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Sam Rutigliano

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Sam Rutigliano
Rutigliano in 2012
Biographical details
Born (1931-07-01) July 1, 1931 (age 93)
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Playing career
1950-1951East Central Junior College
1951–1952Tennessee
1954–1955Tulsa
Position(s)End
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1956–1958Lafayette HS (NY)
1959–1961Greenwich HS (CT)
1962–1963Horace Greeley HS (NY)
1964–1965Connecticut (DB)
1966Maryland (WR)
1967–1970Denver Broncos (WR)
1971–1973New England Patriots (OB/WR)
1974–1975New York Jets (DB)
1976–1977New Orleans Saints (WR)
1978–1984Cleveland Browns
1989–1999Liberty
2000–2003Barcelona Dragons (OA)
2004Scottish Claymores (OA)
2005–2006Hamburg Sea Devils (OA)
Head coaching record
Overall47–50 (NFL)
67–53 (college)

Sam William Rutigliano (born July 1, 1931) is an American former football coach who is a television football analyst for WEWS, the ABC affiliate in Cleveland. He served as the head coach for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL) from 1978 to 1984, compiling a record of 47–50. Rutigliano was the head football coach at Liberty University from 1989 to 1999, tallying a mark of 67–53.

Early life

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Rutigliano around 1979 at the Cleveland Browns practice facility

Rutigliano, the son of Italian immigrants, played high school football at Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn.[1] He played college football at East Central Junior College,[2] Tennessee, where he roomed with future professional wrestling star Lou Albano,[3] and Tulsa.[4][2] He coached at the high school level in New York and Connecticut, including Horace Greeley High School in Chappaqua, NY and Greenwich High School.[5][6][7][8]

Coaching career

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He was then defensive backs coach at the University of Connecticut from 1964 to 1965[9] and the wide receivers coach at the University of Maryland in 1966.[10] He became a professional football assistant with the Denver Broncos in 1967.[11] He was an assistant with the New England Patriots, New York Jets, and New Orleans Saints over the next eleven years before being given the head coaching job for the Cleveland Browns in 1978.[12][13]

Over the next six years, Rutigliano was the coach of the famed "Kardiac Kids" Browns. He led the 1980 Browns to the AFC Central Division Championship.[14] The final play of the Browns' playoff game with the Oakland Raiders would be the most memorable moment in Rutigliano's coaching career.[15] Down 14–12 and within field goal range, Rutigliano decided to run one more play rather than kick a game-winning field goal.[15] The play, called "Red Right 88", resulted in an end-zone interception with 41 seconds left that led to the Browns losing.[15] Despite the early playoff exit, Rutigliano received NFL Coach of the Year honors for the 1980 season.[16] The Browns returned to the playoffs in 1982 in the strike-shortened season that saw them go 4-5 and rally around Paul McDonald as the quarterback for the last three games due to an injury to Sipe. They trailed by three to the Raiders at halftime but gave up 14 unanswered points and lost 27–10. After a 9–7 season the following year, Sipe left the Browns for the United States Football League.[17] McDonald was left as the starter for Cleveland for 1984. After a stretch where the team went 1–7, Rutigliano was fired. He was replaced by defensive coordinator Marty Schottenheimer, who went 4–4 as interim coach and was later retained.[18] In his six and a half seasons with the Browns, Rutigliano compiled a 47–50 record.[19]

After being let go by the Browns, Rutigliano served as an analyst for NBC Sports and ESPN for three years.[20]

