Chuck Fairbanks
Encyclopedia
Chuck Fairbanks is a former American football
coach, a head coach at the high school
, collegiate
and professional levels. The offensive and defensive systems he introduced and helped develop have proven influential in the NFL
.
in 1955, following three years of football with the Spartans
. That fall he began the first of three years as head coach of Ishpeming High School
in Michigan
.
, spending four years there under head coach Frank Kush
, before moving on for another four-year stint at Houston
under head coach Bill Yeoman
from 1962 to 1965. In 1966, he accepted an assistant coaching position at Oklahoma
.
. Over the next six years, Fairbanks led the team to three Big Eight Conference
titles, with 11–1 records during his final two seasons. Three months after Fairbanks mid-contract departure to the New England Patriots
, Oklahoma was forced to forfeit nine games from the 1972 campaign
after evidence of recruiting violations involving altered transcripts of student-athletes was found. Fairbanks denied knowledge of the situation. The scandal under his watch prevented the Sooners from playing in bowl games for two years after his departure and also kept them from challenging for the national championship
. Despite the probation, the Sooners, under his successor Barry Switzer
, won two national titles in 1974 and 1975.
. His first NFL Draft in 1973
saw the selection of John Hannah, Sam Cunningham
, Ray Hamilton
, and Darryl Stingley
, the first of a solid run of drafts through Fairbanks' tenure with the team. The 1973 season was a 5–9 campaign. 1974 was marred by a league-wide players' strike during training camp and preseason, which actually helped the Patriots as Fairbanks and defensive coordinator Hank Bullough
were installing a new system (today known as the Fairbanks-Bullough 3–4
, or the 3–4 two-gap system) and with so many players who were not part of the NFLPA at the time, a great deal of training was accomplished, with eighteen first-year players making the roster. The Patriots stormed to a 6–1 start before other teams caught up; they finished 7–7. Fairbanks then had a falling out with quarterback Jim Plunkett
, who was traded for important draft picks to San Francisco
, and suffered when hardball negotiating tactics by Patriots ownership led to a team-wide player strike that cancelled a preseason game with the New York Jets
. The team never recovered en route to a 3–11 season, but an important seed for the future was planted as Fairbanks had drafted quarterback Steve Grogan
and Grogan got his first serious game action in 1975.
Fairbanks' Patriots erupted to 11–3 in 1976, a reversal of the 3–11 mark from the year before, and took on the 13–1 Oakland Raiders
in the first round of the NFL playoffs
. New England led 21–10 entering the fourth quarter, but a controversial roughing the passer call by referee Ben Dreith
wiped out a late incompletion by the Raiders, and Raider quarterback Ken Stabler
's dive into the end zone with eight seconds remaining gave Oakland the comeback victory. Replays subsequently showed that the Patriots' Ray Hamilton
made no illegal contact. The call was condemned for years thereafter and remained a bitter experience for the Patriots organization.
In 1977, contract squabbles with offensive linemen John Hannah and Leon Gray
resulted in discord within the team. The incident soured Fairbanks on Chuck Sullivan, who as the eldest son of team owner Billy Sullivan
controlled the team's finances and had forced Fairbanks to renege on his proposed contracts with Hannah and Gray. Hannah, denied Fairbanks' promised contract by the ownership team, later argued the Sullivans "took Chuck's authority away and turned him into a liar."
The following year, his division-champion Patriots seemed poised to challenge for a Super Bowl
berth, but just prior to the final regular season game, Sullivan suspended Fairbanks for again breaking a contract by agreeing to serve as head coach at the University of Colorado
beginning in 1979. Fairbanks was reinstated for the team's first playoff game (and the franchise's first-ever playoff game at home), but the second-seeded Patriots lost 31–14 to the fifth-seed Houston Oilers
.
Unwilling to let him leave with as few consequences for his actions as had the Sooners, New England sued Fairbanks for breach of contract. During discovery
for the suit, Fairbanks admitted recruiting for Colorado while still working for the Patriots. The Patriots won an injunction preventing Fairbanks from leaving. However, on April 2, 1979, a group of Colorado boosters bought out Fairbanks' contract, allowing him to leave the Patriots. Paul Zimmerman
, Sports Illustrated
's dean of professional football writers, has speculated that the animus surrounding Fairbanks departure from New England stemmed from the fact that, unlike the late-season departure of New York Jets
coach Lou Holtz
for Arkansas
in 1976, "no one" felt Fairbanks "was a really nice guy."
