Jerry Burns
Encyclopedia
Jerome Monahan "Jerry" Burns (born January 24, 1927) is a former American football
player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Iowa
, from 1961 to 1965, compiling record of 16–27–2, and for the Minnesota Vikings
of the NFL
from 1986 to 1991, tallying a mark of 55–46.
at the University of Michigan
from 1947–1950. Michigan won four consecutive Big Ten Conference
titles when Burns was with the Wolverines. He graduated in February 1951 with a physical education degree.
Burns then began his coaching career. He served as the head baseball coach and assistant football coach with the University of Hawaii
in 1951. Burns left Hawaii to coach at Whittier College
in 1952, where he was the head basketball coach and an assistant football coach. At the beginning of 1953, he left Whittier and took a job as head football and head basketball coach at St. Mary's of Redford High School in Detroit, Michigan
. Following the 1953 football season at St. Mary's, Burns was hired by fellow Michigan alumnus Forest Evashevski
as an assistant coach at the University of Iowa
.
Burns began serving as an assistant coach at Iowa under Evashevski, or "Evy", in 1954. He coached the freshman team for most of 1954 before helping with the varsity squad. He coached the backs (running back
s, quarterbacks, fullbacks
, and defensive back
s) in 1955 and 1956. After the 1956 season, defensive coordinator
Bump Elliott
left to coach at Michigan. Burns was put in charge of the defensive unit, and in his final three years as an assistant, he was in charge of recruiting activities as well.
Burns was placed in a very difficult situation. He was replacing a legend in Evashevski, who compiled a 52–27–4 record in nine years at Iowa. Furthermore, Burns was extremely young to be a head football coach at a Big Ten Conference
university. Before his first game as a college head coach, his 1961 Hawkeye team was named as the preseason number one team in the nation in the AP Poll
.
Iowa defended their lofty ranking by winning their first four games in 1961, but then the Hawks hit a disappointing slide, losing their next four. In their final game of the year, the Hawkeyes defeated Notre Dame, 42–21. It was Iowa's fifth win in six years over the Irish. Iowa finished the season 5–4, their last winning record until 1981.
In 1962, for the only time in school history, Iowa defeated both Michigan
and Ohio State
in the same year. Unfortunately, the Hawkeyes won only two other games and posted a 4–5 final record. Iowa might have posted a winning record in 1963, but the school's final game of the season against Notre Dame was canceled on account of the assassination of John F. Kennedy
. The Hawkeyes finished 1963 with a 3–3–2 record.
A 3–0 start in the 1964 season quickly turned sour, as the Hawkeyes lost their final six games. Burns was now in real danger of being fired, but Iowa had several players returning in 1965, and the Hawkeyes were expected to be very good. Burns was allowed to return in 1965. Before the 1965 season, Playboy Magazine picked Iowa as their preseason number one team in the nation and predicted a 9–1 record for the Hawks. Instead, Iowa finished the year 1–9, and before Iowa's final game that season, it was announced that Burns would not be retained in 1966.
At least publicly, Burns took the firing with a great deal of class. He said, "I want to be emphatic. I hold no ill feelings toward anyone. I hope, I sincerely hope, Iowa has great success in football in the future. If I can contribute to that future, I will." After his final game, his players hoisted him on their shoulders and carried him off the field, despite the loss.
There were those who insisted that Forest Evashevski
wanted to be called back as football coach and that rather than helping Burns to succeed, Evy hampered him with rules and regulations that were not in force when Evy was the coach. But Burns ultimately said, "If we have failed, and we have, I'll take the responsibility for that. It is not the players' fault. They have done the best they can." He had a 16–27–2 record at Iowa.
of the NFL
and served for two years as an assistant coach to Vince Lombardi
in 1966 and 1967 when the Packers won Super Bowl I
and Super Bowl II
. When Lombardi retired after the 1967 season, Burns was hired by Bud Grant
of the Minnesota Vikings
. Grant hired Burns to be his offensive coordinator. Burns served as Minnesota's offensive coordinator for the next 18 years, from 1968–1985. During that time, the Vikings made the playoffs 12 times, won 11 division titles, and played in four Super Bowl
s. Jerry Burns was the original creator of what later became known as the "West Coast Offense".
When Grant retired from coaching in 1985, Burns was named as the fourth head coach of the Minnesota Vikings on January 7, 1986. He coached Minnesota for six years, from 1986 to 1991. Burns compiled a record of 52–43 and led the Vikings to the playoffs three times. He helped the Vikings win the division title in 1989 and led them to the NFC
championship game in 1987. He announced his retirement as head coach on December 4, 1991. On November 5, 1989, Burns gave a profanity laced tirade at a media session where he defended his offensive coordinator, Bob Schnelker, despite the fact that the Vikings' Rich Karlis
kicked a then league record-tying seven field goals.
