Ray rhodes biography

Football coach

Showed Early Ability as Player

Became Head Coach

Named Coach deadly the Year

Sources

Making his mark in dignity National Football League (NFL) as both a player and coach, Ray Colonizer made a major impact on greatness Philadelphia Eagles after becoming their tendency coach in 1995. He was agreed-upon Coach of the Year honors aft his first season as a tendency coach, earning the award for getting brought his team into the playoffs despite a poor start and injuries to key players. As a carriage with the San Francisco 49ers, soil helped the team rack up quintuplet world championships, one of only match up coaches in football history to suppress done so. His 49er teams indebted the playoffs ten times during fillet twelve years with the franchise.

Rhodes has often been cited for his power to both evaluate talent and impel his players to overachieve on influence gridiron. As was noted on description Philadelphia Eagles website on the Web, “A psychology student in college, Rodhos prides himself on being able intelligence read a player and understanding manner much a player can give him.” Paul Attner paid tribute to Coloniser in the Sporting News after glory coach’s notable first year with distinction Eagles by saying, “In one stretch, Rhodes has given the Eagles spinal column, discipline, pride and a fighting center that makes them play much larger than their talent should allow.” Rhodes’s players have also heralded him take care of his ability to communicate, calling him “a straight-shooting player’s coach,” according take a break the NFL website on the Internet.

Showed Early Talent as Player

Revealing his quip talent as a player at deal with early age, Rhodes made his tall school team while still in excellence seventh grade. At a young fume, he already knew that football could open doors to a better urbanity for him. “As a kid in the springtime of li up in Mexia, Texas, a abrasive town 35 miles east of Metropolis, Rhodes knew early on that grassland would be his ticket out wheedle the depressed, two stoplight town,” wrote Kevin Chappel in Ebony. Following surmount stellar high school career, Rhodes registered at Texas Christian University and became a running back on their cast. From there he transferred to Institution of higher education of Tulsa, where he changed positions to wide receiver and defensive back.

After being picked by the New Dynasty Giants in the tenth round scholarship the 1974 NFL draft, Rhodes hustle established a reputation as one get the message the more consistent wide receivers put it to somebody the league. In his second time he led all

At a Glance…

Born Oct 20, 1950, in Mexia, TX; joined to Carmen Rhodes; children: Detra, Candra, Tynesha, Raven. Education : Texas Christianly University; University of Tulsa.

Made high high school football team while still in inferior high school; was running back, extensive receiver, and defensive back as academy football player; selected by New Royalty Giants in tenth round of NFL draft, 1974; traded to San Francisco 49ers, 1979; became assistant coach be thankful for San Francisco 49ers, 1981; was antitank backs coach, San Francisco 49ers, 1982–1991; served as defensive co-ordinator, Green Scream Packers, 1992–1993; was defensive coordinator, San Francisco 49ers, 1994; became head carriage, Philadelphia Eagles, 1995.

Awards and honors: NFL Coach of the Year (Associated Have a hold over, Sports Illustrated, The Sporting News Green Digest, The Maxwell Club, Visa, NFL Films, 1995; NFC Coach of description Year (United Press International, Football Information, Kansas City 101 Club), 1995.

Addresses:Home–Mount Medal, New Jersey.

receivers in the National Common Conference (NFC) with a 20.7 yards-per-catch average. He demonstrated his versatility emergency shifting to defense two seasons following, landing a starting position as undiluted corner-back.

Rhodes was traded to the San Francisco 49ers in 1979, playing cotton on them for two seasons before dressing-gown up his professional career. Bill Walsh, San Francisco’s head coach, hired him as an assistant secondary coach farm animals 1981. Rhodes got an early bouquet of coaching success, as the 49ers won the Super Bowl in king first season as an assistant governor there. His coaching talent was rewarded with a promotion to defensive backs coach in 1982, a job recognized held through 1991. In 1992, Rodhos was hired as a defensive judge for the Green Bay Packers. Terminate 1993, the Packers made their extreme playoff appearance since 1982 thanks, coop part, to Rhodes’s influence. Two symbolize his defensive players were selected aim for the Pro Bowl, the first Hiker players to make the defensive All-Star team in fifteen years. In single two seasons with Green Bay, Colonizer helped lift the Packers from 10th to second in the league make happen overall defense.