Fairbanks has been routinely and incorrectly credited for a color switch from black to blue football uniforms in his final season of 1981, which proved unpopular. The color change was mandated by CU's Board of Regents to reflect "the Colorado sky at 9,000 feet," but did not gain support. The school's official colors are silver and gold. A darker shade of blue was introduced in 1984, and black jerseys were worn for the Oklahoma
and Nebraska
games in Boulder. The black jerseys officially returned in 1985.
of the fledgling USFL
.
Even before coaching his first game in the new league, Fairbanks once again found himself immersed in controversy. Georgia
junior Herschel Walker
, the reigning Heisman Trophy
winner, signed with the Generals on February 23, 1983, violating the NCAA
's then-unwritten rule to not sign players before they had completed their eligibility.
His time at the helm in New Jersey, like his tenure at Colorado, was met with little success on the field as the Generals finished the 1983 USFL season
with a 6–12 record. The poor showing led to Fairbanks' firing. The innovative but scandal-marred coach never again served as either a college or professional coach, but instead worked in the real estate and Golf Course Development Business that included the development of PGA WEST and many other successful California and Arizona communities.
(under Coach Bill Parcells
and Tom Coughlin
), the Pittsburgh Steelers
(under Bill Cowher
) and the New England New England Patriots
(under Bill Belichick
).
In a 2007 press conference, Belichick said the following of Fairbanks: "I think Chuck has had a tremendous influence on the league as well as this organization in terms of nomenclature and terminology and those kinds of things. I'm sure Chuck could walk in and look at our playbook and probably 80 percent of the plays are the same terminology that he used - whether it be formations or coverages or pass protections. We were sitting there talking yesterday and he was saying, 'How much 60 protection are you guys using? How much 80 are you using?' All of the stuff that was really the fundamentals of his system are still in place here even, again, to the way we call formations and plays and coverages and some of our individual calls within a call, a certain adjustment or things that Red (Miller) and Hank (Bullough) and Ron (Erhardt) and those guys used when they were here."
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
coach, a head coach at the high school
High school football
High school football, in North America, refers to the game of football as it is played in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both of these nations....
, collegiate
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
and professional levels. The offensive and defensive systems he introduced and helped develop have proven influential in the NFL
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
.
Early career
Fairbanks graduated from Michigan StateMichigan State University
Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...
in 1955, following three years of football with the Spartans
Michigan State Spartans football
The Michigan State Spartans football program represents Michigan State University in college football as members of the Big Ten Conference at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level...
. That fall he began the first of three years as head coach of Ishpeming High School
Ishpeming, Michigan
Ishpeming is a city in Marquette County in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 6,686 at the 2000 census. This is down from a higher population in the 1950s and 1960s when the economically supportive iron ore mines had a much higher employment level...
in Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
.
College assistant
In 1958, he accepted an assistant coaching position at Arizona StateArizona State Sun Devils football
The Arizona State Sun Devils' football program represents Arizona State University in college football, and competes in NCAA Division I FBS as a member of the Pacific-12 Conference....
, spending four years there under head coach Frank Kush
Frank Kush
Frank Joseph Kush is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at Arizona State University from 1958 to 1979, compiling a record of 176–54–1...
, before moving on for another four-year stint at Houston
Houston Cougars football
The Houston Cougars football program is an NCAA Division I FBS football team that represents the University of Houston. The team is commonly referred to as "Houston" or "UH" . The UH football program is currently a member of the Conference USA intercollegiate athletic conference, and is coached by...
under head coach Bill Yeoman
Bill Yeoman
Bill Yeoman is a former American football player and coach in the United States. Starting in 1962, he was the University of Houston's head coach, holding the position through 1986. In his tenure, he became the winningest coach in school history, with an overall record of 160–108–8...
from 1962 to 1965. In 1966, he accepted an assistant coaching position at Oklahoma
Oklahoma Sooners football
The Oklahoma Sooners football program is a college football team that represents the University of Oklahoma . The team is currently a member of the Big 12 Conference, which is a Division I Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association...
.
Head coach
Following the sudden death of Sooner head coach Jim Mackenzie in April 1967, Fairbanks was promoted to head coach of the Oklahoma SoonersOklahoma Sooners football
The Oklahoma Sooners football program is a college football team that represents the University of Oklahoma . The team is currently a member of the Big 12 Conference, which is a Division I Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association...
. Over the next six years, Fairbanks led the team to three Big Eight Conference
Big Eight Conference
The Big Eight Conference, a former NCAA-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football, was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association by its charter member schools: the University of Kansas, University of Missouri, University...
titles, with 11–1 records during his final two seasons. Three months after Fairbanks mid-contract departure to the New England Patriots
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...
