Jim Stanley
Encyclopedia
James L. Stanley is a former American football
player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Oklahoma State University–Stillwater
from 1973 to 1978, compiling a record of 35–31–2. Stanley was also the head coach of the USFL
's Michigan Panthers
in 1983 and 1984, their own two years of existence. The Panthers won the USFL Championship in 1983.
Stanley was a three-year starter for Bear Bryant
's Texas A&M Aggies
teams in the 1950s. He was a member of the undefeated 1956 A&M team. He began his coaching career in Amarillo, Texas
, coaching high school football from 1959 to 1960. He served as defensive coordinator at Oklahoma State from 1963 to 1968, before moving to the United States Naval Academy
from 1969 to 1970, and then the Canadian Football League
's Winnipeg Blue Bombers
from 1971 to 1972.
Stanley returned to Stillwater to become the head coach of the Oklahoma State University Cowboys in 1973. He coached at Oklahoma State from 1973 to 1978, amassing a career record of 35–31–2. His Cowboys earned a Fiesta Bowl victory in 1974 and his 1976 team ended the season 9–3 finishing as a Big Eight co-champions on their way to a Tangerine Bowl victory. His success at Oklahoma State earned him many accolades, including being invited to coach three collegiate all-star games: the 1973 East–West Shrine Game, the 1977 Hula Bowl
, and the 1977 Japan Bowl.
In 1978, the Big Eight Conference
instituted an investigation into the Oklahoma State University football program in response to allegations of violations of several NCAA
rules and regulations while Stanley was head coach. Stanley successfully filed suit against the conference to require it to provide various due process protections in its final hearing on the charges. A decade later, however, the United States Supreme Court, in a case involving UNLV coach Jerry Tarkanian
, held that the 14th Amendment
's due process guarantees were not applicable to the NCAA and similar athletic organizations since their investigations do not amount to the requisite action necessary for the constitutional protections to apply.
Stanley served as the defensive line coach for the New York Giants
in 1979 and the Atlanta Falcons
from 1980 to 1982 before moving to the USFL. Stanley was in the running to be the head coach of the USFL's Birmingham Stallions
, but was passed over for Pittsburgh Steelers
offensive line coach Rollie Dotsch
.
Stanley was later signed by the Panthers to serve as their head coach, a position he held in 1983 and 1984. His 1983 team won the league championship after starting off 1–4. Following the poor start, Stanley recognized that his offensive line was too porous to allow rookie QB Bobby Hebert
to succeed and so he lobbied management to bring in some veteran NFL offensive linemen to fill the gaps. Management addressed the issue by signing a bevy of experienced offensive linemen: Tyrone McGriff
and Thom Dornbrook
of the New York Giants
and Ray Pinney
of the Pittsburgh Steelers
. Dornbrook and McGriff made USFL all-league teams in 1983 and Pinney was considered one of the best tackles in the league. The team finished the regular season 11–2 and then ran through the playoffs defeating Jim Mora
's Philadelphia Stars. His 1984 squad looked like a favorite to repeat, going 6–0 to start the season, but then star wide receiver Anthony Carter was lost for the season. That combined with reports of player salary complaints, led the team to struggle, going 4–8 for the remainder of the season. The Panthers were eliminated in the first round by Steve Young's Los Angeles Express, 27–21, in a hard fought, triple-overtime game. It was pro football's longest game and the Panther's last. Stanley finished with a 24–15 record in the USFL.
After the season the majority of USFL owners, led by New Jersey Generals
owner Donald Trump
and Chicago franchise owner Eddie Einhorn
voted to move the league to a fall schedule. Panthers' owner A. Alfred Taubman had no desire to compete head to head with his friend, Detroit Lions
owner William Clay Ford
. Following the vote, the Panthers delegation surprised the league owners and commissioner by announcing the team would be merged with the Oakland Invaders
in a pre-negotiated conditional deal. The new team went with a new head coach, Charlie Sumner
.
Stanley returned to the NFL. He joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
as defensive line coach before moving up to defensive coordinator in 1986. He was a defensive coach for the Houston Oilers for six years before joining the Arizona Cardinals
' player personnel separtment. He retired as the Director of Player Personnel for the Cardinals after serving in that role for 12 years. Stanley was involved in the acquisition of quarterback Kurt Warner
by the Cardinals. Warner's play was key in leading the Cardinals to their first NFL Championship game in decades.
Stanley also served as an assistant coach at Southern Methodist University
and UTEP.
Stanley and his wife, Sylvia, have four children, Mark, Matthew, Rhonda, and Starlyn.
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 Oklahoma State University–Stillwater
Oklahoma State University–Stillwater
Oklahoma State University–Stillwater is a land-grant, sun-grant, coeducational public research university located in Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA. OSU was founded in 1890 under the Morrill Act...
from 1973 to 1978, compiling a record of 35–31–2. Stanley was also the head coach of the 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...
