Bobby Ross

Robert Joseph Ross (born December 23, 1936) is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at The Citadel (1973–1977), the University of Maryland, College Park (1982–1986), the Georgia Institute of Technology (1987–1991), and the United States Military Academy (2004–2006), compiling a career college football record of 103–101–2. Ross was also the head coach of the National Football League's San Diego Chargers from 1992 to 1996 and the Detroit Lions from 1997 to 2000, tallying a career NFL mark of 77–68. He guided his 1990 Georgia Tech squad to the UPI national championship and coached the 1994 San Diego Chargers to an appearance in Super Bowl XXIX.

For other people named Bobby Ross, see Bobby Ross (disambiguation).

Bobby Ross
Ross as Army coach in 2004
Biographical details
Born (1936-12-23) December 23, 1936
Richmond, Virginia
Playing career
1956–1958VMI
Position(s)Quarterback, defensive back
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1965–1966VMI (Freshmen/ADB)
1967–1968William & Mary (QB/RB)
1969–1970William & Mary (DB/DC/RC)
1971Rice (LB/RC)
1972Maryland (LB)
1973–1977The Citadel
1978–1979Kansas City Chiefs (ST)
1980–1981Kansas City Chiefs (QB/RB)
1982–1986Maryland
1987–1991Georgia Tech
1992–1996San Diego Chargers
1997–2000Detroit Lions
2004–2006Army
Head coaching record
Overall103–101–2 (college)
77–68 (NFL)
Bowls4–2
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
1 National (1990)
4 ACC (1983–1985, 1990)
1994 AFC Championship
Awards

Education and playing career

After graduating from Benedictine High School in 1955, Ross enrolled at the Virginia Military Institute, where he started at quarterback and defensive back for two seasons and served as captain of the football team as a senior. Ross graduated from VMI in 1959 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and history.

Coaching career

Early years

Following a tour of duty in the United States Army as a first lieutenant (1960–1962), Ross found work coaching high school football. He coached at Colonial Heights High School, and at his own nearby alma mater of Benedictine, both located near Richmond, Virginia. He then moved on to coaching at the college level, starting with assistant coaching stints at William & Mary, Rice, and Maryland before accepting his first head coaching job in 1973 at The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, located in Charleston, South Carolina.

Ross was the 16th head football coach at The Citadel and held that position for five seasons, from 1973 until 1977. His record at The Citadel was 24 –31.[1]

1990 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, National Champions

Ross then spent four years as an assistant coach with the Kansas City Chiefs (1978–1981) under head coach Marv Levy,[2] before returning to the collegiate ranks as head coach at Maryland. He won three consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Championships from 1983 to 1985. After four years, Ross left Maryland and was introduced as head coach of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team. on Jan. 5, 1987. As head coach of Georgia Tech in 1990, he led the Jackets to an 11–0–1 record and the ACC championship—the school's first conference title since 1952, while they were still in the Southeastern Conference. They also won a share of the national championship by finishing first in the final Coaches' Poll. Ross won the Paul "Bear" Bryant Award and the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award.[3][4][5]

San Diego Chargers

He then left to become head coach of the San Diego Chargers,[6] where the highlight of his tenure would be an AFC Championship and San Diego's first trip to the Super Bowl after the 1994 season where they fell to the 49ers, 49-26. Ross' first season in San Diego (1992) saw the Chargers drop the first four regular season games, but they recovered to win 11 of their final 12 games to win the AFC West, their first division title since 1981.[2] In his five seasons with the Chargers, they won two division titles and made the playoffs three times. His regular season coaching record with the Chargers was 47–33, and 3–3 in the playoffs.

Detroit Lions

Following the 1996 season, Ross left the Chargers to take a more lucrative, and perhaps more rewarding position as the head coach of the Detroit Lions, where he would have control of all player personnel decisions and be able to hire his own staff. He held the position until the middle of the 2000 season. Detroit had long been considered underachievers under Wayne Fontes, and Ross was brought in to provide the team a more structured atmosphere. It was a challenging endeavor, as Detroit had developed somewhat of a "country club" atmosphere under Fontes' leadership, and veteran players on the roster ultimately came to resent Ross for running tougher practices, instilling weight requirements, curfews, etc. Ross sought to change the identity of the Detroit Lions, having them become a more traditional, physical, football team, less dependent on Hall of Fame running back Barry Sanders for success.

He structured his drafts accordingly, drafting highly regarded college offensive linemen such as Stockar McDougle and Aaron Gibson, neither of which panned out professionally. Ultimately, Ross was unable to change the culture in Detroit. He became frustrated at what he perceived to be the team's lack of effort, accusing them of just playing for their paychecks.[7] In November 2000, following a home loss to the Miami Dolphins, having had enough of what he called his team's unwillingness to "fight back," he resigned in mid-season.[8] Although his frustration with the Lions organization was evident, Ross later claimed that his primary reason for leaving when he did was due to blood clots in his legs.[2] It is also noteworthy to mention that the 1999 Detroit team achieved the playoffs—albeit with an 8-8 record after losses in the final four regular season games, plus a first-round exit against the Washington Redskins—despite the unexpected retirement of Barry Sanders prior to training camp.