Burns retired from coaching after the 1991 NFL season
. He has been nominated for the Pro Football Hall of Fame
, but has yet to gain the votes necessary for induction. In 1998, Burns gave the Hall of Fame induction speech for Paul Krause
, a defensive back he coached both at Iowa and with the Vikings.
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...
player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
, from 1961 to 1965, compiling record of 16–27–2, and for the Minnesota Vikings
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League as an expansion team in 1960...
of 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...
from 1986 to 1991, tallying a mark of 55–46.
Playing and early coaching careers
Burns played quarterbackQuarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
at the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
from 1947–1950. Michigan won four consecutive Big Ten Conference
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...
titles when Burns was with the Wolverines. He graduated in February 1951 with a physical education degree.
Burns then began his coaching career. He served as the head baseball coach and assistant football coach with the University of Hawaii
University of Hawaii at Manoa
The University of Hawaii at Mānoa is a public, co-educational university and is the flagship campus of the greater University of Hawaii system...
in 1951. Burns left Hawaii to coach at Whittier College
Whittier College
Whittier College is a private liberal arts college in Whittier, California. As of January 2009, the college has approximately 1540 enrolled students.-Overview:...
in 1952, where he was the head basketball coach and an assistant football coach. At the beginning of 1953, he left Whittier and took a job as head football and head basketball coach at St. Mary's of Redford High School in Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
. Following the 1953 football season at St. Mary's, Burns was hired by fellow Michigan alumnus Forest Evashevski
Forest Evashevski
Forest "Evy" Evashevski was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He played college football at the University of Michigan from 1938 to 1940 and with the Iowa Pre-Flight Seahawks in 1942...
as an assistant coach at the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
.
Burns began serving as an assistant coach at Iowa under Evashevski, or "Evy", in 1954. He coached the freshman team for most of 1954 before helping with the varsity squad. He coached the backs (running back
Running back
A running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...
s, quarterbacks, fullbacks
Fullback (American football)
A fullback is a position in the offensive backfield in American and Canadian football, and is one of the two running back positions along with the halfback...
, and defensive back
Defensive back
In American football and Canadian football, defensive backs are the players on the defensive team who take positions somewhat back from the line of scrimmage; they are distinguished from the defensive line players and linebackers, who take positions directly behind or close to the line of...
s) in 1955 and 1956. After the 1956 season, defensive coordinator
Defensive coordinator
A defensive coordinator typically refers to a coach on a gridiron football team who is in charge of the defense. Generally, along with his offensive counterpart, he represents the second level of command structure after the head coach...
Bump Elliott
Bump Elliott
Chalmers W. "Bump" Elliott is a former American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He played halfback at Purdue University and the University of Michigan...
left to coach at Michigan. Burns was put in charge of the defensive unit, and in his final three years as an assistant, he was in charge of recruiting activities as well.
Iowa head coach
Burns served seven total years as an assistant coach to Evashevski. As part of a deal with Iowa Athletic Board, Evy was appointed as Iowa's athletic director and agreed to appoint his successor as head football coach at Iowa. Evy appointed Burns to succeed him, and Burns became Iowa's 20th head football coach beginning with the 1961 season. He was just 34 years old.Burns was placed in a very difficult situation. He was replacing a legend in Evashevski, who compiled a 52–27–4 record in nine years at Iowa. Furthermore, Burns was extremely young to be a head football coach at a Big Ten Conference
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...
university. Before his first game as a college head coach, his 1961 Hawkeye team was named as the preseason number one team in the nation in the AP Poll
AP Poll
The Associated Press College Poll refers to weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling sportswriters across the nation...
.
Iowa defended their lofty ranking by winning their first four games in 1961, but then the Hawks hit a disappointing slide, losing their next four. In their final game of the year, the Hawkeyes defeated Notre Dame, 42–21. It was Iowa's fifth win in six years over the Irish. Iowa finished the season 5–4, their last winning record until 1981.
In 1962, for the only time in school history, Iowa defeated both Michigan
1962 Michigan Wolverines football team
The 1962 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1962 college football season. The team's head coach was Bump Elliott...
and Ohio State
1962 Ohio State Buckeyes football team
The 1962 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented the Ohio State University in the college football season of 1962-1963. The Buckeyes compiled a 6–3 record.-Schedule:-1963 Pro draftees:-References:Win/Loss statistics*...
in the same year. Unfortunately, the Hawkeyes won only two other games and posted a 4–5 final record. Iowa might have posted a winning record in 1963, but the school's final game of the season against Notre Dame was canceled on account of the assassination of John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy assassination
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas...