, Oklahoma was forced to forfeit nine games from the 1972 campaign
1972 Oklahoma Sooners football team
The 1972 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma in the college football 1972 NCAA Division I-A season. Oklahoma Sooners football participated in the former Big Eight Conference at that time and played its home games in Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium where...
after evidence of recruiting violations involving altered transcripts of student-athletes was found. Fairbanks denied knowledge of the situation. The scandal under his watch prevented the Sooners from playing in bowl games for two years after his departure and also kept them from challenging for the national championship
NCAA Division I FBS National Football Championship
A college football national championship in the highest level of collegiate play in the United States, currently the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision , is a designation awarded annually by various third-party organizations to their selection of the best...
. Despite the probation, the Sooners, under his successor Barry Switzer
Barry Switzer
Barry Switzer is a former football coach, active in the college and professional ranks between 1962 and 1997. He has one of the highest winning percentages of any college football coach in history, and is one of only two head coaches to win both a college football national championship and a...
, won two national titles in 1974 and 1975.
NFL
On January 26, 1973, Fairbanks was named head coach of the New England PatriotsNew England Patriots
The New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...
. His first NFL Draft in 1973
1973 NFL Draft
The 1973 National Football League Draft was held on January 30–31, 1973.-Player selections:-Round one:-Round two:-Round three:-Round four:-Round five:-Round six:-Round seven:-Round eight:-Round nine:-Round ten:...
saw the selection of John Hannah, Sam Cunningham
Sam Cunningham
Samuel Lewis "Sam" Cunningham, Jr is a retired American football fullback. The media referred to him as Sam "Bam" Cunningham.-College career:...
, Ray Hamilton
Ray Hamilton
Ray "Sugar Bear" Hamilton is a former American football player from 1973 through 1981 for the New England Patriots, and the current defensive line coach for the NFL's Atlanta Falcons...
, and Darryl Stingley
Darryl Stingley
Darryl Floyd Stingley was an American professional football wide receiver whose career was cut short by an injury. He played his entire career with the New England Patriots of the National Football League. He died from heart disease and pneumonia complicated by quadriplegia.-Early life:Stingley...
, the first of a solid run of drafts through Fairbanks' tenure with the team. The 1973 season was a 5–9 campaign. 1974 was marred by a league-wide players' strike during training camp and preseason, which actually helped the Patriots as Fairbanks and defensive coordinator Hank Bullough
Hank Bullough
Henry Charles "Hank" Bullough is a former American Football player and coach. He played college football at Michigan State and graduated in 1954. Bullough was a starting guard for the Spartans team that won the 1952 Rose Bowl...
were installing a new system (today known as the Fairbanks-Bullough 3–4
New England Patriots strategy
The New England Patriots employ a variety of strategies during play. Since the arrival of head coach Bill Belichick in 2000, the Patriots have utilized an "Erhardt-Perkins" offense and a "Fairbanks-Bullough" 3-4 defense, referred to commonly as a 2-gap 3-4 defensive system.However, in 2011, the...
, or the 3–4 two-gap system) and with so many players who were not part of the NFLPA at the time, a great deal of training was accomplished, with eighteen first-year players making the roster. The Patriots stormed to a 6–1 start before other teams caught up; they finished 7–7. Fairbanks then had a falling out with quarterback Jim Plunkett
Jim Plunkett
James William "Jim" Plunkett is a former American football quarterback who played college football for Stanford University, where he won the Heisman Trophy, and professionally for three National Football League teams: the New England Patriots, San Francisco 49ers and Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders. ...
, who was traded for important draft picks to San Francisco
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and...
, and suffered when hardball negotiating tactics by Patriots ownership led to a team-wide player strike that cancelled a preseason game with the New York Jets
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
. The team never recovered en route to a 3–11 season, but an important seed for the future was planted as Fairbanks had drafted quarterback Steve Grogan
Steve Grogan
Steve James Grogan is a former American football quarterback for the New England Patriots of the National Football League. Grogan played for the Patriots for his entire NFL career, from 1975 to 1990.-High school and college:...
and Grogan got his first serious game action in 1975.
Fairbanks' Patriots erupted to 11–3 in 1976, a reversal of the 3–11 mark from the year before, and took on the 13–1 Oakland Raiders
Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
in the first round of the NFL playoffs
NFL playoffs
The National Football League playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held at the end of the regular season to determine the NFL champion. Six teams from each of the league's two conferences qualify for the playoffs based on regular season records, and a tie-breaking procedure exists in the...