Army Black Knights

As head coach at Army, Ross reportedly received $600,000 in annual salary, which was seen as evidence of Army's eagerness to right the program after the team's 0–13 record in 2003.[9] During his three-year term as Army head coach, Ross improved their record to 9–25, up from 4–32 over the three years before Ross's arrival. Ross retired from coaching in 2007.[10][11]

Personal life

Ross and his wife, Alice, have three sons, two daughters, and 18 grandchildren. Their sons Chris and Kevin graduated from the United States Air Force Academy and United States Naval Academy, in 1984 and 1988, respectively. Kevin served for a time as Army's offensive coordinator and running backs coach under his father, but was not kept in that post under Ross's replacement, Stan Brock. Chris is currently the coach for Fairfax Home School's varsity soccer team, based in Fairfax, Virginia.[12][13]

Honors

In 1997, Ross was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.

Head coaching record

College
Year Team Overall ConferenceStanding Bowl/playoffs Coaches# AP°
The Citadel Bulldogs (Southern Conference) (1973–1977)
1973 The Citadel 3–81–6T–6th
1974 The Citadel 4–72–4T–6th
1975 The Citadel 6–53–33rd
1976 The Citadel 6–52–4T–6th
1977 The Citadel 5–63–22nd
The Citadel: 24–3111–19
Maryland Terrapins (Atlantic Coast Conference) (1982–1986)
1982 Maryland 8–45–12ndL Aloha2020
1983 Maryland 8–45–11stL Florida Citrus
1984 Maryland 9–36–01stW Sun1112
1985 Maryland 9–36–01stW Cherry1918
1986 Maryland 5–5–12–3–15th
Maryland: 39–19–124–5–1
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (Atlantic Coast Conference) (1987–1991)
1987 Georgia Tech 2–90–68th
1988 Georgia Tech 3–80–78th
1989 Georgia Tech 7–44–3T–4th
1990 Georgia Tech 11–0–16–0–11stW Florida Citrus12
1991 Georgia Tech 8–55–22ndW Aloha
Georgia Tech: 31–26–115–18–1
Army Black Knights (Conference USA) (2004)
2004 Army 2–92–6T–10th
Army Black Knights (NCAA Division I-A/FBS independent) (2005–2006)
2005 Army 4–7
2006 Army 3–9
Army: 9–252–6
Total:103–101–2
      National championship         Conference title         Conference division title or championship game berth

NFL
TeamYearRegular seasonPost season
WonLostTiesWin %FinishWonLostWin %Result
SD1992 1150.6881st in AFC West11.500Lost to Miami Dolphins in AFC Divisional Game
SD1993 880.5004th in AFC West————
SD1994 1150.6881st in AFC West21.677Lost to San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XXIX
SD1995 970.5632nd in AFC West01.000Lost to Indianapolis Colts in AFC Wild Card Game
SD1996 880.5003rd in AFC West————
SD Total47330.58833.500
DET1997 970.5633rd in NFC North01.000Lost to Tampa Bay Buccaneers in NFC Wild Card Game
DET1998 5110.3134th in NFC North————
DET1999 880.5003rd in NFC North01.000Lost to Washington Redskins in NFC Wild Card Game
DET2000 540.556Resigned after week 10————
DET Total27300.47402.000
Total74630.54035.375
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References
  1. Citadel Coaching Records Archived April 2, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
  2. Rodriguez, Justin (June 30, 2006). "Army's Bobby Ross: A lifetime in football". Times Herald-Record. Retrieved August 10, 2007.
  3. Clarke, Michael (September 16, 2005). "Football program builds on strong history". The Technique. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved August 10, 2007.
  4. "1990 National Championship". New Georgia Encyclopedia. Retrieved August 10, 2007.
  5. "Past Winners". Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation. Archived from the original on September 2, 2007. Retrieved August 10, 2007.
  6. "SPORTS PEOPLE: PRO FOOTBALL; Ross to Leave Ga. Tech And Coach Chargers". The New York Times. January 1, 1992. Retrieved August 10, 2007.
  7. Freeman, Mike (October 11, 1998). "PRO FOOTBALL: NOTEBOOK; Ross Accuses His Lethargic Lions (1-4) of Playing Only for Their Paychecks". The New York Times. Retrieved November 4, 2007.
  8. George, Thomas (November 8, 2000). "ON PRO FOOTBALL; In Detroit, a Coach Is Undone in Full View". The New York Times. Retrieved November 4, 2007.
  9. Pennington, Bill (December 27, 2003). "COLLEGE FOOTBALL; Army Views Hiring as Money Well Spent". The New York Times. Retrieved May 30, 2007.
  10. "Bobby Ross Announces Retirement From Coaching". goarmysports.com. January 29, 2007. Retrieved August 10, 2007.
  11. "Ross retires after 3-9 season at Army". ESPN. go.com. January 29, 2007. Retrieved August 10, 2007.
  12. Team Roster
  13. Team Bulletins
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