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ADLER

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ADLER Grand Master

ADLER

Posted
Posted (edited)

Rule #1 - Do NOT post the answer if you know it. Just say IF you knew it.

Rule #2 - In case of doubt, please refer back to rule #1. Seriously, let some folks wonder for a while.

What former North Texas football player has three times coached teams to the NFL Championship and won it twice.

 

.

Edited by ADLER
  • Upvote 1
SilverEagle Mentor

SilverEagle

Posted
Posted
9 hours ago, ADLER said:

Rule #1 - Do NOT post the answer if you know it. Just say IF you knew it.

Rule #2 - In case of doubt, please refer back to rule #1. Seriously, let some folks wonder for a while.

What former North Texas football player has three times coached teams to the NFL Championship and won it twice?

 

Hint 1  -  His NFL record is 104-75-9

 

Hint 2  -  He, coincidentally, was born in the same tiny town as the North Texas coach that won our first bowl game 75 years ago this week.

 

Hint 3 - He's somewhat a "forgotten legend" never inducted into either the NFL Hall of Fame or the North Texas Hall of Fame.

 

.

 

Again, please don't post the answer, just post if you already knew the answer.

Head Coach or Assistant Coach.

  • Confused 1
ADLER Grand Master

ADLER

Posted
  • Author
Posted
2 minutes ago, SilverEagle said:

Head Coach or Assistant Coach.

He played at North Texas, but only for one year. He then transferred to a school in Louisiana and played there for three years.

He played in the NFL and had a extended career as both an assistant and head coach.

  • Upvote 2
SilverEagle Mentor

SilverEagle

Posted
Posted
17 minutes ago, ADLER said:

He played at North Texas, but only for one year. He then transferred to a school in Louisiana and played there for three years.

He played in the NFL and had a extended career as both an assistant and head coach.

Is he alive?

  • Oh Boy! 1
SilverEagle Mentor

SilverEagle

Posted
Posted
58 minutes ago, ADLER said:

He played at North Texas, but only for one year. He then transferred to a school in Louisiana and played there for three years.

He played in the NFL and had a extended career as both an assistant and head coach.

Are you kidding me? Good God, how many hundreds of former athletes at North Texas have the same story?

  • Upvote 1
PlummMeanGreen Grand Master

PlummMeanGreen

Posted
Posted (edited)
2 minutes ago, SilverEagle said:

Are you kidding me? Good God, how many hundreds of former athletes at North Texas have the same story?

Just texted ADLER & told him I’m surprised you didn’t already have an answer.😱 
It is a real stumper. 

Edited by PlummMeanGreen
GrayEagle Veteran

GrayEagle

Posted
Posted

I don't know but I do know who coached NT to its first bowl win and while he may have been born in a small town it's definitely not small today.  It also doesn't match the "Peggy Sue" clue.  I also don't have freshmen in my memory who left after their freshman year.  I give up.

ADLER Grand Master

ADLER

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)

The player's name was Raymond Klein "Buddy" Parker was born in the tiny west Texas town of Slaton, Texas.

Parker grew up in Kemp, Texas, just south of Dallas, and played collegiately in 1931 for North Texas under coach Jack Sisco and then for Centenary College in Louisiana for three years beginning in 1932. Parker then signed with the Lions as a fullback in 1935, and during his first season, he helped the team capture the NFL championship. After one more year in the Motor City, he was traded to the Cardinals and spent the next seven seasons with Chicago, also seeing time on defense as a linebacker and defensive back. During the latter two years, he added the duties of backfield coach before becoming a full-time assistant in 1945.

Buddy Parker - Wikipedia

See the source image

In 1947, the Cardinals captured their second (and only undisputed) NFL title, then lost in a blizzard in the following year's championship clash at Philadelphia. On February 3, 1949, he and Phil Handler were named co-head coaches of the Cardinals, replacing Jimmy Conzelman, who had left to work for a local advertising agency. The unique arrangement, which had Parker handling the offense and Handler the defense, quickly proved to be unworkable, and Handler was returned to the front office on October 25 with the Cardinals sporting a 2-4 record.

In the season's final six games, Parker's team won four games, but a 52-20 loss to the crosstown Bears was quickly followed by Parker's surprising resignation on December 11. Publicly he stated, "I'm tired of being a head coach. The duties are too demanding", but Parker also reportedly was upset with his uncertain job status.

After first reconsidering his abrupt departure, Parker then signed as backfield coach of the Lions January 21, 1950. However, after head coach Bo McMillin found himself in continuous battles with players during the ensuing campaign, he resigned on December 19, with Parker being promoted to the top job the following day.

