 McCormack in1973 | |||||||||
| No. 71, 74 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Positions | Tackle Guard | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | (1930-06-21)June 21, 1930 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | ||||||||
| Died | November 15, 2013(2013-11-15) (aged 83) Palm Desert, California, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||||||
| Weight | 246 lb (112 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | Kansas City (MO) De LaSalle | ||||||||
| College | Kansas | ||||||||
| NFL draft | 1951: 3rd round, 34th overall pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
Playing | |||||||||
Coaching | |||||||||
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Operations | |||||||||
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| Awards and highlights | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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| Head coaching record | |||||||||
| Regular season | 29–51–1 (.364) | ||||||||
| Coaching profile at Pro Football Reference | |||||||||
| Executive profile atPro Football Reference | |||||||||
Michael Joseph McCormack Jr. (June 21, 1930 – November 15, 2013) was an American professionalfootball player, coach, and executive in theNational Football League (NFL). He played as anoffensive tackle with theCleveland Browns from1954 through1962 and served ashead coach of thePhiladelphia Eagles,Baltimore Colts, andSeattle Seahawks. He was elected to thePro Football Hall of Fame in 1984.
McCormack playedcollege football atUniversity of Kansas and assumed that he would take up a career as ahigh school coach. He was selected by theNew York Yanks in the1951 NFL draft, but had to wait until thethird round before being taken. After the1951 season concluded, he was conscripted into theU.S. Army and served in theKorean War. While he was away, the Yanks moved toDallas and became theTexans, which folded after just one season.
McCormack came home in 1954 to find that his team had ceased to exist, so he became a free agent and was immediately signed by theBaltimore Colts, a new franchise created the previous year to replace the defunct Yanks/Texans. Cleveland Browns founderPaul Brown had not forgotten seeing McCormack play in his rookie season three years earlier and was sufficiently impressed that he decided to add him to the roster in a trade exchange with Baltimore. In his first season with the team in1954, he played on thedefensive line, and famously grabbed the ball out of Lions QBBobby Layne's hands (in what the referees ruled as a fumble recovery) in the1954 NFL Championship game against theDetroit Lions, helping set up an important earlytouchdown.
The following season, he was shifted tooffensive tackle and helped the Browns once again capture theNFL title. He played a key role in helping legendaryrunning backJim Brown become one of the dominant players in the game, ending his career with six selections to thePro Bowl.
Paul Brown, legendary Cleveland Browns founder, owner, and coach, stated in his 1979 memoir,PB: The Paul Brown Story, "I consider (Mike) McCormack the finest offensive tackle who ever played pro football."[1][2] Also, according toPaul Zimmerman's 1984 book,The New Thinking Man's Guide to Pro Football, Brown also stated that McCormack was the best offensive lineman he ever coached.[3] The book states that McCormack "[c]ould handle the Colts'Gino Marchetti better than any tackle in the game. Power combined with great intelligence and 4.8 speed. 'I've seen him have games,' former player and NFL executiveBucko Kilroy says, 'where if you were grading him, he'd score 100. Not one mistake, and his guy would never make a tackle.'"
McCormack retired from playing in 1962 and began coaching with the first of four consecutive stints as an assistant in the annualCollege All-Star Game. In1965, he was hired as an assistant coach with theWashington Redskins, spending the next eight seasons working under four different head coaches, including former teammateOtto Graham from1966–1968.
McCormack was hired to replaceEd Khayat as head coach of thePhiladelphia Eagles on January 17,1973. He inherited a team that ended1972 in theNFC East cellar at 2–11–1 and hadn't had a winning campaign since1966.[4] Three seasons and a 16–25–1 record later, he was dismissed on December 22,1975, following a 4–10 last-place finish.[5]
After four years as offensive line coach with theCincinnati Bengals from1976 through1979,[6] he was selected overFrank Kush andGeorge Welsh to succeedTed Marchibroda as head coach of theBaltimore Colts on January 17,1980. The ballclub finished in last place at 5–11 in each of the two seasons prior to McCormack's arrival.[7] When the Colts fell from 7–9 in1980 to2–14 the following year, he was fired on December 21,1981, and replaced by Kush the next day.[8] As McCormack put it, "I wanted to be like my mentor, Paul Brown. He was a great teacher and I tried to do the same but unfortunately I always let my emotions carry me away."
In1982, McCormack joined theSeattle Seahawks, eventually becoming president andgeneral manager. That year, the Seahawks lost their first two games, then a 57-dayplayers strike ensued. During the hiatus, seventh-year head coachJack Patera was fired in mid-October and McCormack took over as interim head coach.[9][10] He led them to a 4–3 record, the only time he compiled a winning record as an NFL head coach, but Seattle did not qualify for the16-team postseason. McCormack then returned to his management position when the Seahawks hiredChuck Knox as their new head coach in1983 and declined all further offers to become a head coach.
In late January1989, he was abruptly fired by the new Seahawks owner,Ken Behring, who explained the decision was necessary in order to make changes in the financial operations of the team.[11][12] Later that year, McCormack became a consultant forJerry Richardson and his ownership group that were seeking to land an NFLexpansion team inCharlotte, North Carolina. In 1993, he was hired by the newly-formedCarolina Panthers as their team president and general manager, and their inaugural season was in1995. He retired from the Panthers organization in1997, which erected a monument in their stadium honoring him.
At the age of 83 in 2013, McCormack died of heart failure inPalm Desert, California.[13]