Neill Armstrong
<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Black and white photograph of Armstong in a light-colored number 80 jersey reaching up with his right hand to catch a football
Armstrong on a 1948 Bowman football card
|
|||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Date of birth | March 9, 1926 | ||||||||||
Place of birth | Tishomingo, Oklahoma | ||||||||||
Career information | |||||||||||
Position(s) | Wide receiver | ||||||||||
College | Oklahoma A & M | ||||||||||
NFL Draft | 1947 / Round 1 / Pick 8 | ||||||||||
Head coaching record | |||||||||||
Regular season | NFL: 30–34 (.469) CFL: 37–56–3 (.401) |
||||||||||
Postseason | NFL: 0–1 (.000) CFL: 0–3 (.000) |
||||||||||
Career record | NFL: 30–35 (.462) CFL: 37–59–3 (.389) Overall: 67–94–3 (.418) |
||||||||||
Stats | |||||||||||
Playing stats | Pro Football Reference | ||||||||||
Coaching stats (NFL) | Pro Football Reference | ||||||||||
Team(s) as a player | |||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
Team(s) as a coach/administrator | |||||||||||
|
Neill Ford Armstrong (born March 9, 1926) is a former American football player and coach whose career spanned more than 40 years at both the collegiate and professional levels.
Playing career
Armstrong played college football at Oklahoma A & M from 1943–1946, and was drafted in the first round (eighth overall) of the 1947 NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles. Playing both at wide receiver and defensive back, Armstrong helped the team capture the NFL championship in both 1948 and 1949. Armstrong concluded his playing career in the early 1950s playing for the CFL's Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Coaching career
In 1962, Armstrong's professional coaching career began when he was hired as an assistant coach with the American Football League Houston Oilers. After serving two years in that capacity, he shifted back to Canada as head coach of the Edmonton Eskimos. In his six years, the team reached the postseason three times.
Armstrong was hired as an assistant with the Minnesota Vikings in 1970, and became an integral part of developing the team's dominating defense. After helping the team reach the postseason in all but one of the next eight years, he was hired as head coach of the Chicago Bears on February 16, 1978.
In four years at the helm of the Bears, he was only able to compile a record of 30-35, with one playoff appearance in 1979. He was fired on January 3, 1982, but hired less than two months later as an assistant with the Dallas Cowboys. He spent the next eight seasons with the team before announcing his retirement on February 22, 1990.[1]
He and Bud Grant hold the distinction of being the only two people to have both played and been a head coach in both the NFL and CFL.[2]
Head coaching record
NFL
Team | Year | Regular Season | Post Season | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Won | Lost | Ties | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
CHI | 1978 | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 4th in NFC Central | – | – | – | – |
CHI | 1979 | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 2nd in NFC Central | 0 | 1 | .000 | Lost to Philadelphia Eagles in NFC Wild-Card Game. |
CHI | 1980 | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 3rd in NFC Central | – | – | – | – |
CHI | 1981 | 6 | 10 | 0 | .375 | 5 in NFC Central | – | – | – | – |
CHI Total | 30 | 34 | 0 | .469 | 0 | 1 | .000 | – | ||
Total | 30 | 34 | 0 | .469 | 0 | 1 | .000 | – |
See also
References
- ↑ The Oklahoman. "Cowboys Shuffle Coaching Staff". Associated Press, February 23, 1990. Retrieved on May 4, 2013.
- ↑ Daniels, Rob. "Allan Houston among players on All-Space Team". ESPN.com, August 28, 2010. Retrieved on May 4, 2013.
- Pages with broken file links
- 1926 births
- Living people
- People from Tishomingo, Oklahoma
- American football defensive backs
- American football wide receivers
- American players of Canadian football
- Canadian football wide receivers
- Chicago Bears head coaches
- Dallas Cowboys coaches
- Edmonton Eskimos coaches
- Houston Oilers coaches
- Minnesota Vikings coaches
- Oklahoma State Cowboys football coaches
- Oklahoma State Cowboys football players
- Philadelphia Eagles players
- Winnipeg Blue Bombers players
- Players of American football from Oklahoma