John Ralston (American football)
Biographical details | |
---|---|
Born | Oakland, California, U.S. | April 26, 1927
Died | September 14, 2019 Sunnyvale, California, U.S. | (aged 92)
Playing career | |
1948–1950 | California |
Position(s) | Linebacker |
Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
1953–1954 | San Lorenzo HS (CA) |
1956–1958 | California (assistant) |
1959–1962 | Utah State |
1963–1971 | Stanford |
1972–1976 | Denver Broncos |
1978 | Philadelphia Eagles (OC) |
1981 | Toronto Argonauts (assistant) |
1983–1984 | Oakland Invaders |
1993–1996 | San Jose State |
Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
1979–1980 | San Francisco 49ers (VP of admin.) |
1997–2013 | San Jose State (special asst.) |
Head coaching record | |
Overall | 97–81–4 (college) 34–33–3 (NFL) 9–12 (USFL) |
Bowls | 2–2 |
Accomplishments and honors | |
Championships | |
2 AAWU/Pac-8 (1970–1971) | |
Awards | |
Sporting News College Football COY (1970) | |
College Football Hall of Fame Inducted in 1992 (profile) |
John R. Ralston (April 26, 1927 – September 14, 2019) was an American football player, coach, and sports executive. He served as the head football coach at Utah State University (1959–1962), Stanford University (1963–1971), and San Jose State University (1993–1996), compiling a career college football record of 97–81–4. Ralston also coached the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL) from 1972 to 1976, amassing a record of 34–33–3, and the Oakland Invaders of the United States Football League (USFL) in 1983 and part of the 1984 season, tallying a mark of 9–12. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1992.
Early life, education, and playing career
Born in
Coaching career
Ralston began his coaching career in 1952 at
In 1972, Ralston departed the
After leaving the Broncos, Ralston held several assistant coaching jobs which included the Philadelphia Eagles, the San Francisco 49ers, the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League, and as a head coach in the USFL with the Oakland Invaders. Ralston also coached in Europe. He was the head coach of the Dutch Lions, the national football team of the Netherlands. With the Lions, Ralston won the bronze medal in the European Championships in Helsinki, Finland in 1991. After being inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1992, Ralston came out of retirement in 1993 to be head coach at San Jose State University. After the 1996 season, Ralston resigned from the position to become special assistant to athletic director Tom Brennan.[2] Ralston later became special assistant to the football team, where he remained until the 2013 season.[3] He died on September 14, 2019, at the age of 92.[4]
Head coaching record
College
Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches# | AP° | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Utah State Aggies (Skyline Conference) (1959–1961) | |||||||||
1959 | Utah State | 5–6 | 2–5 | T–5th | |||||
1960 | Utah State | 9–2 | 6–1 | T–1st | L Sun | ||||
1961 | Utah State | 9–1–1 | 5–0–1 | T–1st | L Gotham | 10 | 10 | ||
Utah State Aggies (NCAA University Division independent) (1962) | |||||||||
1962 | Utah State | 8–2 | |||||||
Utah State: | 31–11–1 | 13–6–1 | |||||||
Stanford Indians (Athletic Association of Western Universities) (1963–1967) | |||||||||
1963 | Stanford | 3–7 | 1–4 | 6th | |||||
1964 | Stanford | 5–5 | 3–4 | 5th | |||||
1965 | Stanford | 6–3–1 | 2–3 | T–5th | |||||
1966 | Stanford | 5–5 | 1–4 | 8th | |||||
1967 | Stanford | 5–5 | 3–4 | T–4th | |||||
Stanford Indians (Pacific-8 Conference) (1968–1971) | |||||||||
1968 | Stanford | 6–3–1 | 3–3–1 | T–3rd | 20 | ||||
1969 | Stanford | 7–2–1 | 5–1–1 | T–2nd | 14 | 19 | |||
1970 | Stanford | 9–3 | 6–1 | 1st | W Rose | 10 | 8 | ||
1971 | Stanford | 9–3 | 6–1 | 1st | W Rose | 16 | 10 | ||
Stanford: | 55–36–3 | 30–25–2 | |||||||
San Jose State Spartans (Big West Conference) (1993–1995) | |||||||||
1993 | San Jose State | 2–9 | 2–4 | T–6th | |||||
1994 | San Jose State | 3–8 | 3–3 | T–5th | |||||
1995 | San Jose State | 3–8 | 3–4 | T–6th | |||||
San Jose State Spartans (Western Athletic Conference) (1996) | |||||||||
1996 | San Jose State | 3–9 | 3–5 | T–5th (Pacific) | |||||
San Jose State: | 11–34 | 11–26 | |||||||
Total: | 97–81–4 | ||||||||
National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
|
NFL
Team | Year | Regular Season | Post Season | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Won | Lost | Ties | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
DEN | 1972 | 5 | 9 | 0 | .357 | 3rd in AFC West | - | - | - | - |
DEN | 1973 | 7 | 5 | 2 | .583 | T–2nd in AFC West | - | - | - | - |
DEN | 1974 | 7 | 6 | 1 | .536 | 2nd in AFC West | - | - | - | - |
DEN | 1975 | 6 | 8 | 0 | .429 | 2nd in AFC West | - | - | - | - |
DEN | 1976 | 9 | 5 | 0 | .643 | 2nd in AFC West | - | - | - | - |
DEN Total | 34 | 33 | 3 | .507 | 0 | 0 | - | |||
Total | 34 | 33 | 3 | .507 | 0 | 0 | - |
References
- ^ "Hometown Honors John Ralston". Iron Mountain Daily News. SJSUSpartans.com. July 30, 2008. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011.
- ^ "San Jose State's Ralston calling it quits". Moscow-Pullman Daily News. Associated Press. October 21, 1996. p. 3B.
- ^ "Staff directory - football". San Jose State Spartans. Archived from the original on February 16, 2014.
- ^ "John Ralston, former Stanford, Broncos coach, dies at 92". Yahoo.com. September 15, 2019. Archived from the original on October 5, 2019. Retrieved September 15, 2019.