Jerry Claiborne

Jerry Claiborne
Sport(s) Football
Biographical details
Born (1928-08-26)August 26, 1928
Hopkinsville, Kentucky
Died September 24, 2000(2000-09-24) (aged 72)
Nashville, Tennessee
Alma mater University of Kentucky
Playing career
1946, 1948–1949 Kentucky
Position(s) Halfback
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1954–1957 Texas A&M (assistant)
1958–1960 Alabama (assistant)
1961–1970 Virginia Tech
1972–1981 Maryland
1982–1989 Kentucky
Head coaching record
Overall 179–122–8
Bowls 3–8

Statistics

Accomplishments and honors
Championships
1 SoCon (1963)
3 ACC (1974–1976)
Awards
Sporting News College Football COY (1974)
3x ACC Coach of the Year (1973, 1975–1976)
SEC Coach of the Year (1983)
College Football Hall of Fame
Inducted in 1999 (profile)

Jerry Claiborne (August 2, 1928 – September 24, 2000) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Virginia Tech (1961–1970), the University of Maryland (1972–1981), and his alma mater, the University of Kentucky (1982–1989), compiling a career college football record of 179–122–8. Claiborne was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1999.

Early years

Claiborne attended the Hopkinsville High School and the University of Kentucky and was named the College of Education's Outstanding Senior. Claiborne played halfback under legendary coach Paul "Bear" Bryant at the University of Kentucky. In 1950 he became the head football and basketball coach at Augusta Military Academy in Fort Defiance, Augusta County, Virginia. His teams won the Virginia State basketball championship in 1950 and the football championship in 1951. The following year he left to become Bryant's assistant coach at Kentucky, following Bryant in the same capacity to Texas A&M and Alabama before he moved up to become a head coach.

Head coach

Claiborne was head coach for the Virginia Polytechnic Institute from 1961 to 1970 with an overall record of 69–32–2. Claiborne's legacy was carried on by Frank Beamer, who played for Claiborne at Virginia Tech. Beamer built the program into a powerhouse in the mid-1990s.

When Claiborne began coaching at the University of Maryland, the Terrapins had only won nine games in the previous five years. Claiborne led Maryland to a winning season after only his second year with the team. He coached Maryland for ten years and ended with a 77–37–3 record, including an undefeated regular season in 1976, before losing to Houston in the Cotton Bowl Classic. Beginning in 1973, his teams made it to six consecutive bowl games. In 1980, he added one more bowl appearance for a total of seven. Under Claiborne, Maryland won the ACC Championship three times (1974, 1975, and 1976).

After the 1981 season at Maryland, Claiborne followed in the footsteps of Bear Bryant and went from College Park, Maryland, to Lexington, Kentucky; the home of the University of Kentucky. In Claiborne's case, Kentucky was his alma mater. UK had just come off four straight losing seasons. They offered Claiborne the head coaching position largely to help clean up a program that had been racked by numerous recruiting violations during the tenure of previous head coach Fran Curci.

Claiborne took over as head coach of Kentucky in 1982. After starting with a losing season record of 0–10–1, he reached bowl games in his second and third seasons, posting records of 6–5–1 in 1983 and 9–3 in 1984 after which the Wildcats finished the season ranked #19 in the final AP poll. The Wildcats win in the 1984 Hall of Fame Classic over Wisconsin would be the Wildcats' last bowl win until winning the 2006 Music City Bowl over Clemson. Claiborne was never able to put together another winning team, getting no closer than 5–5–1 in 1986. However, due in part to his role in cleaning up the program's image, he remained in the good graces of Kentucky fans. Claiborne led the Kentucky program for eight years, ending with an overall record of 41–46–3. He retired after posting a 6–5 record in the 1989 season.

In 1992 Claiborne became the headcoach of the Braunschweig Lions, a then German Division II Football team in Germany. During his one-year stay he laid the foundation for an organization, that became a European football powerhouse.

Significant achievements

Famous quote

It was Jerry Claiborne who said: "Sam Cunningham did more for integration in sixty minutes than Martin Luther King did in twenty years."[1] (After a 1970 42-21 loss in Birmingham to USC, and having Cunningham score two touchdowns and gain 131 yards, the integration of the Alabama football team was accelerated. However, Alabama did have an African-American player on the team at the time in Wilbur Jackson. Like all freshmen at the time, he was ineligible.)

Head coaching record

Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl/playoffs Coaches# AP°
Virginia Tech Hokies (Southern Conference) (1961–1964)
1961 Virginia Tech 4–5 2–3 7th
1962 Virginia Tech 5–5 2–3 6th
1963 Virginia Tech 8–2 5–0 1st
1964 Virginia Tech 6–4 3–1 2nd
Virginia Tech Hokies (NCAA University Division independent) (1961–1964)
1965 Virginia Tech 7–3
1966 Virginia Tech 8–2–1 L Liberty 20
1967 Virginia Tech 7–3
1968 Virginia Tech 7–4 L Liberty
1969 Virginia Tech 4–5–1
1970 Virginia Tech 5–6
Virginia Tech: 61–39–2 12–7
Maryland Terrapins (Atlantic Coast Conference) (1972–1981)
1972 Maryland 5–5–1 3–2–1 3rd
1973 Maryland 8–4 5–1 2nd L Peach 18 20
1974 Maryland 8–4 6–0 1st L Liberty 13 13
1975 Maryland 9–2–1 5–0 1st W Gator 11 13
1976 Maryland 11–1 5–0 1st L Cotton 11 8
1977 Maryland 8–4 4–2 T–3rd W Hall of Fame Classic
1978 Maryland 9–3 5–1 2nd L Sun 20
1979 Maryland 7–4 4–2 T–2nd
1980 Maryland 8–4 5–1 2nd L Tangerine
1981 Maryland 4–6–1 4–2 3rd
Maryland: 77–37–3 46–11–1
Kentucky Wildcats (Southeastern Conference) (1982–1989)
1982 Kentucky 0–10–1 0–6 T–8th
1983 Kentucky 6–5–1 2–4 4th L Hall of Fame Classic
1984 Kentucky 9–3 3–3 T–4th W Hall of Fame Classic 19 19
1985 Kentucky 5–6 1–5 7th
1986 Kentucky 5–5–1 2–4 T–4th
1987 Kentucky 5–6 1–5 T–7th
1988 Kentucky 5–6 2–5 T–8th
1989 Kentucky 6–5 2–5 T–7th
Kentucky: 41–46–3 13–37
Total: 179–122–8
      National championship         Conference title         Conference division title
#Rankings from final Coaches Poll.
°Rankings from final AP Poll.

See also

References

  1. ↑ John David, Briley (2006). Career in Crisis: Paul "Bear" Bryant and the 1971 Season of Change. Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press. p. 139. Retrieved January 21, 2015.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, April 05, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.