Ron Meyer

Meyer sometime between 1973 and 1975
Biographical details
Born	(1941-02-17)February 17, 1941 Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
Died	December 5, 2017(2017-12-05) (aged 76) Lakeway, Texas, U.S.
Playing career
1961–1962	Purdue
Position(s)	Quarterback,defensive back
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1964	Penn HS (IN)
1965–1970	Purdue (assistant)
1971–1972	Dallas Cowboys (scout)
1973–1975	UNLV
1976–1981	SMU
1982–1984	New England Patriots
1986–1991	Indianapolis Colts
1994	Las Vegas Posse
2001	Chicago Enforcers
Head coaching record
Overall	61–40–1 (college) 54–50 (NFL) 5–13 (CFL) 5–6 (XFL)
Bowls	0–2
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
SWC (1981)
Awards
SWC Coach of the Year (1981)

Ronald Shaw Meyer (February 17, 1941 – December 5, 2017) was an American college and professionalfootball coach. He served as the head football coach at theUniversity of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) from 1973 to 1975 andSouthern Methodist University (SMU) from 1976 to 1981, and as a head coach in theNational Football League (NFL), with theNew England Patriots from 1982 to 1984 and theIndianapolis Colts from 1986 to 1991.

Ron was born on February 17, 1941 inWesterville, Ohio to George Meyer and Mary Harsha.^{[1]: 197 [2]: 18} George was an alcoholic who was frequently absent from Ron's childhood, as Westerville was adry town, forbidding the sale of alcohol. Mary took most of the burden of raising Ron alongside an older brother and two sisters. Mary later left George after all of her children had become independent.^{[2]: 18–19}

AtWesterville High School, Ron played football, basketball, and baseball, and he wasclass president each year. Shortly after graduation, Meyer married Carolyn, his high school's homecoming queen, who was pregnant and due in February of the following year.^{[2]: 19–21}

Meyer sought to go toOhio State due to their success in football in the 50s, though it became clear that Ohio State would not accept him.George Steinbrenner, a onetime graduate assistant on thePurdue Boilermakers football team, led Meyer to believe that he could arrange a scholarship for Meyer. When Meyer visitedPurdue's football office, however, Steinbrenner was not present and nobody else knew of the supposed scholarship. Meyer and his mother persisted, and CoachJack Mollenkopf eventually relented, letting Meyer onto the football team and giving him a scholarship.^{[2]: 19–22}

Meyer served as head coach forPenn High School's football team for a year.^[2]: 22 From 1965 to 1970, he was an assistant coach on the Purdue football team, coaching future NFL quarterbacksBob Griese andMike Phipps. From 1971 to 1972, he worked as ascout alongsideBucko Kilroy for theDallas Cowboys.^[1]: 197

Following a season of poor performance, theUniversity of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV)Rebels hired Meyer in 1973, who successfully turned the program around. In the following three seasons, the Rebels went 27–8, with an undefeated regular season at 11–0 in1974.^[3]: 120 In the wake of Meyer's later involvement in theSMU football scandal, former Rebels playerWayne Nunnely said of their sudden turnaround "I felt, uh, things moved awfully fast here, too. There were a lot of players in here really fast. That’s as far as I’ll go on that one."^{[2]: 24–25}

In January1976, Meyer was hired as the head coach atSouthern Methodist University (SMU) inDallas,^[4] where he led theMustangs for six seasons. This tenure included winning theSouthwest Conference championship in1981 with running backsEric Dickerson andCraig James. While at SMU, Meyer was the losing coach in the famous "Miracle Bowl" in the1980 Holiday Bowl, whereSMU held a 45–25 lead againstBYU with less than four minutes to play in the fourth quarter, only to lose 46–45 thanks to three touchdown passes from Cougar quarterbackJim McMahon.^[5][6]

While at SMU, Meyer was noted for his unusual success in recruitment for a small private university; he was able to recruit top-rated high school recruits such asEric Dickerson andCraig James.^[7]: 14 Unlike other Texas coaches at the time, Meyer recruited players regardless of race, creating a connection between SMU and inner-city and predominantly Black Texas schools. This decision was usually framed as charity or asocial justice initiative, but internally, it was couched as aninvestment.^{[7]: 18–19} Meyer was also implicated in the creation of aslush fund used to recruit new players through monthly payments or paying for moving expenses, ultimately resulting in theSMU football scandal.^[7]: 15

