Hudson Houck
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Retired | |
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Position: | Center |
Personal information | |
Born: | Los Angeles, California, U.S. | January 7, 1943
Career information | |
College: | USC |
Career history | |
As a coach: | |
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Career highlights and awards | |
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Hudson Houck (born January 7, 1943) is an American
Playing career and coaching beginnings
Houck attended and graduated from Eagle Rock High School in Los Angeles. In 1960 he was selected first string All City Center.
Houck was a center for the Trojans of Southern California from 1962 to 1964. He won a national championship as a member of the 1962 team.
He began his coaching career as an assistant coach for Crescenta Valley High School in California. Following two years in the United States Army, Houck resumed his role at Crescenta Valley.
In 1970 Houck coached the freshmen team at Southern California, and after two years he became the
Houck returned to his alma mater in 1976, coaching the offensive line at Southern California. During this time, he helped send numerous Trojans to the National Football League including Marvin Powell, Pat Howell, Brad Budde, Anthony Muñoz, Keith Van Horne, Chris Foote, Roy Foster, Bruce Matthews, Don Mosebar and Tony Slaton, among others. This group helped lead the way for Heisman Trophy-winning running backs Charles White and Marcus Allen, in addition to another USC great, Ricky Bell, an NFL first-round draft choice in 1977.
Pro coaching career
Houck's first pro coaching experience came with the
.Over that time with the Rams, there were seven different individual 1,000-yard rushing seasons and four individual league rushing titles, including an NFL-record 2,105 yards by Eric Dickerson in 1984. Over that stretch, five different Rams offensive linemen were voted to a combined 21 Pro Bowls, including Jackie Slater (7 trips), Doug Smith (6), Kent Hill (3), Dennis Harrah (3) and Tom Newberry (2). In the final three years of Houck’s tenure with the Rams, quarterback Jim Everett passed for more yards than any other signal caller over this span, and he also did not miss a start from 1988-91 in part due to the pass protection by Houck's blockers.
Houck spent one season as offensive line coach for the Seattle Seahawks in 1992. Seahawks running back Chris Warren logged the first 1,000-yard rushing season of his career with Houck tutoring his blockers.
Houck spent the next nine years coaching the
After the firing of Chan Gailey in 2000, he was considered as one of the candidates to take over the head coaching duties of the Dallas Cowboys, which eventually went to Dave Campo.[2]
With the San Diego Chargers from 2002 to 2004, Houck transformed one of the league's worst offensive lines to one of the best. Running back LaDainian Tomlinson rushed for more than 1,300 yards in each of Houck's three seasons with the team. With five new starters on the line in 2004, the Chargers ranked tenth in total offense and sixth in rushing. The Chargers allowed fewer than 25 sacks per season under Houck.
Houck was hired to work for the
After the Dolphins' 1-15 2007 season, Houck was fired along with most of the Dolphins' coaching staff by incoming Vice President of Football Operations Bill Parcells.[citation needed] Jerry Jones re-hired Houck when Parcells hired Cowboys line coach Tony Sparano to serve as the Dolphins' head coach.
References
- ^ Cowboys replace Hudson Houck
- ^ Jaime Aron (January 27, 2000). "Cowboys Name Dave Campo as New Head Coach". Lakeland Ledger.