. New England led 21–10 entering the fourth quarter, but a controversial roughing the passer call by referee Ben Dreith
Ben Dreith
Ben Dreith is a former American professional football on-field official who worked from 1960 to 1969 in the American Football League and from 1970 to 1990 in the NFL. Prior to his teaching and officiating career, he was a three-sport athlete at the University of Northern Colorado.Dreith developed...
wiped out a late incompletion by the Raiders, and Raider quarterback Ken Stabler
Ken Stabler
Kenneth "Kenny" Michael Stabler , is a former American football quarterback in the NFL for the Oakland Raiders , the Houston Oilers , and the New Orleans Saints...
's dive into the end zone with eight seconds remaining gave Oakland the comeback victory. Replays subsequently showed that the Patriots' Ray Hamilton
Ray Hamilton
Ray "Sugar Bear" Hamilton is a former American football player from 1973 through 1981 for the New England Patriots, and the current defensive line coach for the NFL's Atlanta Falcons...
made no illegal contact. The call was condemned for years thereafter and remained a bitter experience for the Patriots organization.
In 1977, contract squabbles with offensive linemen John Hannah and Leon Gray
Leon Gray
Leon Gray was an American football tackle in the National Football League for the New England Patriots, Houston Oilers, and the New Orleans Saints. Gray played college football at Jackson State University.-Early life:...
resulted in discord within the team. The incident soured Fairbanks on Chuck Sullivan, who as the eldest son of team owner Billy Sullivan
Billy Sullivan (American football)
William Hallissey "Billy" Sullivan, Jr. was an American businessman who owned the Boston Patriots franchise from their inception in the American Football League until their sale, as the New England Patriots of the NFL, to Victor Kiam in 1988.-Early life:Sullivan was born in Lowell, Massachusetts...
controlled the team's finances and had forced Fairbanks to renege on his proposed contracts with Hannah and Gray. Hannah, denied Fairbanks' promised contract by the ownership team, later argued the Sullivans "took Chuck's authority away and turned him into a liar."
The following year, his division-champion Patriots seemed poised to challenge for a Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
berth, but just prior to the final regular season game, Sullivan suspended Fairbanks for again breaking a contract by agreeing to serve as head coach at the University of Colorado
Colorado Buffaloes football
The Colorado Buffaloes football program represents the University of Colorado at Boulder in college football at the NCAA Division I FBS level. The team is currently a member of the Pacific-12 Conference, having previously been a charter member of the Big 12 Conference. Before joining the Big 12,...
beginning in 1979. Fairbanks was reinstated for the team's first playoff game (and the franchise's first-ever playoff game at home), but the second-seeded Patriots lost 31–14 to the fifth-seed Houston Oilers
Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. They are members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Previously known as the Houston Oilers, the team began play in 1960 as a charter...
.
Unwilling to let him leave with as few consequences for his actions as had the Sooners, New England sued Fairbanks for breach of contract. During discovery
Discovery (law)
In U.S.law, discovery is the pre-trial phase in a lawsuit in which each party, through the law of civil procedure, can obtain evidence from the opposing party by means of discovery devices including requests for answers to interrogatories, requests for production of documents, requests for...
for the suit, Fairbanks admitted recruiting for Colorado while still working for the Patriots. The Patriots won an injunction preventing Fairbanks from leaving. However, on April 2, 1979, a group of Colorado boosters bought out Fairbanks' contract, allowing him to leave the Patriots. Paul Zimmerman
Paul Zimmerman
Paul Lionel Zimmerman is the son of Charles S. Zimmerman and Rose Zimmerman. Zimmerman, also known to readers as "Dr. Z", is an American football sportswriter who wrote for the weekly magazine Sports Illustrated, as well as the magazine's website, SI.com. He is sometimes confused with Paul D...
, Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
's dean of professional football writers, has speculated that the animus surrounding Fairbanks departure from New England stemmed from the fact that, unlike the late-season departure of New York Jets
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
coach Lou Holtz
Lou Holtz
Louis Leo "Lou" Holtz is a retired American football coach, and active sportscaster, author, and motivational speaker in the United States...
for Arkansas
Arkansas Razorbacks football
The Arkansas Razorbacks football program is a college football team that represents the University of Arkansas. The team is a member of the Southeastern Conference's Western Division, which is in Division I's Football Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association...
in 1976, "no one" felt Fairbanks "was a really nice guy."