's Michigan Panthers
Michigan Panthers
The Michigan Panthers were a professional American football team that played in the United States Football League in the mid-1980s.-Team history:The Michigan Panthers were named as a charter member of the United States Football League on May 11, 1982....
in 1983 and 1984, their own two years of existence. The Panthers won the USFL Championship in 1983.
Stanley was a three-year starter for Bear Bryant
Bear Bryant
Paul William "Bear" Bryant was an American college football player and coach. He was best known as the longtime head coach of the University of Alabama football team. During his 25-year tenure as Alabama's head coach, he amassed six national championships and thirteen conference championships...
's Texas A&M Aggies
Texas A&M Aggies football
The Texas A&M Aggies football team represents Texas A&M University in college football. The Aggies have competed in the Big 12 Conference since the conference's inception in 1996. They will join the Southeastern Conference in July 2012. Texas A&M football has earned one national title and 18...
teams in the 1950s. He was a member of the undefeated 1956 A&M team. He began his coaching career in Amarillo, Texas
Amarillo, Texas
Amarillo is the 14th-largest city, by population, in the state of Texas, the largest in the Texas Panhandle, and the seat of Potter County. A portion of the city extends into Randall County. The population was 190,695 at the 2010 census...
, coaching high school football from 1959 to 1960. He served as defensive coordinator at Oklahoma State from 1963 to 1968, before moving to the United States Naval Academy
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...
from 1969 to 1970, and then the Canadian Football League
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
's Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League . They play their home games at Canad Inns Stadium, and plan to move to a new stadium for the 2012 season.The Blue Bombers were founded...
from 1971 to 1972.
Stanley returned to Stillwater to become the head coach of the Oklahoma State University Cowboys in 1973. He coached at Oklahoma State from 1973 to 1978, amassing a career record of 35–31–2. His Cowboys earned a Fiesta Bowl victory in 1974 and his 1976 team ended the season 9–3 finishing as a Big Eight co-champions on their way to a Tangerine Bowl victory. His success at Oklahoma State earned him many accolades, including being invited to coach three collegiate all-star games: the 1973 East–West Shrine Game, the 1977 Hula Bowl
Hula Bowl
The Hula Bowl was an independently administered post-season invitational college football game held each year in Hawaii from 1947 to 2008. The game was last played at Aloha Stadium in the Hālawa district of Honolulu, Hawaii. At one point the longest-running sporting event in Hawaii, it had been...
, and the 1977 Japan Bowl.
In 1978, the 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...
instituted an investigation into the Oklahoma State University football program in response to allegations of violations of several 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...
rules and regulations while Stanley was head coach. Stanley successfully filed suit against the conference to require it to provide various due process protections in its final hearing on the charges. A decade later, however, the United States Supreme Court, in a case involving UNLV coach Jerry Tarkanian
Jerry Tarkanian
Jerry Tarkanian , also known as "Tark the Shark", is a retired college basketball coach known as one of the winningest coaches in college basketball history...
, held that the 14th Amendment
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was adopted on July 9, 1868, as one of the Reconstruction Amendments.Its Citizenship Clause provides a broad definition of citizenship that overruled the Dred Scott v...
's due process guarantees were not applicable to the NCAA and similar athletic organizations since their investigations do not amount to the requisite action necessary for the constitutional protections to apply.
Stanley served as the defensive line coach for the New York Giants
New 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...
in 1979 and the Atlanta Falcons
Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are a member of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
from 1980 to 1982 before moving to the USFL. Stanley was in the running to be the head coach of the USFL's Birmingham Stallions
Birmingham Stallions
The Birmingham Stallions were a franchise in the United States Football League, an attempt to establish a second professional league of American football in the United States in competition with the National Football League. They played their home games at Birmingham, Alabama's Legion Field...
, but was passed over for 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...
offensive line coach Rollie Dotsch
Rollie Dotsch
Rollie Dotsch was a football coach who served primarily in an assistant capacity before becoming the first coach of the United States Football League's Birmingham Stallions on September 2, 1982....
.