Parker and quarterback Bobby Layne would popularize what became known as the two-minute offense, which allowed a team's offense to quickly move down the field late in a game. In Parker's first year, he led the team to a 7-4-1 record, good for a second place tie in the Western Conference. While the record was slightly better than average, he began bringing in the talent that would turn the team into a dominant force over the next few years.

Parker's superstitions also became legendary, with none of his players ever wearing the number 13, and the team always staying at the Chicago Hilton hotel when playing either the Bears or Cardinals. That choice of lodging changed after the team was placed one year on the 13th floor and lost.

The 1952 NFL season saw the Lions defeat the Los Angeles Rams in a divisional playoff on December 21, then use a strong defensive effort to defeat the injury-plagued Cleveland Browns on the road by a 17-7 score. In 1953, the two teams again met for the title, with some late heroics by Layne and Jim Doran helping to squeeze out a 17-16 thriller in the December 27th game.

Putting together a 9-2-1 mark in 1954, the Lions and Browns met for the third straight year, but this time, Cleveland battered Detroit by a 56-10 score. The after-effects of the result lasted throughout the following year, when retirement and injuries plunged the Lions to a 3-9 last-place finish. Parker was able to make another run for the title in 1956, but the Lions dropped the season finale to the Bears, the key play coming when Layne was knocked out of the game with a concussion from a hit behind the play that Parker felt was both cheap and illegal.

On July 26, 1957, Parker obtained quarterback Tobin Rote, a prescient move that would help the team when Layne broke his ankle and Rote then led the Lions to their third championship in six years. However, Parker would not be around to enjoy the championship season after stunning the football world by resigning on August 12 during the team's preseason training camp dinner. In front of a large audience which expected him to deliver a keynote speech, Parker instead informed the audience that he was quitting. George Plimpton wrote of this incident in his 1966 best-seller Paper Lion. In his resignation Parker cited an inability to control his players, but his struggle in obtaining a two-year contract from Lions' management also likely played a role.

After first reports had him replacing Baltimore Colts head coach Weeb Ewbank, Parker would instead take over the Steelers on August 27, signing a five-year contract. During his first season, Parker led the team to a 6-6 mark and began making countless trades that left the team with few top draft choices over the next six years.

During the 1958 preseason, Parker attempted to get the players' attention by cutting five veterans, including Billy Wells, the team's leading rusher the previous season. He also reunited with Layne, trading for the signal caller on October 6. The price (quarterback Earl Morrall and two first round draft picks) was steep, but the immediate impact was evident: the team improved to 7-4-1, the team's best record in a decade.

The next two years, the Steelers managed to compete at a .500 level, but dropped to 6-8 in 1961. The next year, the team finished second in the Eastern Conference with a 9-5 mark, then came within one game of competing in the 1963 NFL championship game before falling to the New York Giants. During the latter year, the team challenged despite the retirement of Layne and the tragic off-season death of Eugene "Big Daddy" Lipscomb.

The aging team then began a decline that would continue until the arrival of Chuck Noll in 1969. During the 1964 NFL season, Parker's team finished 5-9, but Parker signed a three-year deal on January 22, 1965, saying that the team was not that far away from a championship. He would change his mind when the team dropped its first four exhibition games, and repeated history by resigning on September 5, reportedly telling team owner Art Rooney, "I can't win with this bunch of stiffs."

Throughout his coaching career, Parker went 104-75-9, with a .577 winning percentage, while going 3-1 in the postseason. He is one of 43 NFL coaches to have over 100 coaching regular season victories. The Professional Football Researchers Association named Parker to the PRFA Hall of Very Good Class of 2008.

In 2020, he was named a coaching finalist for the first time as a part of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's "Centennial Slate." He was again up for the class of 2021, but was among the coaches part of the final cut.

Team Year Regular season Post season
Won Lost Ties Win % Finish Won Lost Win % Result
CHI 1949 6 5 1 .545 3rd in NFL Western Division - - - -
CHI Total 6 5 1 .545   0 0 .000 -
DET 1951 7 4 1 .636 2nd in National Conference - - - -
DET 1952 9 3 0 .750 1st in National Conference 2 0 1.000 Won National Conference Playoff over Los Angeles Rams
Won NFL Championship over Cleveland Browns
DET 1953 10 2 0 .833 1st in Western Conference 1 0 1.000 Won NFL Championship over Cleveland Browns
DET 1954 9 2 1 .818 1st in Western Conference 0 1 .000 Lost NFL Championship to Cleveland Browns
DET 1955 3 9 0 .636 6th in Western Conference - - - -
DET 1956 9 3 0 .750 2nd in Western Conference - - - -
DET Total 47 23 2 .671   3 1 .750  
PIT 1957 6 6 0 .500 3rd in Eastern Conference - - - -
PIT 1958 7 4 1 .625 3rd in Eastern Conference - - - -
PIT 1959 6 6 0 .500 4th in Eastern Conference - - - -
PIT 1960 5 6 1 .458 5th in Eastern Conference - - - -
PIT 1961 6 8 0 .429 5th in Eastern Conference - - - -
PIT 1962 9 5 0 .643 2nd in Eastern Conference - - - -
PIT 1963 7 4 3 .636 4th in Eastern Conference - - - -
PIT 1964 5 9 0 .357 6th in Eastern Conference - - - -
PIT Total 51 47 6 .520   0 0 .000 -
Total 104 75 9 .581   3 1 .750

