Redskins Greatest Games Volume One: November 3, 1991 - Part 2

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Every game has a story. This is the story of Sunday November 3 1991, RFK Stadium, Redskins 16, Oilers 13 (OT).

Curly R continues the inaugural edition of Redskins Greatest Games with Part 2, What Jack Did.

Update 19 July 2007: hat tip to Skin Patrol at Hogs Haven for pointing out a needed edit here. See below.

Part 1: Who is Jack Pardee?
Part 2: What Jack Did
Part 3: The Oilers
Part 4: Jack Returns to the NFL
Part 5: The Game
Part 6: The Moment
Part 7: The Aftermath
References
Bonus Material

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After a long playing career punctuated by a Super Bowl appearance, Jack Pardee coached two NFL teams, including his beloved Redskins before losing a power struggle and his job. He left Washington bitter about his experience...

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Football had not given up on Jack, and Joe Gibbs' old boss, Don Coryell hired Jack to be the defensive coordinator for the Chargers in 1981. That season, the Chargers were last in passing defense, last in yards per pass play and gave up the most passing touchdowns. To be fair, the Chargers passing defense had been in the bottom tier of the league in 1978 and 1980. Jack was unable to right ship in San Diego and was not retained for the 1982 season.

In 1982, Jack took a position as the vice president of marketing for the Runnels Mud Company of Houston, a company in processing and disposal of petroleum-extraction waste.^[14] He was not long out of football though, taking the head coaching position of the Houston Gamblers of the USFL in June 1983.

The expansion Gamblers would not play a game until the 1984 season, when they went 13-5, winning the Western Conference Central Division title. Although the Gamblers lost in the first round of the playoffs, Jack was named the USFL Coach of the Year. The next season in 1985, the league's last, the Gamblers would go 10-8 and qualify for the playoffs, losing again in the first round.

It was in Houston before the 1984 USFL season that Jack Pardee first met Mouse Davis, father of the Run & Shoot offense. As head coach, Mouse had just led the Toronto Argonauts to the Grey Cup title the previous season in 1983, and he was looking to get back into American football. Jack hired Mouse and made him offensive coordinator.

With Mouse's scheme and Jim Kelly's arm, the Gamblers scorched opponents through the air, and Jack Pardee's football philosophy was forever changed. Among future NFL stars on Jack's Houston Gamblers teams was one Ricky Sanders, a converted running back who would later go on to play with the Redskins and become the only player in NFL history to catch more than 300 passes and never fumble.^[13]

Jack could not keep Mouse, who went on to coach the Denver Gold of the USFL in 1985 (and finish one game ahead of Jack's Gamblers that season). Jack and Mouse would never meet again on the same sideline, but Jack kept true to Mouse's offense.

Jack spent 1986 as a scout for the Green Bay Packers, and was inducted into the 1986 class of the College Football Hall of Fame. Jack came back to Houston in 1987 as head coach (PDF) of the University of Houston, replacing 24-year head coach Bill Yeoman, and brought with him his run & shoot, turning the Cougars into a high-powered, pro-style offensive machine.

The Cougars were 4-6 in 1987, (update 19 July 2007) and in 1988 Jack gave a young defensive coach named Gregg Williams his first job on ths sidelines (end update). The Cougars went on to win 9 games each season in 1988 and 1989. Jack's offense was working so smoothly by 1989 that Andre Ware rode it all the way to the Heisman Trophy on 4700 yards passing, 46 passing TDs and 26 college football records.

Andre would never fulfill his promise in the pros though, playing a run & shoot-style offense under Wayne Fontes in Detroit, seeming to confirm an early criticism of the run & shoot offense: that big quarterback numbers are as much a by-product of the high-octane system as they are the quarterback himself. Jack, with the Houston Oilers years later, appeared to confirm at least in part this notion when discussing quarterback Warren Moon's performance: you throw a lot of passes, you throw a lot of touchdowns, you throw a lot of interceptions.

Jack left the Cougars stocked at quarterback with future first round pick David Klingler and went looking for the NFL again.

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Curly R's Redskins Greatest Games continues today with part 3, The Oilers.



Don Coryell from here. Coach Jack Pardee from This is the USFL Head Coaches list here. Houston Gamblers logo from here. University of Houston logo from here.