In 1988, he was given the head coaching job at Liberty University, with founder Jerry Falwell stating that Rutigliano seemed the man to help "establish a sports program for evangelical young people." He was hired to take over the program from Morgan Hout.[21][22] He had said no at first when approached but when invited to speak at the campus, he found the idea of being "part of this mission and use my God-given ability as a coach" compelling.[23] In a program that followed Christian standards of no drugs, alcohol, tobacco, or co-ed rooms to go with having curfew and worship, Rutigliano saw it as an advantage for who he wanted in players rather than a disadvantage. The school was subject to creditors not long after he joined the program, but he got to work in raising money for the school utilizing his connections (which he later estimated was in the millions). Owing to their independent status in Division I-AA, the Flames were in a tough position in reaching the playoffs (which they did not end up doing in his tenure), although they did finish in the final rankings in 1995 and 1997. The 1989 season saw Liberty beat top-20 schools in James Madison and Eastern Illinois before their matchup against Eastern Michigan. Playing on the road, the Flames pulled off the 25–24 upset for their first victory over a Division I-A opponent in school history. They won their first six games of the season, the best start for a first-year Liberty coach until 2023.[24][25][26] The 1990 team won their first four games and reached 8th in the football rankings. The nine wins in the 1997 season were a season record for the team until 2008. He would serve as coach for eleven years until retiring in 2000. He still ranks as the winningest coach in Liberty football history. His jersey (under "HC") was retired alongside Eric Green, a player on his roster that became Liberty's first NFL draft pick in history, in 2008. He was later inducted into the Liberty Athletics Hall of Fame in 2015.[27][28][29][30]

Hours after leaving the Flames in what seemed like retirement, Rutigliano was hired as an assistant coach under Jack Bicknell with the Barcelona Dragons of the NFL Europe.[31] He later served the same position for the Scottish Claymores of the NFL Europe.[20]

Beginning in 2005, Rutigliano became a Browns analyst for WKYC channel 3 in Cleveland and also for SportsTime Ohio when it began operations in 2006.[20] In 2011, he moved to WEWS-TV 5 to become their Browns analyst.[20]

Player addiction recovery program

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Throughout the 1970s, substance abuse, particularly of cocaine, was a rampant problem among NFL players.[32] During Rutigliano's tenure with the Browns, he and Dr. Gregory Collins of the Cleveland Clinic, with the support of team owner Art Modell, founded an anonymous support group known as the "Inner Circle" to help players with substance abuse problems.[33]

In 2007, Rutigliano was given the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence's Bronze Key Award by the NCADD's Northeast Ohio affiliate, Recovery Resources.[34]

Head coaching record

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NFL

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Team Year Regular season Postseason
Won Lost Ties Win % Finish Won Lost Win % Result
CLE 1978 8 8 0 .500 3rd in AFC Central - – – –
CLE 1979 9 7 0 .563 3rd in AFC Central – – – –
CLE 1980 11 5 0 .688 1st in AFC Central 0 1 .000 Lost to Oakland Raiders in AFC Divisional Game.
CLE 1981 5 11 0 .313 4th in AFC Central – – – –
CLE 1982 4 5 0 .444 3rd in AFC Central 0 1 .000 Lost to Los Angeles Raiders in AFC Wild-Card Game.
CLE 1983 9 7 0 .563 2nd in AFC Central – – – –
CLE 1984 1 7 0 .125 3rd in AFC Central – – – –
CLE Total 47 50 0 .485 0 2 .000
Total[35] 47 50 0 .485 0 2 .000

College

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Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl/playoffs TSN#
Liberty Flames (NCAA Division I-AA independent) (1989–1999)
1989 Liberty 7–3
1990 Liberty 7–4
1991 Liberty 4–7
1992 Liberty 7–4 19
1993 Liberty 6–5
1994 Liberty 5–6
1995 Liberty 8–3
1996 Liberty 5–6
1997 Liberty 9–2 25
1998 Liberty 5–6
1999 Liberty 4–7
Liberty: 67–53
Total: 67–53