fit-1280x720-000.jpg

Buddy Parker is buried in Kemp Cemetary south of Dallas. Kemp Cemetary

And Buddy Parker is descended from those pesky historical Parkers and Plummers from the old Fort Parker massacre, a family who's descendants includes Bonnie Parker, Fess Parker, Quanah Parker, and our very own PlummMeanGreen.

 

.

Edited by ADLER
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GrayEagle Veteran

GrayEagle

Posted
Posted

I have known of Buddy Parker and his Detroit Lions but didn't know that he played at North Texas or even at Centenary.  The one thing that threw me off is that my understanding is that Odus Mitchell was born in Killeen but grew up in West Texas (Slaton is just outside of Lubbock so that might be his early residence). 

  • Upvote 1
wardly Grand Master

wardly

Posted
Posted
18 hours ago, ADLER said:

The player's name was Raymond Klein "Buddy" Parker was born in the tiny west Texas town of Slaton, Texas.

Parker grew up in Kemp, Texas, just south of Dallas, and played collegiately in 1931 for North Texas under coach Jack Sisco and then for Centenary College in Louisiana for three years beginning in 1932. Parker then signed with the Lions as a fullback in 1935, and during his first season, he helped the team capture the NFL championship. After one more year in the Motor City, he was traded to the Cardinals and spent the next seven seasons with Chicago, also seeing time on defense as a linebacker and defensive back. During the latter two years, he added the duties of backfield coach before becoming a full-time assistant in 1945.

Buddy Parker - Wikipedia

See the source image

In 1947, the Cardinals captured their second (and only undisputed) NFL title, then lost in a blizzard in the following year's championship clash at Philadelphia. On February 3, 1949, he and Phil Handler were named co-head coaches of the Cardinals, replacing Jimmy Conzelman, who had left to work for a local advertising agency. The unique arrangement, which had Parker handling the offense and Handler the defense, quickly proved to be unworkable, and Handler was returned to the front office on October 25 with the Cardinals sporting a 2-4 record.

In the season's final six games, Parker's team won four games, but a 52-20 loss to the crosstown Bears was quickly followed by Parker's surprising resignation on December 11. Publicly he stated, "I'm tired of being a head coach. The duties are too demanding", but Parker also reportedly was upset with his uncertain job status.

After first reconsidering his abrupt departure, Parker then signed as backfield coach of the Lions January 21, 1950. However, after head coach Bo McMillin found himself in continuous battles with players during the ensuing campaign, he resigned on December 19, with Parker being promoted to the top job the following day.

Parker and quarterback Bobby Layne would popularize what became known as the two-minute offense, which allowed a team's offense to quickly move down the field late in a game. In Parker's first year, he led the team to a 7-4-1 record, good for a second place tie in the Western Conference. While the record was slightly better than average, he began bringing in the talent that would turn the team into a dominant force over the next few years.

Parker's superstitions also became legendary, with none of his players ever wearing the number 13, and the team always staying at the Chicago Hilton hotel when playing either the Bears or Cardinals. That choice of lodging changed after the team was placed one year on the 13th floor and lost.

The 1952 NFL season saw the Lions defeat the Los Angeles Rams in a divisional playoff on December 21, then use a strong defensive effort to defeat the injury-plagued Cleveland Browns on the road by a 17-7 score. In 1953, the two teams again met for the title, with some late heroics by Layne and Jim Doran helping to squeeze out a 17-16 thriller in the December 27th game.

Putting together a 9-2-1 mark in 1954, the Lions and Browns met for the third straight year, but this time, Cleveland battered Detroit by a 56-10 score. The after-effects of the result lasted throughout the following year, when retirement and injuries plunged the Lions to a 3-9 last-place finish. Parker was able to make another run for the title in 1956, but the Lions dropped the season finale to the Bears, the key play coming when Layne was knocked out of the game with a concussion from a hit behind the play that Parker felt was both cheap and illegal.

On July 26, 1957, Parker obtained quarterback Tobin Rote, a prescient move that would help the team when Layne broke his ankle and Rote then led the Lions to their third championship in six years. However, Parker would not be around to enjoy the championship season after stunning the football world by resigning on August 12 during the team's preseason training camp dinner. In front of a large audience which expected him to deliver a keynote speech, Parker instead informed the audience that he was quitting. George Plimpton wrote of this incident in his 1966 best-seller Paper Lion. In his resignation Parker cited an inability to control his players, but his struggle in obtaining a two-year contract from Lions' management also likely played a role.

