Semi-OT: A look back at 1983 and the head coaching hires by the Eagles, USFL Stars, and Temple

[CHIP72]

As someone who is an Eagles and Temple football fan and also loved the USFL Philadelphia Stars back in the day, I was thinking about this the other day, but in 1983 the Eagles, Stars, and Temple all hired new coaches that season. (In the case of both the Eagles and Temple, their previous head coaches, Dick Vermeil and Wayne Hardin respectively, both retired, while the Stars were a team in a brand new league.) The teams hired the following coaches:

*Eagles: Marion Campbell

*Stars: Jim Mora Sr.

*Temple: Bruce Arians

Marion Campbell had been a long time NFL coach at the time the Eagles hired him to succeed Dick Vermeil prior to the 1983 season. For the previous six seasons, "the Swamp Fox" had served as the Eagles defensive coordinator, playing an important role in enabling the Eagles to lead the NFL in fewest points allowed in 1980 and 1981. Prior to joining the Eagles, he had been an AFL and NFL assistant and head coach dating back to 1962, first as a defensive line coach with the Patriots, Vikings, and Rams from 1962 to 1968, then joining the Falcons as their defensive coordinator from 1969 to mid-1974, and finally becoming the Atlanta Falcons head coach from mid-1974 to mid-1976. Campbell had been a solid NFL player from 1954 to 1961, playing with the Eagles from 1956 to 1961, and earning 1st team All-Pro honors as a defensive lineman with the Eagles during their 1960 championship season.

Though Campbell had been a successful player and assistant coach with the Eagles, he ultimately was much less successful as the Eagles head coach. The Eagles posted three consecutive losing seasons during his tenure, and he was fired with one game remaining in 1985 season. Campbell's head coaching record with the Eagles was 17-29-1. That was still better than his 6-19 head coaching record in a little less than two seasons with the Falcons in the mid-1970s. Surprisingly, the Swamp Fox received one more NFL head coaching opportunity after being fired by the Eagles, joining the Falcons again in 1987. His record in his second Atlanta go-around was almost as bad as his first, and worse than his Eagles tenure; Campbell went 11-32 in a little less than three seasons from 1987 to 1989. Overall, Campbell had one of the worst records of any NFL head coach in history, finishing with a 34-80-1 record and never posting even a .500 record in any season. His best seasons actually occurred with the Eagles in 1984 (6-9-1) and 1985 (6-9 prior to his firing). Excluding one season as a defensive coordinator at his college alma mater Georgia in 1994, Campbell never coached again at any level after his last NFL head coaching job.

Jim Mora had served as a defensive line coach for the Seahawks and Patriots from 1978 to 1982, and had been a college head and assistant coach, primarily with western teams (including Stanford, Colorado, UCLA, and Washington) from 1961 to 1977. Mora was not the Stars' first choice; they originally hired former Steelers assistant George Perles, but Perles took the head coaching job at Michigan State shortly before the Stars' initial training camp in early 1983 and the Stars hurriedly hired Mora as Perles' replacement. The late start didn't hurt Mora, and his Stars teams eventually became by far the best team in the USFL's three year history, posting a 41-12-1 regular season record and a 7-1 playoff record, appearing in all three of the league's championship games, winning two of them. Quite frankly, Mora's Stars teams were probably better than Marion Campbell's Eagles teams of the same period. Mora was supported by an excellent general manager (future Chiefs GM Carl Peterson) and assistant coaches, including Vince Tobin, Dom Capers, and Vic Fangio, all of whom became future NFL head coaches.

After the USFL imploded, Mora joined the New Orleans Saints in 1986 and became their most successful head coach prior to Sean Payton, leading the Saints to their first winning seasons (1987-1989, 1991-1992) and first playoff appearances (1987, 1990-1992) in franchise history. Mora was named NFL Coach of the Year in 1987 as the Saints posted a 12-3 record. Many of his Saints players were ex-USFL players, and included some of his former Stars players, most notably standout linebacker Sam Mills. However, in sharp contrast to his USFL playoff success, Mora had no success in the playoffs, finishing his Saints coaching career with an 0-4 playoff record, including 0-3 at home. After resigning as the Saints head coach in mid-1996 after 10 1/2 seasons, he was hired as the Indianapolis Colts head coach in 1998. Similar to what he did in New Orleans, Mora turned the Colts into winners by his second season, posting a 13-3 record in 1999. He followed that up with a 10-6 record in 2000. However, as was the case in New Orleans, Mora's Colts teams couldn't get over the playoff hump, posting a 0-2 record. Mora was fired after by the Colts after four seasons following a disappointing 2001 season, and he never coached again in the NFL. Altogether Mora posted a 125-106 regular season record and 0-6 playoff record as an NFL head coach.