References

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  1. ^ "The Rumble: AN OFF-THE-BALL LOOK AT YOUR FAVORITE SPORTS CELEBRITIES", New York Post, December 31, 2006. Accessed December 13, 2007. "The five Erasmus Hall of Fame legends include Raiders owner Al Davis, Bears quarterback Sid Luckman, Yankee pitching great Waite Hoyt, Billy Cunningham and Knicks founder Ned Irish. Other sports notables include Bulls/White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, chess champion Bobby Fischer, ex-Browns head coach Sam Rutigliano, legendary NBA referee Norm Drucker and "Boys of Summer" author Roger Kahn."
  2. ^ a b "Alumnus Sam Rutigliano to Join Mississippi Community College Sports Hall of Fame". www.eccc.edu. March 15, 2019. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  3. ^ Albano, Lou (2008). Often Imitated, Never Duplicated: Captain Lou Albano. GEAN Publishing. pp. 10–13. ISBN 978-0-615-18998-7.
  4. ^ Call, Jeff (December 29, 2011). "BYU football: Win over Cougars would be feather in Tulsa's cap". Deseret News. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  5. ^ Eskenazi, Gerald (July 25, 1975). "Jets' Rookie Runs Backwards For the Chance to Play in Pros (Published 1975)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  6. ^ Skodnick, Leif (February 3, 2015). "Once more into the end zone". WAG MAGAZINE. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  7. ^ "Girl Killed; Coach, Wife Hurt In Crash". Newspapers.com. August 18, 1962. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  8. ^ "UConns Name Football Aide (Published 1964)". The New York Times. July 13, 1964. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  9. ^ "UConn football spring game capsule". Connecticut Post. April 20, 2013. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  10. ^ "The football coaches". Maryland Football Guide. University of Maryland, College Park. 1966. p. 10.
  11. ^ "Sam Rutigliano To Follow Saban". Newspapers.com. December 21, 1966. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  12. ^ "Sam Rutigliano". Liberty University. Archived from the original on June 13, 2000. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  13. ^ Upi (October 23, 1984). "BROWNS, AT 1-7, DROP RUTIGLIANO (Published 1984)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  14. ^ Podolski, Mark. "Recap of the Browns' 'Kardiac Kids' season of 1980". The News-Herald. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  15. ^ a b c Schudel, Jeff. "Frozen in time: Newsome recalls Red Right 88 in Browns' 1980 playoff loss to Raiders". The News-Herald. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  16. ^ "Little Liberty lets Rutigliano pursue a happy life, career". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  17. ^ "The Life and Career of Sam Rutigliano (Complete Story)". July 27, 2021.
  18. ^ "Rutigliano Fired by Browns". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  19. ^ "Sam Rutigliano, fired Monday as coach of the Cleveland..." UPI. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  20. ^ a b c d Tressler, Jonathan. "Former Cleveland Browns Coach Sam Rutigliano to speak at Lakeland's 51st Commencement". The News-Herald. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  21. ^ "Sam Rutigliano, who once nearly guided the Cleveland Browns... - UPI Archives". UPI. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  22. ^ Pucin, Diane (November 18, 1990). "AT LIBERTY UNIVERSITY, IT'S IN GOD THEY TRUST". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  23. ^ "Little Liberty lets Rutigliano pursue a happy life, career". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  24. ^ "From the Media Room: Jax State".
  25. ^ "The first meeting between Liberty and Eastern Michigan led to one of LU's biggest wins in school history". A Sea of Red. December 10, 2021. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  26. ^ "Crash Course: Eastern Michigan Eagles". A Sea of Red. December 7, 2021. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  27. ^ "Liberty Coach Retires After 11 years". AP NEWS. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  28. ^ "Liberty Is Where Rutigliano Now Pursues Happiness". Los Angeles Times. September 13, 1998. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  29. ^ "Sam Rutigliano - Liberty Athletics Hall of Fame". NewsAdvance.com. June 15, 2015. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  30. ^ "LU to Retire Jerseys for Rutigliano and Green". Liberty University. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  31. ^ "Sam Rutigliano |Cleveland Browns". www.clevelandseniors.com. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  32. ^ Litsky, Frank (June 10, 1982). "PLAYER TELLS OF WIDE DRUG USE IN N.F.L. (Published 1982)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  33. ^ Reed, Tom (June 7, 2014). "Former Cleveland Browns coach Sam Rutigliano says relaxing NFL rules on marijuana would be a 'catastrophe'". cleveland. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  34. ^ McManamon, Pat (February 3, 2015). "Sam Rutigliano on Johnny Manziel: 'Recovery makes a life'". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  35. ^ Sam Rutigliano Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks – Pro-Football-Reference.com
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