Coaches Other Gigs Trivia Quiz

Answer: Dallas Cowboys

After coaching at Oklahoma State, Johnson went to Miami (Fla) and led the Hurricanes to the national championship in 1987. His college success led him to be hired by Jerry Jones, Dallas' new owner and a college football teammate of Johnson's, to coach the Dallas Cowboys. There Johnson won two Super Bowls in 1992 and 1993.

Answer: Alabama

Bryant coached Maryland in 1945. He was at Kentucky from 1946 to 1953 and Texas A&M from 1954 to 1957. He went to Alabama in 1958 and coached there until 1982. At Alabama he won national championships in 1961, 1964, 1965, 1973, 1978, and 1979. He was given the nickname "Bear" because as a young teen-ager he once wrestled a bear at a carnival.

Answer: New York Yankees

Martin managed the Twins (1969), Tigers (1971-1973), Rangers (1973-1975) and the Athletics (1980-1982); but he was best known for managing the Yankees. His first stint with the Yankees was from 1975-1978. He won the 1977 World Series but in 1978 he resigned, for "health reasons", after a contentious season, which included conflicts with the team owner George Steinbrenner.

The team brought Martin back in June of the 1979 season, but he left again (he was fired) after he got into a fight with a marshmallow salesman in Minneapolis. He returned as manager in 1983 but was reassigned at the end of the season. He was made manager again in 1985 but was fired after the season partly because he had been in a fight with one of his players. He was brought back in 1988 but fired a third time due to several factors including his involvement in another barroom brawl and ongoing conflicts with umpires. Besides the 1977 World Series, Martin two other American League pennants with New York.

Answer: Ice Hockey

Herb Brooks played and coached ice hockey for the University of Minnesota. As a coach there he won three national championships before being picked to coach the US Ice Hockey team in the 1980 winter Olympics at Lake Placid, New York. He led the US team to a stunning upset of the heavily favored Soviet Union team in a game that became known as the "Miracle on Ice." After 1980 he continued a successful career as an Olympic and NHL coach.

Answer: Jim Valvano

Jimmy V coached at Iona from 1975 to 1980, where led the Gaels to two NCAA tourney appearances. Prior to his stint at Iona, Valvano coached at Bucknell (1972-1975) and at Johns Hopkins University (1968-1969,) where he led his team to their first winning record in 24 years.

His NC State team defeated the highly favored Cougars of Houston in the NCAA college basketball championship game. In 1992 he was diagnosed with cancer and became even more famous for the way he motivated others during his fight against the disease with his positive attitude and inspirational speeches. Valvano died of cancer in 1993 and the Jimmy V Foundation for Cancer Research has been established in his name.

Answer: Vince Lombardi

Lombardi became the head coach, general manager and part owner of the Redskins in 1969. He died one year later. Lombardi played college football at Fordham. Lombardi's record with the Redskins was 7-5-2 (the Redskins became the Washington Commanders in 2022). His record with the Packers was 98-30-4. In his honor the winner of the Super Bowl receives the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

Answer: Indiana

Bobby Knight led the Military Academy to four NIT berths in his six years there (1965-1971). At Indiana, he won the first of his 3 national championships in 1976, going undefeated. He won two more in 1981 and 1987. The controversial coach was fired by Indiana after the 2000 season. He was the coach at Texas Tech in the early 2001-2008 before retiring.

Answer: New York Yankees

Although Stengel had great success with the Yankees (1949-1960) he had only a .508 winning percentage overall. With the Brooklyn Dodgers and Boston Braves his teams never finished higher than fifth place. He managed the expansion team New York Mets from 1962-1965.

His Mets teams lost over 450 games in his 4 year tenure. Stengel had a .623 winning percentage with the Yankees, but had a meager .394 winning percentage with the other teams he managed. Casey Stengel won 10 AL pennants and 7 World Series championships with the Yankees.

Answer: Boston Celtics

Russell was the first African-American head coach in American major sports history. He coached the Supersonics from 1973 to 1977 and the Kings for part of the 1987 season. As a player with the Celtics he won eleven NBA championships in 13 years (1956-1969). He won two more as a player-coach in 1968 and 1969 before abruptly retiring to pursue an acting career.

Answer: Baltimore Colts and Miami Dolphins

Shula was with the Dolphins from 1970 to 1995. He coached the Colts from 1963 to 1969. He coached for 33 consecutive years, setting an NFL record. He coached the first team to lose a Suoer Bowl to an AFC team (Jets in 1969) and was the first coach to lead a team to an undefeated season (1972).