Bruce Arians had been a college assistant coach at his alma mater Virginia Tech, Mississippi State, and Alabama (in the last position under legendary head coach Bear Bryant) from 1975 to 1982 before coming back to his home state (he's from York, PA) to take the Temple head coaching job. The 30 year old Arians had big shoes to fill on North Broad Street, replacing future College Football Hall of Fame inductee Wayne Hardin. Additionally, Temple often played challenging schedules loaded with strong Eastern independents such as Penn State, Pitt, and West Virginia, and the university often did not put significant resources into the football program. Despite the challenges, Arians kept Temple competitive during his six year tenure (1983 to 1988), posting two winning seasons (6-5 records in both 1984 and 1986), and coaching some standout players, including Paul Palmer (who finished 2nd in the Heisman Trophy voting in 1986) and Kevin Ross (who was a very good NFL cornerback with the Chiefs). He also coached a safety named Todd Bowles while he was the Owls head coach. Overall, Arians posted a 27-39 record at Temple, which doesn't sound great but was much better than the records posted by his three immediate successors (Jerry Berndt: 11-33; Ron Dickerson: 8-47; Bobby Wallace: 19-71).

After he was fired by Temple in 1988, Arians took his first NFL assistant coaching job, joining the Chiefs as a running backs coach in 1989. Though he had a couple, future college coaching jobs, going back to Mississippi State and Alabama for a total of four seasons, Arians primarily became an NFL assistant, coaching with the Chiefs, Saints, Colts (assisting Jim Mora with the Saints and Colts), Browns, Steelers, and the Colts a second time. He served as an offensive coordinator with Cleveland (2001 to 2003), Pittsburgh (2007 to 2011), and Indianapolis (2012). Arians finally became an NFL head coach by accident in 2012, serving as the Colts interim head coach that season after head coach Chuck Pagano needed treatment for leukemia for most of the season. Arians posted a 9-3 record in the interim role, allowing the Colts to make the playoffs, and was named NFL Coach of the Year. His solid work with the Colts enabled him to become the Arizona Cardinals head coach in 2013. He was successful with a Cardinals franchise that generally been unsuccessful, posting three winning records and two playoff appearances in five seasons (2013 to 2017) as the head coach, including an NFC Championship Game appearance in 2015. He was also named the NFL Coach of the Year a second time in 2014. After retiring for a year, Arians became the Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach in 2019. His first Bucs team finished 7-9, but in his second season in Tampa he led the Buccaneers to an 11-5 record and a Super Bowl victory. Overall, Arians has posted a 76-47-1 regular season record and 5-2 playoff record as an NFL head coach.

The above is not to say the Eagles should have hired Jim Mora or Bruce Arians instead of Marion Campbell as their head coach in 1983, though one can easily make a retrospective argument Mora would have been a better hire than Campbell. (Arians was too young to be an NFL head coach in 1983, and did not have any NFL assistant coaching experience at the time.) Rather, the above is merely meant to provide interesting information and food for thought, noting the geographical and chronological coincidence that ties together Marion Campbell, Jim Mora, and Bruce Arians, and pointing out the irony that the Eagles, the only NFL team among themselves, the USFL Stars, and college football Temple Owls, hired the guy who ultimately was the worst NFL head coach among the coaches the three Veterans Stadium football tenants hired in 1983.

[Mortimer]

I loved going to see the Stars.  Mills was a monster.

[NCTANK]

i was pissed at Vermei for a long time after he took his "sabbatical”. those next few years with Campbell were torturous.

[CHIP72]

1 hour ago, Mortimer said:

I loved going to see the Stars.  Mills was a monster.

The Stars actually had a handful of players who became NFL standouts, including Sam Mills, William Fuller (who much later played with the Eagles), Irv Eatman, Bart Oates, Mike Johnson, and Sean Landeta, plus a few other players who later played in the NFL (as well as a few who played in the NFL before coming to the USFL).  They had good coaches, a good front office, and good ownership.  It is unfortunate they weren't the Philadelphia team in the NFL at the time; particularly in 1984 they almost were definitely better than the Eagles.  Maybe the Eagles' and Stars' rosters could have been combined for an Eagles/Stars NFL team so Mike Quick and Wes Hopkins could have been on that team as well.

[CHIP72]

24 minutes ago, NCTANK said:

i was pissed at Vermeil for a long time after he took his "sabbatical”. those next few years with Campbell were torturous.

The Eagles definitely were one of the most boring teams in the NFL during Marion Campbell's tenure as head coach, excluding some deep passes to Mike Quick.  They were offensively-challenged, and though the defense was pretty good, it was of the "bend but don't break" variety, which tend to scare opposing offenses less.

