https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/jerry-burns-former-vikings-coach-known-for-wit-dies-at-94/ar-BB1gFBf6I loved this guy. A greatly underappreciated football mind, a salty-tongued feisty and fierce competitor who valued loyalty and honesty.
He was a Michigan grad, went into coaching with his longest stint in Iowa as Asst & Head Coach...and in a horrible final season there he admitted failure and held no ill will about being canned...the kind of honesty he would later become famous for. Fortunately he became an Assistant to Vince Lombardi in their championship years 1966 & 1967, and when Lombardi retired Bud Grant who had wanted him when he went to Green Bay finally got him to the Vikings where he was Offensive Coordinator for 18 years and a coached a slew of future Hall of Famers, winning division titles and yes losing 4 Super Bowls. In 1998 Jerry Burns gave the Hall of Fame induction speech for his former Viking and Iowa Hawkeye Paul Krause.
He was innovative, was throwing more passes to running backs out of the backfield than anybody else until Bill Walsh and the West Coast Offense came along and re-branded the Jerry Burns offense. I loved the guy, a throwback to a bygone era, a straight stand up guy with a lively sense of humor who didn't sugar coat anything.
Most know only his post-game presser tirades, none more memorable than this "Schnelker" episode...
https://youtu.be/SNcBFZ26lcIThose who do not know Burnsie will wonder if he flipped out, or was always this crusty...no, this is vintage Burnsie, the stand up guy, being honest and not sugar coating anything.
People forget his achievements, his smile and the joy he got from coaching, being around players and talking football or fishing or anything.
R.I.P. Jerry
