Jack Pardee, the head coach of the Washington Redskins between George Allen and Joe Gibbs, died recently at age 71. He had been a member of the “Over the Hill Gang” under Allen and was a head coach within five years of retirement.

DC Sports Bog has a great feature on Pardee with excepts from original Post coverage of his hiring and dismissal. Pardee was coach of the year in 1979, but missed out on the NFC East title and playoffs by one point following Roger Staubach’s final comeback as Dallas Cowboys quarterback. A year later, Pardee was out of a job after a season that John Riggins held out. Two years later, Joe Gibbs won Super Bowl XVII as a second year coach.

Pardee later coached the Houston Oilers. In 1991, the Oilers came into RFK Stadium to face the undefeated Redskins. The visitors nearly upset the hosts too, but the Houston kicker missed, claiming athletic supporter malfunction. I chronicled that a while back in this blog post: Redskins vs. Texans prediction and remembering Ian Howfield.

Pardee also coached the Chicago Bears before the Redskins, the USFL’s Houston Gamblers and the University of Houston before the Oilers. He was one of the “Junction Boys” at Texas A&M under Bear Bryant, surviving brutal training conditions in a brutal west Texas drought. As a member of the Los Angeles Rams, he survived melanoma and resumed his career.

OBITUARIES

Jack Pardee, former head coach and linebacker for the Redskins, dies – The Post

Texas football legend Jack Pardee dies at 76 – Houston Chronicle
Jack Pardee, Texas A&M Star and N.F.L. Coach, Dies at 76 – The Times
Jack Pardee dies at 76; All-Pro linebacker with the L.A. Rams – L.A. Times

MORE

Redskins remember Jack Pardee fondly The Insider, The Post