Stanley was later signed by the Panthers to serve as their head coach, a position he held in 1983 and 1984. His 1983 team won the league championship after starting off 1–4. Following the poor start, Stanley recognized that his offensive line was too porous to allow rookie QB Bobby Hebert
Bobby Hebert
Bobby Joseph Hebert Jr., is an American sportscaster who is best known as a retired Pro bowl American football quarterback of the New Orleans Saints. He played professionally in the USFL and NFL from 1983 to 1996 for the Michigan Panthers, Oakland Invaders, New Orleans Saints, and Atlanta Falcons...
to succeed and so he lobbied management to bring in some veteran NFL offensive linemen to fill the gaps. Management addressed the issue by signing a bevy of experienced offensive linemen: Tyrone McGriff
Tyrone McGriff
Tyrone McGriff is a former American football center and guard who played in the National Football League with the Pittsburgh Steelers, He later played in the USFL. Won the 1983 USFL Championship as a starting Guard for the Michigan Panthers...
and Thom Dornbrook
Thom Dornbrook
Thomas Dornbrook is a former professional American football player who played Center and Guard for two seasons for the Pittsburgh Steelers. In 1979, Dornbrook earned a ring for Super Bowl XIV. He played for the Miami Dolphins in 1980. He later played in the USFL and won the 1983 USFL Championship...
of the New York Giants
New 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...
and Ray Pinney
Ray Pinney
Raymond Earl Pinney is a former NFL offensive tackle and guard who played seven seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was selected by the Steelers in the second round of the 1976 NFL Draft. Was the Steelers Starting Right Tackle in Super Bowl XIII. He played in the USFL. Won the 1983 USFL...
of 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...
. Dornbrook and McGriff made USFL all-league teams in 1983 and Pinney was considered one of the best tackles in the league. The team finished the regular season 11–2 and then ran through the playoffs defeating Jim Mora
Jim E. Mora
James Earnest Mora is the former head coach of the USFL's Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars and the NFL's New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts. He played football at Occidental College where he was also a member of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. His son Jim L...
's Philadelphia Stars. His 1984 squad looked like a favorite to repeat, going 6–0 to start the season, but then star wide receiver Anthony Carter was lost for the season. That combined with reports of player salary complaints, led the team to struggle, going 4–8 for the remainder of the season. The Panthers were eliminated in the first round by Steve Young's Los Angeles Express, 27–21, in a hard fought, triple-overtime game. It was pro football's longest game and the Panther's last. Stanley finished with a 24–15 record in the USFL.
After the season the majority of USFL owners, led by New Jersey Generals
New 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...
owner Donald Trump
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump, Sr. is an American business magnate, television personality and author. He is the chairman and president of The Trump Organization and the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts. Trump's extravagant lifestyle, outspoken manner and role on the NBC reality show The Apprentice have...
and Chicago franchise owner Eddie Einhorn
Eddie Einhorn
Eddie Einhorn is minority owner and Vice Chairman of the Chicago White Sox.Einhorn produced the nationally syndicated radio broadcast of the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship in 1958...
voted to move the league to a fall schedule. Panthers' owner A. Alfred Taubman had no desire to compete head to head with his friend, Detroit Lions
Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...
owner William Clay Ford
William Clay Ford
William Clay Ford may refer to:*William Clay Ford, Sr., grandson of Henry Ford, son of Edsel Ford and owner of the Detroit Lions*William Clay Ford, Jr., great-grandson of Henry Ford, son of William Clay Ford, Sr., chairman of Ford Motor Company...
. Following the vote, the Panthers delegation surprised the league owners and commissioner by announcing the team would be merged with the Oakland Invaders
Oakland Invaders
Oakland Invaders was a professional American football team that played in the United States Football League from 1983 through 1985.-In reaction to the Raiders relocating to Los Angeles:...
in a pre-negotiated conditional deal. The new team went with a new head coach, Charlie Sumner
Charlie Sumner
Charles "Charlie" Sumner is a former American football player who was selected by the Chicago Bears in the twenty second round of the 1954 NFL Draft. A 6'1", 194 lbs. safety from the College of William & Mary, Sumner played in 8 NFL seasons from 1955-1962...
.
Stanley returned to the NFL. He joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football franchise based in Tampa, Florida, U.S. They are currently members of the Southern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League – they are the only team in the division not to come from the old NFC West...
as defensive line coach before moving up to defensive coordinator in 1986. He was a defensive coach for the Houston Oilers for six years before joining the Arizona Cardinals
Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
' player personnel separtment. He retired as the Director of Player Personnel for the Cardinals after serving in that role for 12 years. Stanley was involved in the acquisition of quarterback Kurt Warner
Kurt Warner
Kurtis Eugene "Kurt" Warner is a retired American football player. He played quarterback for three National Football League teams: the St. Louis Rams, the New York Giants, and the Arizona Cardinals. He was originally signed by the Green Bay Packers as an undrafted free agent in 1994 after playing...
by the Cardinals. Warner's play was key in leading the Cardinals to their first NFL Championship game in decades.
Stanley also served as an assistant coach at Southern Methodist University
Southern Methodist University
Southern Methodist University is a private university in Dallas, Texas, United States. Founded in 1911 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, SMU operates campuses in Dallas, Plano, and Taos, New Mexico. SMU is owned by the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church...
and UTEP.
Stanley and his wife, Sylvia, have four children, Mark, Matthew, Rhonda, and Starlyn.