After first reports had him replacing Baltimore Colts head coach Weeb Ewbank, Parker would instead take over the Steelers on August 27, signing a five-year contract. During his first season, Parker led the team to a 6-6 mark and began making countless trades that left the team with few top draft choices over the next six years.

During the 1958 preseason, Parker attempted to get the players' attention by cutting five veterans, including Billy Wells, the team's leading rusher the previous season. He also reunited with Layne, trading for the signal caller on October 6. The price (quarterback Earl Morrall and two first round draft picks) was steep, but the immediate impact was evident: the team improved to 7-4-1, the team's best record in a decade.

The next two years, the Steelers managed to compete at a .500 level, but dropped to 6-8 in 1961. The next year, the team finished second in the Eastern Conference with a 9-5 mark, then came within one game of competing in the 1963 NFL championship game before falling to the New York Giants. During the latter year, the team challenged despite the retirement of Layne and the tragic off-season death of Eugene "Big Daddy" Lipscomb.

The aging team then began a decline that would continue until the arrival of Chuck Noll in 1969. During the 1964 NFL season, Parker's team finished 5-9, but Parker signed a three-year deal on January 22, 1965, saying that the team was not that far away from a championship. He would change his mind when the team dropped its first four exhibition games, and repeated history by resigning on September 5, reportedly telling team owner Art Rooney, "I can't win with this bunch of stiffs."

Throughout his coaching career, Parker went 104-75-9, with a .577 winning percentage, while going 3-1 in the postseason. He is one of 43 NFL coaches to have over 100 coaching regular season victories. The Professional Football Researchers Association named Parker to the PRFA Hall of Very Good Class of 2008.

In 2020, he was named a coaching finalist for the first time as a part of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's "Centennial Slate." He was again up for the class of 2021, but was among the coaches part of the final cut.

Team Year Regular season Post season
Won Lost Ties Win % Finish Won Lost Win % Result
CHI 1949 6 5 1 .545 3rd in NFL Western Division - - - -
CHI Total 6 5 1 .545   0 0 .000 -
DET 1951 7 4 1 .636 2nd in National Conference - - - -
DET 1952 9 3 0 .750 1st in National Conference 2 0 1.000 Won National Conference Playoff over Los Angeles Rams
Won NFL Championship over Cleveland Browns
DET 1953 10 2 0 .833 1st in Western Conference 1 0 1.000 Won NFL Championship over Cleveland Browns
DET 1954 9 2 1 .818 1st in Western Conference 0 1 .000 Lost NFL Championship to Cleveland Browns
DET 1955 3 9 0 .636 6th in Western Conference - - - -
DET 1956 9 3 0 .750 2nd in Western Conference - - - -
DET Total 47 23 2 .671   3 1 .750  
PIT 1957 6 6 0 .500 3rd in Eastern Conference - - - -
PIT 1958 7 4 1 .625 3rd in Eastern Conference - - - -
PIT 1959 6 6 0 .500 4th in Eastern Conference - - - -
PIT 1960 5 6 1 .458 5th in Eastern Conference - - - -
PIT 1961 6 8 0 .429 5th in Eastern Conference - - - -
PIT 1962 9 5 0 .643 2nd in Eastern Conference - - - -
PIT 1963 7 4 3 .636 4th in Eastern Conference - - - -
PIT 1964 5 9 0 .357 6th in Eastern Conference - - - -
PIT Total 51 47 6 .520   0 0 .000 -
Total 104 75 9 .581   3 1 .750

fit-1280x720-000.jpg

Buddy Parker is buried in Kemp Cemetary south of Dallas. Kemp Cemetary

And Buddy Parker is descended from those pesky historical Parkers and Plummers from the old Fort Parker massacre, a family who's descendants includes Bonnie Parker, Fess Parker, Quanah Parker, and our very own PlummMeanGreen.

 

.

You have way too much time on your hands.

  • Haha 2
ADLER Grand Master

ADLER

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Maybe, but I do enjoy lightly researching these North Texas history.

I also thought that the 75th anniversary of the culmination of one of our most important seasons, a coach against all odds, a ragtag team of unrecruited players, and the subsequent monumental bowl victory were getting overlooked by our athletic department and by our local media.

It's Bad News Bears, Necessary Roughness, 12 Mighty Orphans, and Rocky I & 2 all mixed into one amazing season. It's our Greatest Generation, depleted by WWII , returning to Americana, and it's the beginning of a tiny regional teachers college, already known in the sports world for golf and track, evolving and forging a national name for itself in football.

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