After having won the 1960 NFL Championship and contending
strongly in ’61, the Philadelphia Eagles endured last-place finishes in 1962
and ’63. In January of 1964, 37-year-old construction executive Jerry Wolman’s
purchase of the franchise was approved by the league and he immediately fired
Head Coach Nick Skorich. Saying that he would “hire the best professional coach
available”, Wolman conducted an extensive coaching search over the next several
weeks. Among those rumored as possibilities for the job were ex-Eagles QB Norm
Van Brocklin, who was the head coach in Minnesota; Paul Brown, who had been
inactive since being fired by the Browns following the ’62 season; Otto Graham,
former star quarterback in Cleveland who was coaching collegiately at the Coast
Guard Academy; Weeb Ewbank, ex- Colts head coach now in the AFL with the New
York Jets; and a former Eagles coach, Jim Trimble, who was currently coaching
in Canada.
On February 27, 1964 Wolman introduced Joe Kuharich as
the new head coach of the Eagles (Kuharich shown at left in picture at top, with Wolman to his right). The hiring raised questions from the start.
The 46-year-old Kuharich had most recently been the NFL’s supervisor of
officials in 1963, a year after he had left the head coaching job at Notre
Dame, where he had compiled a losing record of 17-23 in four seasons.
Kuharich, a guard, had played collegiately at Notre Dame
and professionally with the Chicago Cardinals before entering the coaching
ranks. He was most successful with the University of San Francisco, where his
1951 team went undefeated, before moving
on to the Chicago Cardinals, Washington Redskins, and Notre Dame. In one season
with the Cards, they went 4-8, and while the Redskins had an 8-4 record in
1955, overall Washington was 26-32-2 in five years under Kuharich’s direction. The unprecedented losing record with the
Fighting Irish made his future coaching prospects appear dim.
NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle had been public relations
director at the University of San Francisco during Kuharich’s tenure there,
where they had become friends, and it was widely rumored that Rozelle had
pressured Wolman to hire Kuharich when the coaching job became available. While
the rumor was denied by all parties, it poisoned the atmosphere for Kuharich in
Philadelphia from the start.
Kuharich was initially hired to a four-year contract.
When asked if he was concerned about not being Wolman’s first choice, the new
coach indicated that “it doesn’t concern me in the least.” Holdover Vince
McNally was to remain as general manager, but he resigned just prior to the ’64
regular season.
Kuharich’s teams had featured strong running games, but
he indicated from the start that he wanted the Eagles to adopt a more wide-open
style. He also made a series of major
trades that radically reconstructed the roster. Gone were QB Sonny Jurgensen,
flanker Tommy McDonald, FB Clarence Peaks, HB Ted Dean, OT J.D. Smith, DB Jimmy
Carr, and LB Lee Roy Caffey. In their place arrived QB Norm Snead from the
Redskins, C Jim Ringo and FB Earl Gros from Green Bay, flanker Red Mack and DB
Glenn Glass from the Steelers, DE Don Hultz and split end Ray Poage from
Minnesota, and veteran all-purpose kicker Sam Baker from the Cowboys, who was
accompanied by DT John Meyers and offensive lineman Lynn Hoyem in the McDonald
trade. In the deal that sent Smith to Detroit, the Eagles obtained promising DT
Floyd Peters and aging HB Ollie Matson, who had played for Kuharich at USF. In
addition, the Eagles had drafted OT Bob Brown out of Nebraska in the first
round and also added highly-mobile QB Jack Concannon from Boston College in the
second. There was some fine holdover
talent in HB Timmy Brown, who had set records for all-purpose yards in each of
the previous two seasons, TE Pete Retzlaff, and MLB Dave Lloyd, among others.
The refurbished Eagles started the 1964 season off with
an impressive 38-7 win over the declining Giants on their way to a 6-8 record.
Snead had a decent year, although when given a late-season opportunity to start
against the Cowboys, Concannon put on an exciting show with his flashy running
ability while tossing two TD passes. When Timmy Brown went down with an injury,
Matson played well in relief. 17th round draft pick Mike Morgan
moved into the starting lineup at outside linebacker and undrafted free agent
safety Joe Scarpati was a pleasant surprise. Baker even set a new club record
with 16 field goals.
While the Eagles failed to beat anyone of consequence,
they were an improved team and a satisfied Jerry Wolman took the step of
signing Kuharich to a 15-year contract as general manager. It was another
eyebrow-raising move that would become a point of derision in the years ahead.
The team dropped to 5-9 in 1965 as the often-productive offense was offset by a defensive line that, while benefiting
from the play of Peters at tackle, was poor at rushing the passer and
necessitated a heavy blitzing scheme to compensate, thus putting additional
pressure on the backs. The All-Pro linebacker Baughan complained and was dealt
to the Rams after the season, soon followed by star CB Irv Cross. The deals
highlighted the growing friction between Kuharich and talented veterans with
strong personalities that led to questionable trades.
His many malapropisms, such as “We’re planning not only
for the future, but for the ensuing seasons, too” and “It’s a horse of a
different fire department”, combined with his tendency to talk in circles when
answering questions from reporters added to the negative perception of the
coach.
The Eagles put together a surprising 9-5 record in 1966
which belied several glaring weaknesses. First, Kuharich’s handling of
quarterbacks, always a source of concern, came to a head as Snead, who had
problems with consistency even in his best years, struggled and was benched in
favor of backups King Hill and Concannon. Insisting that he had “three starting
quarterbacks”, Kuharich often kept the trio in the dark up until game time as
to which would be starting. While the running game was effective, with a fine
stable of backs supplemented by the exciting Concannon when he was in the
lineup, the passing attack suffered accordingly. And while Scarpati enjoyed a
good season at free safety, the Eagles were vulnerable defensively to teams
with strong passing attacks. Despite the winning record, they were outscored
326 to 340. They earned an appearance in the Playoff Bowl, the postseason
exhibition game between second place teams in each conference, and lost to the
Colts.
Kuharich made more major trades in the offseason, dealing
Concannon to the Bears for TE Mike Ditka and Earl Gros to Pittsburgh for flanker
Gary Ballman. Snead responded with an outstanding year, but spent much of it on
his back as injuries depleted the offensive line, most notably the star tackle
Bob Brown. While split end Ben Hawkins had a breakout year, leading the league
in pass receiving yards (1265), and FB Tom Woodeshick more than adequately
replaced Gros as the starting fullback, the Eagles ended up back under .500
with a 6-7-1 record.
The Eagles crashed in an ugly 1968 season that culminated
in a 2-12 record and had Kuharich at odds with many of the players, most
notably Ditka and Ballman. “Joe Must Go” buttons were worn by disaffected fans
who booed the beleaguered coach unmercifully, and the local sportswriters, with
whom the coach always had an uneasy relationship, were quick to fan the flames.
In the meantime, Wolman had gone bankrupt and was forced to sell the club to
local trucker Leonard Tose. Tose fired Kuharich, who had 11 years left on his contract.
Joe Kuharich’s overall record in five years coaching the
Eagles was 28-41-1 and contained just the one winning season. His legacy of
questionable trades and poor handling of personnel overshadowed any successes
he had.
