George Wilson (American football coach)
<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>
| Position: | End | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||
| Date of birth: | February 3, 1914 | ||
| Place of birth: | Chicago, Illinois | ||
| Date of death: | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. | ||
| Place of death: | Chicago, Illinois | ||
| Height: | Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value). | ||
| Weight: | Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value). | ||
| Career information | |||
| High school: | Austin (Chicago, Illinois) SJNMA (Delafield, Wisconsin) |
||
| College: | Northwestern | ||
| Undrafted: | 1937 | ||
| Career history | |||
| As player: | |||
| As coach: | |||
|
|||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
| Career NFL statistics | |||
|
|||
| Head coaching record | |||
| Career: | 68–84–8 (.450) | ||
| Player stats at PFR | |||
| Coaching stats at PFR | |||
George William Wilson (February 3, 1914 – November 23, 1978) was a professional football end and later a coach for the National Football League's Detroit Lions and the American Football League's Miami Dolphins. He also played one season of professional basketball for the Chicago Bruins in 1939–40.[1]
Contents
Football
Playing career
He attended Northwestern University and played professionally for the Chicago Bears from 1937 to 1946, winning four NFL Championships as a player.
Coaching career
In 1957, he became the head coach of the Detroit Lions and, in that same season, won the NFL Championship over the Cleveland Browns, 59–14. Wilson was the first recipient of the NFL Coach of the Year Award. As of 2014, it is the last NFL championship won by the Lions. He was replaced following the 1964 season and spent one year as an assistant coach for the Washington Redskins before being named the first ever head coach of an American Football League expansion franchise, the Miami Dolphins, in 1966.[2] After four losing seasons in Miami, he was replaced with former Baltimore Colts coach Don Shula after the 1969–70 season.
In 1980, Wilson was inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame.[3]
Wilson's career record was 68–84–8 as head coach, with 2–0 record in the postseason. He is 65th in all-time wins by an NFL coach.
Head coaching record
| Team | Year | Regular season | Post season | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Ties | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| DET | 1957 | 8 | 4 | 0 | .667 | 1st in Western Conference | 2 | 0 | 1.000 | Won Western Conference Playoff over San Francisco 49ers Won NFL Championship to Cleveland Browns |
| DET | 1958 | 4 | 7 | 1 | .364 | 5th in National Conference | - | - | - | - |
| DET | 1959 | 3 | 8 | 1 | .273 | 5th in National Conference | - | - | - | - |
| DET | 1960 | 7 | 5 | 0 | .583 | Tied for 2nd in National Conference | - | - | - | - |
| DET | 1961 | 8 | 5 | 1 | .615 | 2nd in National Conference | - | - | - | - |
| DET | 1962 | 11 | 3 | 0 | .786 | 2nd in National Conference | - | - | - | - |
| DET | 1963 | 5 | 8 | 1 | .385 | Tied for 4th in National Conference | - | - | - | - |
| DET | 1964 | 7 | 5 | 2 | .583 | 4th in National Conference | - | - | - | - |
| DET Total | 53 | 45 | 6 | .541 | 2 | 0 | 1.000 | - | ||
| MIA | 1966 | 3 | 11 | 0 | .214 | 5th in Eastern Division | - | - | - | - |
| MIA | 1967 | 4 | 10 | 0 | .286 | 4th in Eastern Division | - | - | - | - |
| MIA | 1968 | 5 | 8 | 1 | .385 | 3rd in Eastern Division | - | - | - | - |
| MIA | 1969 | 3 | 10 | 1 | .231 | 5th in Eastern Division | - | - | - | - |
| MIA Total | 15 | 39 | 2 | .278 | - | - | - | - | ||
| Total | 68 | 84 | 8 | .450 | 2 | 0 | 1.000 | 1 NFL title in 12 seasons | ||
Basketball
Playing career
A 6'1" forward, Wilson played in the National Basketball League (a forerunner to the NBA) during the 1939–40 season. He averaged 1.1 points per game in 16 games for the Chicago Bruins.[1]
Film Career
George Wilson appeared as himself in Paper Lion, the 1968 sports comedy film starring Alan Alda as writer George Plimpton, based on Plimpton's 1966 nonfiction book of the same title depicting his tryout with the Detroit Lions of the National Football League. The movie premiered in Detroit on October 2, 1968 and was released nationwide the week of October 14, 1968.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ MICHIGAN SPORTS HALL OF FAME
Script error: The function "top" does not exist.
Script error: The function "bottom" does not exist. <templatestyles src="Asbox/styles.css"></templatestyles>
 |
This biographical article relating to an American football coach is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
<templatestyles src="Asbox/styles.css"></templatestyles>
|
This biographical article relating to an American football wide receiver born in the 1910s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
<templatestyles src="Asbox/styles.css"></templatestyles>
 |
This biographical article relating to a United States basketball player, coach, or other figure born in the 1910s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- NFL player with coaching information
- NFL player using deprecated currentteam parameter
- NFL player with pastexecutive parameter
- 1914 births
- 1978 deaths
- American football wide receivers
- American men's basketball players
- Basketball players from Illinois
- Basketball players from Wisconsin
- Chicago Bears players
- Chicago Bruins players
- Detroit Lions coaches
- Forwards (basketball)
- Miami Dolphins coaches
- Northwestern Wildcats football players
- Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball players
- People from Waukesha County, Wisconsin
- Players of American football from Illinois
- Players of American football from Wisconsin
- Sportspeople from Chicago, Illinois
- American football coach stubs
- American football wide receiver, pre-1940 birth stubs
- American basketball biography, 1910s birth stubs