Meyer moved to the pros in1982, where he coached theNew England Patriots for three seasons. He was named the AFC Coach of the Year in his first season where he led the New England Patriots to the playoffs in thestrike-shortened1982 season after the team had finished with the league's worst record theprior season.^{[8]: 58–59} During theSnowplow Game against theMiami Dolphins on December 12, 1982, under heavy snow atFoxboro Stadium with 4:45 remaining in the game, the Patriots lined up for a go-ahead field goal. Meyer called for a stadium worker named Mark Henderson (who was on a prison work release) to drive his snowplow on the field in order to clear an area for holderMatt Cavanaugh to spot the ball and to give kickerJohn Smith better footing. The Patriots went on to win the game, 3–0, on their way to their first playoff appearance since the 1978 season.^{[1]: 198 [9]}

The players despised Meyer, though Meyer was apparently unaware of this.John Hannah, Smith and Patriots GMPatrick Sullivan all questioned Meyer's skill at football. The hatred of Meyer grew to a point where Sullivan was forced to hold player-only meetings. In October 1984, Meyer responded by firing assistant coachRod Rust, but Sullivan replaced Meyer withRaymond Berry (who rehired Rust) the next day, which was met with celebration among the players.^{[10]: 71–72 [1]: 198}

Meyer returned to Dallas, and, along with former assistantSteve Endicott, founded sports agency Athletic Associates.^[2]: 218 The agency loaned over a hundred thousand dollars to eight college football players, resulting in a 1991 lawsuit when the players failed to repay the loans.^[11]

After initially agreeing to accept the open head coach position at his collegiate alma mater,Purdue;^[12] Meyer left Athletic Associates and accepted the now vacant Indianapolis Colts head coach position.^[2]: 218 When he accepted the job late in the 1986 season, the Colts were 0–13 at the time. Meyer promptly led the Colts to 3 straight victories to finish 3–13. A year later, he won theAFC East title with the Colts. It was the franchise's first winning season and playoff appearance since 1977, when the team was still in Baltimore. Meyer once again won the AFC Coach of the Year.^[13] He was helped in large part by being reunited with his former college standout,Eric Dickerson, who was acquired by the Colts in a three-team, 10-player trade involving theLos Angeles Rams andBuffalo Bills.^[1]: 198

Meyer's tenure crested at that point. He was unable to get another postseason berth in Indianapolis, slipping by one game in each of the next three seasons, from 9–7 in 1988, to 8–8 in1989 and 7–9 in1990, despite the selection of quarterbackJeff George with the first overall pick in the1990 draft. He traded up in the draft to obtain George, which included sending star players, receiverAndre Rison, linemanChris Hinton, and the Colts' first-round pick in1991 to theAtlanta Falcons.^[14] In1991, when the Colts started off 0–5, he was fired and replaced withRick Venturi. GMJim Irsay criticized Meyer for his draft picks and decision making.^{[14][1]: 198}

Following his dismissal, Meyer became a pro football analyst forCNN.^[15]

In 1994, Meyer returned to coaching again. This time Meyer became the head coach of theCanadian Football League'sLas Vegas Posse franchise.^[16] The heat was so extreme that Meyer allowed coaches to go shirtless and barefoot during practice.^[17] Poor attendance prompted the firing of the Posse's CEONick Mileti, after which Meyer quipped "This is the first time the owner was fired before I was."^[18]: 49 The Posse finished the season 5–13, and, despite attempts to move the team toSan Antonio, Texas orJackson, Mississippi, the team folded.^{[1]: 198 : 54 [18]} Florida businessman Bruce Frey planned to buy the team and rebrand it to theMiami Manatees retaining Meyer as coach, but Frey pulled after an exhibition game demonstrated little local interest.^[19][20]

Meyer returned to his position at CNN, also appearing on theCNN/SI network.^{[1]: 198 [21]} He was also an NFL analyst for the showThe Score on the NFL on the Canadian sports channelThe Score.^[22]

In 2001, Meyer was the coach of theXFL'sChicago Enforcers franchise, which he intended to use as a stepping stone to return to the NFL.^[16] The team would finish 5–5 and would lose to the eventual champion, theLos Angeles Xtreme, in the league semifinals. After the season, the XFL folded.^[23]

Meyer died on December 5, 2017, at age 76 from anaortic aneurysm while playing golf with friends inLakeway, Texas.^[9][24]

• 1941 births
• 2017 deaths
• American football defensive backs
• American football quarterbacks
• Indianapolis Colts coaches
• Chicago Enforcers coaches
• Dallas Cowboys scouts
• Deaths from aortic aneurysm
• New England Patriots coaches
• New England Patriots head coaches
• Players of American football from Columbus, Ohio
• Purdue Boilermakers football coaches
• Purdue Boilermakers football players
• Purdue University alumni
• SMU Mustangs football coaches
• UNLV Rebels football coaches
• Indianapolis Colts head coaches

• Articles with short description
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• Use mdy dates from July 2024