 Raye at 49ers training camp in August 2010 | |
| No. 30 | |
|---|---|
| Position: | Cornerback |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | (1946-03-26)March 26, 1946 (age 79) Fayetteville, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Height: | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
| Weight: | 185 lb (84 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school: | E. E. Smith (Fayetteville, North Carolina) |
| College: | Michigan State |
| NFL draft: | 1968: 16th round, 431st pick |
| Career history | |
As a player: | |
As a coach: | |
| |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Coaching profile at Pro Football Reference | |
| Stats atPro Football Reference | |
James Arthur Raye Jr. (born March 26, 1946) is anAmerican football coach and former player.
Raye attended the segregatedE. E. Smith High School inFayetteville, North Carolina.
In college, as aquarterback, Raye was the backup for theMichigan State Spartans football team that played in the1966 Rose Bowl, and he started for the1966 Spartans in the famous10–10 tie with Notre Dame, a game often referred to as "The Game of the Century." He was the South's first black quarterback to win a national title, on the 1966 Michigan State team. (The first black quarterback to win a national title wasMinnesota'sSandy Stephens, fromUniontown, Pennsylvania, in 1960.) Raye and College Football Hall of FamersBubba Smith (from Texas),George Webster (South Carolina) andGene Washington (Texas) arrived at Michigan State from the segregated South as part of head coachDuffy Daugherty's Underground Railroad.
Raye was drafted by theLos Angeles Rams for the position ofcornerback but was quickly traded to thePhiladelphia Eagles.
Raye began his coaching career in 1971 at his alma mater, Michigan State, where he stayed for five years (1971–75). He served a brief stint atWyoming in 1976 andTexas in 1977 before moving to the NFL ranks in 1977.
He coached in the NFL for a total of 36 years with 10 different teams, serving asoffensive coordinator for 13 seasons: 1983–84 with theLos Angeles Rams, 1985–86 with theTampa Bay Buccaneers, 1990 with theNew England Patriots, 1998–2000 with theKansas City Chiefs, 2001 with theWashington Redskins, 2004–05 with theOakland Raiders (where he was also assistant head coach), and 2009–10 with theSan Francisco 49ers.
Following the2009 49ers season, Raye was praised for his ability to adapt the offense after key players were injured, and he continued as the 49ers' offensive coordinator to start the 2010 season. This was the first time in seven years that the 49ers had an offensive coordinator return to the team for consecutive seasons.[1][2] But Raye was fired after the 49ers lost their first three games of 2010.[3]
In 1998 he founded theJimmy Raye Youth Foundation for underprivileged youngsters.[4]
His son,Jimmy Raye III, is currently the senior executive advisor to the GM for theCleveland Browns.