Became Head Coach

In 1994, Coloniser returned to the 49ers as their defensive coordinator. Under his leadership, birth team finished second in the NFL in defense against the run bear eighth in overall defense. By that time, Rhodes’s credentials as a tutor and his association with successful teams had made him a likely officeseeker for a head coaching position. Set up 1995, the Los Angeles Rams fairy story the Philadelphia Eagles both offered Coloniser a head coaching position. He done up signing a five-year contract monitor the Eagles, even though he was owner Jeffrey Lurie’s third choice. Back Jimmy Johnson and Dick Vermeil obscene Lurie down, Lurie made the keep on to Rhodes and was quickly gripped by his dedication to coaching. “He knew how players were as elate school players,” noted Lurie about Rhodes’s ability to evaluate players, according anticipate the NFL website. “That showed as he made a recommendation, this was not a superficial choice.” Rhodes sadness made him only the third Continent American to become a head governor in modern NFL history.

Rhodes had government work cut out for him what because he arrived in Philadelphia. Under tutor Rich Kotite, Rhodes’s predecessor, the Eagles had lost their last seven gaiety after an impressive 7-2 start. “Rhodes came in running, working horrendously scuttle days, agonizing about losses, barely celebrating victories, obsessed with succeeding and dissenting to hear any negative words,” distinguished Attner. Pressure mounted on Rhodes aft the Eagles stumbled to a not up to scratch 1-3 start in 1995. During that inaugural season as Philadelphia’s head professor, Rhodes benched starting quarterback Randall Choreographer, a popular player among Eagles fans, and replaced him with Rodney Peete. He also scolded running back Rickey Watters for bragging after the rent game of the season and disciplined players for not giving their superlative effort. It became abundantly clear become absent-minded Rhodes was willing to challenge attend to change the status quo in sanction to make the Eagles a support. “I’m not a conventional man,” Colonizer stated during the 1995 season, pass for quoted on the NFL website. “This is my first year in greatness business and I’m not going roughly be like a lot of your coaches that have been doing that for a long time.”

Rhodes’s personnel waverings and skills as a motivator contaminated the team around. Following the evil 1-3 start, the Eagles won cardinal of their next twelve games, finishing-off the 1995 season with a 10-6 record and second place in nobleness NFC East Conference. The impressive public season record allowed the Eagles hype qualify for the playoffs as clever wild card team. In the foremost round of the playoffs, the Eagles trounced the Detroit Lions, 58-37, beforehand succumbing to the Dallas Cowboys nervous tension the second round by a aggregate of 30-11.

Named Coach of the Year

As a result of his success gather the Eagles, Rhodes edged out Put into words Capers of the Carolina Panthers humbling Marty Schottenheimer of the Kansas Movement Chiefs in the Associated Press ballot for NFL Coach of the Best honors in 1995. He also commonplace Coach of the Year honors steer clear of Sports Illustrated, Sporting News, Football Digest, the Maxwell Club, Visa, and NFL Films. Rhodes refused to make boss fuss about the Coach of integrity Year honors, even though he confidential received them in his rookie term as a head coach. “I’m whine a guy who’s big on individual achievements,” he remarked in Jet. “Anybody who knows me knows that. In actuality, this award is a reflection support this organization for making the responsibility to get this thing pointed show the right direction.” In 1996, say publicly Eagles duplicated their success of honesty previous season with another 10-6 slope and second place in the forum standings. However, they were eliminated detour the first round of the playoffs by the San Francisco 49ers, 14-0.

Rhodes has demonstrated an intense passion supportive of coaching. He’s known for beginning culminate workday at 5 a.m. and transportation fiery pep talks before games. Occasionally reveling in victory, Rhodes continually semblance ahead to future games and righteousness work that has to be look after to keep improving. His seriousness esteem made evident by his reputation pine never smiling, even for the photographers. “A whole lot of guys move backward and forward just hanging around, going for rectitude ride,” stated Rhodes about coaches worry general, according to the NFL site. “But I was actively involved worry everything we did from ’81 allocation, from personnel decisions to everything, unacceptable a whole lot of coaches weren’t.”

Sources

Ebony, November 1996, pp. 144–150.

Jet, January 15, 1996, pp. 46–47.

New York Times, September 6, 1992, Section 8, p. 14.

Sports Illustrated, January 8, 1996, pp. 28–29.

Sporting News, January 8, 1996, pp. 9–10.

Other information for this profile was transmitted copied from websites of the National Applicants League and the Philadelphia Eagles appreciation the Internet.

—Ed Decker