[NCTANK]

30 minutes ago, CHIP72 said:

The Eagles definitely were one of the most boring teams in the NFL during Marion Campbell's tenure as head coach, excluding some deep passes to Mike Quick.  They were offensively-challenged, and though the defense was pretty good, it was of the "bend but don't break" variety, which tend to scare opposing offenses less.

i was at the Vet in December of ‘85 when we lost to the Skins. seems like we had blown a 23-0 lead in the 4th quarter at Minnesota the week before, losing  28-23. the boo birds were out in full force early as our Eagles came out of the locker room 🤣. Campbell was canned the next week or something like that. good times.  

edit: it was also the time i saw a drunken Santa Claus taking a leak in an electrical closet.

[time2rock]

13 hours ago, NCTANK said:

i was at the Vet in December of ‘85 when we lost to the Skins. seems like we had blown a 23-0 lead in the 4th quarter at Minnesota the week before, losing  28-23. the boo birds were out in full force early as our Eagles came out of the locker room 🤣. Campbell was canned the next week or something like that. good times.  

edit: it was also the time i saw a drunken Santa Claus taking a leak in an electrical closet.

 

 

[Green_Guinness]

I had forgotten the Stars were that good and also thought the USFL lasted longer than 3 seasons.  I did go to one Stars game at the Vet and it was a pretty good atmosphere.  IIRC, the USFL made the mistake of trying to shift their season schedule to match up with the NFL when they needed more time as the '2nd act' playing during the NFL off-season to help fans fight off football withdrawal.  Maybe if they had stayed the course for another 5 years they could have followed the old AFL and forced a 2nd merger?  They did have some really good players who were successful in the NFL later on. 

 

[eaglegenius]

I expect another ex-Temple coach, Matt Rhule, to reach the SB in a few years. 

[CHIP72]

On 2/14/2021 at 6:00 PM, Green_Guinness said:

I had forgotten the Stars were that good and also thought the USFL lasted longer than 3 seasons.  I did go to one Stars game at the Vet and it was a pretty good atmosphere.  IIRC, the USFL made the mistake of trying to shift their season schedule to match up with the NFL when they needed more time as the '2nd act' playing during the NFL off-season to help fans fight off football withdrawal.  Maybe if they had stayed the course for another 5 years they could have followed the old AFL and forced a 2nd merger?  They did have some really good players who were successful in the NFL later on. 

 

The biggest blame for that probably lies with the owner of the New Jersey Generals, who was the biggest proponent of the USFL moving to a fall schedule.  I think that guy wanted to force a merger with the NFL via a lawsuit, and that was impetus for the USFL announcing in fall 1984 they planned to move to a fall schedule by 1986.  (I'll note that as a direct result of that announcement, the Philadelphia Stars had to move to Baltimore, or more accurately College Park, MD in the DC suburbs, in 1985.)  I wonder what happened to that owner?  (I say that tongue in cheek; people who remember the USFL know exactly who I'm talking about.)

I've long thought 1) a good quality spring pro football league, which USFL met on both attributes, remains a very good idea and 2) the USFL would have eventually become successful had they stayed the course and kept a spring schedule, rather than trying to force a merger with the NFL before the USFL was fully established.  If the USFL had played for 5-7 years, I think it is possible by the end of that time the league might have been strong enough to force a merger with the NFL.  It also would have forced the hand of MLB and to a lesser degree the NBA and NHL to improve their products, due to the direct competition at the same time of the year.

The USFL also had a couple other very smart ideas that any competitor league to the NFL should implement.  First, they assigned a select number of colleges as territorial schools for USFL teams, allowing those teams to have a high number of players from those colleges/areas, which increased interest in those teams.  (The Stars had Penn State as one of their schools at a time was at/near its peak as a football program, and had many ex-Penn State players, as well as various other, local players, on their roster.)  Second, the USFL placed some teams in small to moderate sized markets that were big college football markets and had no/few major league sports teams, markets like Birmingham, Memphis, and Jacksonville.  (IMO, and I think this is generally accepted by most people who remember the USFL and NFL in the 1980s, Jacksonville received an NFL franchise primarily because the market supported the USFL Jacksonville Bulls very well.)  Placing teams in emerging, football-oriented markets had the two-fold effect of making those markets feel more like major markets and, combined with the college territorial rules, allowed college football fans in those areas to follow some of their favorite players in the pros.

[CHIP72]

On 2/15/2021 at 2:34 PM, eaglegenius said:

I expect another ex-Temple coach, Matt Rhule, to reach the SB in a few years. 

I loved Matt Rhule at Temple, and though I would have liked to see him have a little more NFL coaching experience before he went to Carolina (he was an assistant coach for the Giants in 2012, which was sandwiched by his time at Temple from 2006 to 2011 and 2013 to 2016; the 2012 season was his only season as an NFL coach before he took the head coaching job with the Panthers), I think he'll ultimately do a solid job in the NFL.  I would have liked if Rhule was with the Eagles in some capacity, though as someone who grew up a Giants fan in the New York area before he moved to State College during his high school years, that might have been a little tough for Rhule.

