 George Young | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1930-09-22)September 22, 1930 Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. |
| Died | December 8, 2001(2001-12-08) (aged 71) Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. |
| Career information | |
| High school | Calvert Hall (Towson, Maryland) |
| College | Bucknell |
| NFL draft | 1952: 26th round, 302nd overall pick |
| Career history | |
Coaching | |
| |
Operations | |
| |
| Awards and highlights | |
| |
| Executive profile atPro Football Reference | |
George Bernard Young (September 22, 1930 – December 8, 2001) was an American professionalfootball executive. He served as thegeneral manager of theNew York Giants from 1979 to 1997. He was named NFL Executive of the Year five times.
Young was born on September 22, 1930, inBaltimore, Maryland. Young grew up in Baltimore's 10th Ward (east Baltimore) in a tough Irish-Catholic neighborhood.[1] He was an outstanding football player atCalvert Hall College, a Catholic high school then located in Baltimore, Maryland. He attendedBucknell University, where he was a starting defensive tackle for three seasons, team captain in 1951, and a member of thePhi Lambda Theta fraternity. He was named to the Little All-America first team and All-East first team in his senior year. Selected to play in the Blue–Gray game, he was selected by theDallas Texans in the1952 NFL draft.
Young then began a coaching career in the Baltimore area school system, briefly at Calvert Hall and then he took over theBaltimore City College football team.[1] During a 15-year span,his teams won six Maryland Scholastic Association championships.Tom Gatewood, tight end,[2] and John Sykes, running back,[3] were two of Coach Young's City athletes who would make it to the NFL,Kurt Schmoke,[1] quarterback, andCurt Anderson, linebacker, established themselves in the political realm. Young was especially proud of his years as an educator, during which he taught history and political science. During that time he also earned two master's degrees from Johns Hopkins University and Loyola College. In May 1987, he was awarded an honorary doctorate in humane letters fromWestern Maryland College.
Prior to joining the Giants, Young was on the staffs of theBaltimore Colts (1968–1974), holding positions of scout, offensive line coach, director of player personnel, and offensive coordinator, and theMiami Dolphins (1975–1978), serving as director of personnel and pro scouting.
Young signed a five‐year contract to become general manager of theNew York Giants on February 14, 1979. He succeeded operations directorAndy Robustelli, who had resigned 58 days earlier on December 18, 1978. His selection was a compromise between the team's co-ownersWellington Mara and his nephewTim, both of whom had been feuding over the football operations since the late-1960s. Wellington's attempt to promote assistant director of football operationsTerry Bledsoe and Tim's recommendation of hiring eitherGil Brandt orDon Klosterman had only resulted in mutual disapproval.[4]
Young joined a franchise which had only two winning seasons and no playoff appearances (in any format) in the 15 years since advancing to the NFL title game in 1963. The drought was extended byThe Fumble the previous November. The ensuing fallout cost Robustelli, head coachJohn McVay and offensive coordinatorBob Gibson their jobs. Wellington Mara had made the Giants' football decisions himself since joining the organization in the 1930s, and continued to do so even after becoming part-owner of the team upon the death of his father,Tim, in 1958. He had ceded some of his authority to Robustelli in 1973, but continued to have the final say in football matters. The fan revolt in the wake of The Fumble, however, finally convinced the Maras of the need to modernize. They were thus more than willing to accede to Young's demand that he be given complete authority over the football side of the operation.
In building the Giants Young placed special emphasis on theNFL draft. From his inaugural draft in 1979 through the 1995 selection process, he succeeded in signing every player drafted over that span, and from those drafts, a total of 119 players made the club at one time or another. Instrumental in his reversal of the Giants’ fortunes was his drafting of standout players such asPhil Simms,Lawrence Taylor,Joe Morris, andCarl Banks, and selectingBill Parcells as the club's head coach.
For most of his tenure, Young acted as a go-between for Wellington and Tim, who only spoke to each other sporadically even after Young took over. Typically, Young would listen to one Mara's suggestions and run them by the other.[5]
During Young's tenure, the Giants earned eight playoff berths, highlighted by victories in Super BowlsXXI andXXV, and compiled an overall record of 155–139–2. He was named NFL Executive of the Year a record five times: in 1984, 1986, 1990, 1993, and 1997. Young also served as chairman of the NFL's Competition Committee.
Despite Young's success during the 1980s, that success would not continue into the 1990s. One of his first mistakes was his choice of a new head coach for the Giants after the May 1991 resignation ofBill Parcells. Young's selection ofRay Handley was not met with success as Handley won a total of 14 games in his two-year stint. Young—an opponent of free agency—seemed to lose his touch following the introduction of the free agency cycle following the1992 regular season. He struggled to adapt to the system, along with the introduction of a salary cap in 1994; he signed several players to overvalued contracts while losing much of the Giants core talent to other franchises following free agency's inception.
In addition, Young's draft magic seemed to disappear. From 1991 to 1996, the Giants drafted six consecutive first round busts, although his later round selections during that time period would consist of several prominent, elite players, such as defensive tackleKeith Hamilton, defensive endMichael Strahan, cornerbackPhillippi Sparks, linebackerJessie Armstead, cornerbackJason Sehorn, fullbackCharles Way, wide receiverAmani Toomer, and running backTiki Barber. Young retired following the1997 season, handing his duties over to assistantErnie Accorsi.
George Young joined theNational Football League as senior vice president of football operations on February 2, 1998, after serving 19 years as general manager of theNew York Giants.
Young was a resident ofUpper Saddle River, New Jersey.[6]
Young died of a rare neurological disease on December 8, 2001, in Baltimore.[7]
The George Young Award is presented annually byThe National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and Museum to the person, Jewish or non-Jewish, who "has best exemplified the high ideals that George Young displayed".[8][9]
On January 15, 2020, Young was elected to thePro Football Hall of Fame Centennial Class of 2020.[10]