. The Hawkeyes finished 1963 with a 3–3–2 record.
A 3–0 start in the 1964 season quickly turned sour, as the Hawkeyes lost their final six games. Burns was now in real danger of being fired, but Iowa had several players returning in 1965, and the Hawkeyes were expected to be very good. Burns was allowed to return in 1965. Before the 1965 season, Playboy Magazine picked Iowa as their preseason number one team in the nation and predicted a 9–1 record for the Hawks. Instead, Iowa finished the year 1–9, and before Iowa's final game that season, it was announced that Burns would not be retained in 1966.
At least publicly, Burns took the firing with a great deal of class. He said, "I want to be emphatic. I hold no ill feelings toward anyone. I hope, I sincerely hope, Iowa has great success in football in the future. If I can contribute to that future, I will." After his final game, his players hoisted him on their shoulders and carried him off the field, despite the loss.
There were those who insisted that Forest Evashevski
Forest Evashevski
Forest "Evy" Evashevski was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He played college football at the University of Michigan from 1938 to 1940 and with the Iowa Pre-Flight Seahawks in 1942...
wanted to be called back as football coach and that rather than helping Burns to succeed, Evy hampered him with rules and regulations that were not in force when Evy was the coach. But Burns ultimately said, "If we have failed, and we have, I'll take the responsibility for that. It is not the players' fault. They have done the best they can." He had a 16–27–2 record at Iowa.
Professional coaching career
Burns was only 38 years of age when he was fired at Iowa. He moved on to the Green Bay PackersGreen Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...
of 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...
and served for two years as an assistant coach to Vince Lombardi
Vince Lombardi
Vincent Thomas "Vince" Lombardi was an American football coach. He is best known as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers during the 1960s, where he led the team to three straight league championships and five in seven years, including winning the first two Super Bowls following the 1966 and...
in 1966 and 1967 when the Packers won Super Bowl I
Super Bowl I
The First AFL-NFL World Championship Game in professional American football, later known as Super Bowl I and referred to in some contemporary reports as the Supergame, was played on January 15, 1967 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California.The National Football League ...
and Super Bowl II
Super Bowl II
The second AFL-NFL World Championship Game in professional American football, later to be known as Super Bowl II, was played on January 14, 1968 at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida....
. When Lombardi retired after the 1967 season, Burns was hired by Bud Grant
Bud Grant
Harry Peter "Bud" Grant, Jr is the former longtime American football head coach of the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League for eighteen seasons. Grant was the second and fourth head coach of the team...
of the Minnesota Vikings
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League as an expansion team in 1960...
. Grant hired Burns to be his offensive coordinator. Burns served as Minnesota's offensive coordinator for the next 18 years, from 1968–1985. During that time, the Vikings made the playoffs 12 times, won 11 division titles, and played in four 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...
s. Jerry Burns was the original creator of what later became known as the "West Coast Offense".
When Grant retired from coaching in 1985, Burns was named as the fourth head coach of the Minnesota Vikings on January 7, 1986. He coached Minnesota for six years, from 1986 to 1991. Burns compiled a record of 52–43 and led the Vikings to the playoffs three times. He helped the Vikings win the division title in 1989 and led them to the NFC
National Football Conference
The National Football Conference is one of the two conferences of the National Football League . This conference and its counterpart, the American Football Conference , currently contain 16 teams each, making up the 32 teams of the NFL.-Current teams:Since 2002, the NFC has comprised 16 teams,...
championship game in 1987. He announced his retirement as head coach on December 4, 1991. On November 5, 1989, Burns gave a profanity laced tirade at a media session where he defended his offensive coordinator, Bob Schnelker, despite the fact that the Vikings' Rich Karlis
Rich Karlis
Richard John Karlis is a former American Football placekicker who played nine seasons for the Denver Broncos, the Minnesota Vikings, and the Detroit Lions in the National Football League from 1982 to 1990...
kicked a then league record-tying seven field goals.
Burns retired from coaching after the 1991 NFL season
1991 NFL season
The 1991 NFL season was the 72nd regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl XXVI when the Washington Redskins defeated the Buffalo Bills....
. He has been nominated for the Pro Football Hall of Fame
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...
, but has yet to gain the votes necessary for induction. In 1998, Burns gave the Hall of Fame induction speech for Paul Krause
Paul Krause
Paul James Krause is a former American football defensive back who played in the National Football League...
, a defensive back he coached both at Iowa and with the Vikings.