On a related note, I wanted the Eagles to hire Jim Mora in 1986 (they hired Buddy Ryan instead; Mora went to the Saints that year) and Bruce Arians in 2013 (they hired Chip Kelly instead; Arians went to the Cardinals that year).

[Green_Guinness]

6 minutes ago, CHIP72 said:

The biggest blame for that lies with the owner of the New Jersey Generals.  I think that guy wanted to force a merger with the NFL via a lawsuit.  I wonder what happened to him?

I've long thought 1) a good quality spring pro football league of good quality, which USFL met on both attributes, remains a very good idea and 2) the USFL would have eventually become successful had they stayed the course and kept a spring schedule, rather than trying to force a merger with the NFL before the USFL was fully established.  If the USFL had played for 5-7 years, I think it is possible by the end of that time the league might have been strong enough to force a merger with the NFL.  It also would have forced the hand of MLB and to a lesser degree the NBA and NHL to improve their products, due to the direct competition at the same time of the year.

The USFL also had a couple other very smart ideas that any competitor league to the NFL should implement.  First, they assigned a select number of colleges as territorial schools for USFL teams, allowing those teams to have a high number of players from those colleges/areas, which increased interest in those teams.  (The Stars had Penn State as one of their schools at a time was at/near its peak as a football program, and had many ex-Penn State players, as well as various other, local players, on their roster.)  Second, the USFL placed some teams in small to moderate sized markets that were big college football markets and had no/few major league sports teams, markets like Birmingham and Memphis.  This had the two-fold effect of making those markets feel more like major markets and, combined with the college territorial rules, allowed college football fans in those areas to follow some of their favorite players in the pros.

Well, they were 3 years in and and probably needed another 5 years of at least sustaining the level of play they had over those first 3 seasons before trying to force a merger.

Good points on the way they conducted their business.  I did know one of their plans was to put teams in the next tier of markets where there weren't any professional teams, but enough people to build a nice fan base.  I did not know about the territorial college player plan, but it makes sense.  The ABA did something similar, though mostly behind closed doors, where they'd take a star player from a certain college and put him on the ABA team closest to that college. 

They had a good business model and were making strides.  Just went all-in too soon.

 

[Procus]

1 hour ago, CHIP72 said:

The biggest blame for that probably lies with the owner of the New Jersey Generals, who was the biggest proponent of the USFL moving to a fall schedule.  I think that guy wanted to force a merger with the NFL via a lawsuit, and that was impetus for the USFL announcing in fall 1984 they planned to move to a fall schedule by 1986.  (I'll note that as a direct result of that announcement, the Philadelphia Stars had to move to Baltimore, or more accurately College Park, MD in the DC suburbs, in 1985.)  I wonder what happened to that owner?  (I say that tongue in cheek; people who remember the USFL know exactly who I'm talking about.)

I've long thought 1) a good quality spring pro football league of good quality, which USFL met on both attributes, remains a very good idea and 2) the USFL would have eventually become successful had they stayed the course and kept a spring schedule, rather than trying to force a merger with the NFL before the USFL was fully established.  If the USFL had played for 5-7 years, I think it is possible by the end of that time the league might have been strong enough to force a merger with the NFL.  It also would have forced the hand of MLB and to a lesser degree the NBA and NHL to improve their products, due to the direct competition at the same time of the year.

The USFL also had a couple other very smart ideas that any competitor league to the NFL should implement.  First, they assigned a select number of colleges as territorial schools for USFL teams, allowing those teams to have a high number of players from those colleges/areas, which increased interest in those teams.  (The Stars had Penn State as one of their schools at a time was at/near its peak as a football program, and had many ex-Penn State players, as well as various other, local players, on their roster.)  Second, the USFL placed some teams in small to moderate sized markets that were big college football markets and had no/few major league sports teams, markets like Birmingham, Memphis, and Jacksonville.  (IMO, and I think this is generally accepted by most people who remember the USFL and NFL in the 1980s, Jacksonville received an NFL franchise primarily because the market supported the USFL Jacksonville Bulls very well.)  Placing teams in emerging, football-oriented markets had the two-fold effect of making those markets feel more like major markets and, combined with the college territorial rules, allowed college football fans in those areas to follow some of their favorite players in the pros.

The USFL was a great league with a simple concept - pro football in the spring.  We can only imagine what would have happened had it continued for another couple of years - although the demise of the USFL became a boon for the NFL with stars like Reggie White, Jim Kelly and Sam Mills jumping over to the senior league.