant coach at the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...

in 1972, Rossley worked as an offensive assistant coach at one high school and several colleges. These coaching jobs were at Lake Worth High School, the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...

(his alma mater),

Rice University William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University, is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. Established in 1912, the university spans 300 acres. Rice University comp ...

Holy Cross Holy Cross or Saint Cross may refer to: * the instrument of the crucifixion of Jesus * Christian cross, a frequently used religious symbol of Christianity * True Cross, supposed remnants of the actual cross upon which Jesus was crucified * Feast o ...

, and Southern Methodist University, respectively. He also spent time coaching in 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 ...

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

, and the now defunct

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 ...

. While at Holy Cross, Rossley worked with future

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 ...

head coach

Mike Sherman Michael Francis Sherman (born December 19, 1954) is an American gridiron football coach and former player who most recently was the head coach of the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was the head coach of the Green B ...

, where the two became friends and established a successful working relationship. Rossley's job at Southern Methodist led to the head coaching position, after a one-year foray into the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a 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 Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

, where he worked as a quarterbacks coach for the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

in 1990.

SMU

Rossley was the head coach at

from 1991 to 1996, where he inherited a team only two seasons back from the "Death Penalty" punishment by the NCAA, where the entire 1987 and 1988 football seasons were canceled. Rossley inherited a team that was 3–19 in the two seasons since the football program was reinstated, but quickly earned

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference also included schools from Oklaho ...

Co-Coach of the Year for impressively turning around the 1–10 Mustangs with a respectable 5–6 record in 1992.

NFL

After leaving the Mustangs, Rossley spent two years as an assistant with 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 ...

and one year with 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 of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

before being offered the Packers

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...

position in 2000 by his former colleague Mike Sherman, who was at the time putting together his Green Bay coaching staff. In early 2006, Sherman was fired by the Packers after a disappointing 4–12 season. The new head coach,

Mike McCarthy Michael John McCarthy (born November 10, 1963) is an American professional American football, football coach who most recently was the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL) from 2020 Dallas Cowboys season, 2020 t ...

released much of the coaching staff after he was hired, including Rossley.

Texas A&M

Sherman, now head coach at Texas A&M, named Rossley the quarterbacks coach/senior assistant on January 26, 2008. Under the tutelage of Rossley, quarterback

Jerrod Johnson Jerrod Terrel Johnson (born July 27, 1988) is an American professional football coach and former player who is the quarterbacks coach for the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). He played quarterback at Texas A&M. Johnson was ...

was arguably the nation's most improved player. Johnson shattered numerous school records including an A&M record 28 touchdowns and became the first player in A&M history to surpass 3,000 yards through the air (3,217). Along with posting five 300-yard passing games, Johnson ran for eight touchdowns and 455 yards. In 2009, Rossley was selected as the FootballScoop Quarterbacks Coach of the Year. Rossley was nominated by his peers and was selected by a panel of coaches, former coaches, and previous winners. Other finalists for the award were

Mike Bajakian Mike Bajakian (born August 4, 1974) is an American football coach who is the offensive coordinator for the UMass Minutemen. He previously served as the quarterbacks coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL) and as ...

(Central Michigan),

Dana Holgorsen Dana Carl Holgorsen (born June 21, 1971) is an American college football coach. He is currently the offensive coordinator at the University of Nebraska. He served as the head football coach at West Virginia University from 2011 to 2018 and the Un ...

(Houston), and Greg Forest (Cincinnati). Rossley recruited future Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback

Johnny Manziel Johnathan Paul Manziel ( ; born December 6, 1992), nicknamed "Johnny Football", is an American former football quarterback. He played college football for the Texas A&M Aggies and was the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy. He played prof ...

to Texas A&M.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rossley, Tom 1946 births Living people Arkansas Razorbacks football coaches Atlanta Falcons coaches Chicago Bears coaches Cincinnati Bearcats football coaches Green Bay Packers coaches Kansas City Chiefs coaches Montreal Alouettes coaches NFL offensive coordinators Rice Owls football coaches SMU Mustangs football coaches Texas A&M Aggies football coaches San Antonio Gunslingers coaches High school football coaches in Florida Sportspeople from Painesville, Ohio Players of American football from Lake County, Ohio