Former Giants Head Coach Ray Perkins Passes Away at His Home
Ray Perkins, the former Giants head coach who helped usher in a new era of Giants football before leaving the team to head up the University of Alabama’s football program, has passed away at 79, according to an Alabama.com report.
Perkins was a standout wide receiver at Alabama during the 1964-68 seasons. He was drafted by the Baltimore Colts and was a member of two Super Bowl teams, III in 1969 and V in 1971, Perkins’ final year as a player.
He turned to coaching two years after his playing career ended, first as an assistant for Mississippi State in 1973, and then moving on to a string of NFL jobs. Those jobs included Patriots receiver coaches (1974-77), Chargers offensive coordinator (1978), and Giants head coach (1979-82).
Although Perkins was only with the Giants for four seasons—he’d leave the team after the 1982 season to return to Alabama where he succeeded the legendary Paul “Bear” Bryant—Perkins laid the Giants' foundation for success in the 1980s.
He hired up and coming assistant coaches such as Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick, who would become Super Bowl-winning head coaches in their careers, and Romeo Crennell, a veteran NFL head coach who is currently the interim head coach of the Texans.
Perkins went 23-34 as head coach of the Giants, but nestled among that record was a 9-7 season in 1981, the first year the Giants qualified for a playoff berth in 18 seasons.
After leaving the Giants for the job he couldn’t refuse, Perkins coached the Crimson Tide from 1983-86, going 32-15-1, and winning three bowl games. Perkins returned to the NFL as head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a position he held from 1987-90.
After a year off, he spent one season at Arkansas State before making one last run at the NFL, where he was the Raiders offensive coordinator in 1997 and the Browns tight ends and running backs coach in 1999 and 2000, respectively.
Perkins was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 1990.
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