Jack Pardee
 |
||||||
| Regular Season | Playoffs | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | W | L | T | PCT | W | L |
| 1975 | 4 | 10 | 0 | .286 | 0 | 0 |
| 1976 | 7 | 7 | 0 | .500 | 0 | 0 |
| 1977 | 9 | 5 | 0 | .643 | 0 | 1 |
| Totals | 20 | 22 | 0 | .476 | 0 | 1 |
| Career | 20 | 23 | 0 | .476 | ||
Born: April 19, 1936 in Exira, IA
Jack Pardee became the Chicago Bears 8th head coach in 1975. Pardee was only three years removed from his NFL playing career when the Bears tabbed him as the Head Coach. The 15 year veteran was known as an “on field” coaching during his playing days. After his playing career end in Washington, he stayed on to be an assistant coach for one year. The World Football League (WFL) was a miserable league looking to compete with the NFL. The Florida Blazer organization hired Pardee as their first head coach. In their inaugural year, the Pardee Blazers played for the league championship where they came up short 14-6.
After the WFL season, George Halas hired Pardee to replace Abe Gibron. The hiring of Pardee was significant because he was the first “outsider” to be hired as Bears head coach. Pardee led the Bears to their first playoff appearance since the 1963 championship season. As a result of that 1976 season, Pardee earned NFC Coach of the Year honors.
After the 1977 season, Pardee left the Bears to become the Head Coach of the Washington Redskins.
Coaching Career
The Bears were his second stop on what would be an interesting head coaching career. Jack Pardee is the only person to be hired as a head coach in the NFL (Bears, Redskins, and Oilers), WFL (Florida Blazers), USFL (Houston Gamblers), and CFL (American Expansion team Birmingham Barracudas). Interestingly, Pardee handed the head coaching reigns over to former Bear Player Jeff Fisher in Houston in 1994 and two years later the Oilers became the Tennessee Titans.
• 1975-1977—Chicago Bears Head Coach—Named NFL Coach of the Year in 1976.
• 1974—Florida Blazers (WFL) Head Coach
• 1973—Washington Redskins assistant coach
Playing Career
Pardee was a member of the famed “Junction Boys,” which was subject of a movie about the brutal treatment of Paul “Bear” Bryant during one summer prior to the season.
• 1971-1972—Washington Redskins Linebacker named to the All-Pro Team in 1971.
• 1957-1970—Los Angeles Rams selected Pardee with their second round pick. A linebacker named to the All-Pro Team in 1963.
• 1954-1957—Texas A&M Linebacker/Fullback All America linebacker in 1956