Return to collegiate ranks
The struggles in obtaining Fairbanks would not be worth the effort when he compiled a dismal 7–26 record in three seasons for Colorado (3–8, 1–10, 3–8).Fairbanks has been routinely and incorrectly credited for a color switch from black to blue football uniforms in his final season of 1981, which proved unpopular. The color change was mandated by CU's Board of Regents to reflect "the Colorado sky at 9,000 feet," but did not gain support. The school's official colors are silver and gold. A darker shade of blue was introduced in 1984, and black jerseys were worn for the Oklahoma
Oklahoma Sooners football
The Oklahoma Sooners football program is a college football team that represents the University of Oklahoma . The team is currently a member of the Big 12 Conference, which is a Division I Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association...
and Nebraska
Nebraska Cornhuskers football
The Nebraska Cornhuskers represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in college football. The program has established itself as a traditional powerhouse, and has the fourth-most all-time victories of any NCAA Division I-A team. Nebraska is one of only six football programs in NCAA Division I-A...
games in Boulder. The black jerseys officially returned in 1985.
USFL
Fairbanks resigned from CU on June 1, 1982 to accept the head coaching position with the New Jersey GeneralsNew Jersey Generals
The New Jersey Generals were a franchise of the United States Football League established in 1982 to begin play in the spring and summer of 1983. The team played three seasons from 1983-85, winning 31 regular-season games and losing 25 while going 0-2 in postseason competition...
of the fledgling USFL
United States Football League
The United States Football League was an American football league which was in active operation from 1983 to 1987. It played a spring/summer schedule in its first three seasons and a traditional autumn/winter schedule was set to commence before league operations ceased.The USFL was conceived in...
.
Even before coaching his first game in the new league, Fairbanks once again found himself immersed in controversy. Georgia
Georgia Bulldogs football
The Georgia Bulldogs football team represents the University of Georgia in football. The Bulldogs are a member of the Southeastern Conference and are frequently a top-25 team. The University of Georgia has had a football team since 1892 and has an all-time record of 738–398–54...
junior Herschel Walker
Herschel Walker
Herschel Junior Walker is an American mixed martial artist and a former American football player. He played college football for the University of Georgia Bulldogs and earned the 1982 Heisman Trophy. He began his professional career with the New Jersey Generals of the United States Football League...
, the reigning Heisman Trophy
Heisman Trophy
The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , is awarded annually to the player deemed the most outstanding player in collegiate football. It was created in 1935 as the Downtown Athletic Club trophy and renamed in 1936 following the death of the Club's athletic director, John Heisman The Heisman Memorial...
winner, signed with the Generals on February 23, 1983, violating the NCAA
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
's then-unwritten rule to not sign players before they had completed their eligibility.
His time at the helm in New Jersey, like his tenure at Colorado, was met with little success on the field as the Generals finished the 1983 USFL season
1983 USFL season
-Regular season:W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT= Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against = Division Champion, = Wild CardThe 1983 USFL season was the inaugural season of the United States Football League.-Regular season:...
with a 6–12 record. The poor showing led to Fairbanks' firing. The innovative but scandal-marred coach never again served as either a college or professional coach, but instead worked in the real estate and Golf Course Development Business that included the development of PGA WEST and many other successful California and Arizona communities.
Legacy
Fairbanks' schemes have influenced many important winning teams in the years following his retirement, among them the New York GiantsNew York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
(under Coach Bill Parcells
Bill Parcells
Duane Charles "Bill" Parcells is a former American football head coach, most recently with the Dallas Cowboys from 2003 to 2006...
and Tom Coughlin
Tom Coughlin
Thomas Richard Coughlin is an American football coach who is currently head coach for the New York Giants of the National Football League . Coughlin has led the Giants to victory in Super Bowl XLII. Coughlin was also the inaugural head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars, serving from 1995–2002 and...
), the Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...
(under Bill Cowher
Bill Cowher
William Laird "Bill" Cowher is a former American football coach and player. Cowher resigned after 15 seasons as the Steelers' coach on January 5, 2007, 11 months to the day after winning 2005–06's Super Bowl XL...
) and the New England New England Patriots
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...
(under Bill Belichick
Bill Belichick
William Stephen "Bill" Belichick is an American football head coach for the New England Patriots of the National Football League. After spending his first 15 seasons in the league as an assistant coach, Belichick got his first head coaching job with the Cleveland Browns in 1991...
).
In a 2007 press conference, Belichick said the following of Fairbanks: "I think Chuck has had a tremendous influence on the league as well as this organization in terms of nomenclature and terminology and those kinds of things. I'm sure Chuck could walk in and look at our playbook and probably 80 percent of the plays are the same terminology that he used - whether it be formations or coverages or pass protections. We were sitting there talking yesterday and he was saying, 'How much 60 protection are you guys using? How much 80 are you using?' All of the stuff that was really the fundamentals of his system are still in place here even, again, to the way we call formations and plays and coverages and some of our individual calls within a call, a certain adjustment or things that Red (Miller) and Hank (Bullough) and Ron (Erhardt) and those guys used when they were here."