Bobby Ross Named Head Football Coach at Army

Bobby Ross

The leadership at the United States Military Academy took a major step toward re-establishing its football program on Tuesday when USMA Superintendent William J. Lennox Jr. and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Rick Greenspan announced the hiring of Bobby Ross as the Black Knights' new head football coach.

Ross, who has built championship programs at both the collegiate and professional levels, was named the 34th head coach in the history of intercollegiate football at the United States Military Academy today. A head coach in the college ranks for 15 years prior to serving successful stints directing the San Diego Chargers and the Detroit Lions in the National Football League, Ross has led Georgia Tech to a national title and the Chargers to a Super Bowl.

Ross compiled a 94-76-2 (.552) in 15 seasons as head coach at The Citadel (1973-77), Maryland (1982-86) and Georgia Tech (1987-91). He guided the Yellow Jackets to an 11-0-1 record and shared the national championship with Colorado in 1990. During nearly nine seasons at the helm of the Chargers (1992-96) and Lions (1997-2000), Ross authored a 77-68 overall record (.531). His clubs reached the playoffs in three of his five years in San Diego, guiding the Chargers to their only American Football Conference title and Super Bowl appearance in 1994. He also led the Lions to a pair of playoff showings, serving in the dual role of head coach and vice president for football operations.

Lennox said Ross' solid reputation and proven leadership abilities would be a tremendous asset to the Academy. "Bobby Ross has a stellar achievement record," Lennox said. "His leadership ability will benefit our cadets both on and off the field."

Lennox said he was determined to find a coach who would add to the rich history of the Academy's football program. "We conducted an exhaustive search for an individual who personifies the core values of our institution and who fully understands the key role that football plays in our process of creating leaders of character.

"Bobby Ross is highly qualified -- his reputation as a coach speaks for itself. We are very confident that he has what it takes to restore a winning tradition to Army football," Lennox said.

Ross was named head coach and vice president of football operations of the Detroit Lions in 1997 following a very successful five-year stint as head coach of the San Diego Chargers. He directed the Lions to playoff appearances in 1997 and 1999, becoming the first Detroit head coach since 1957 to lead the team to the posteason in his first campaign as head coach. That type of instant success was nothing new for Ross, who fashioned a 47-33 (.588) regular-season record as head coach in San Diego. His Charger clubs finished 3-3 in postseason play, culminating with a magical ride to the Super Bowl in 1994. With 50 overall victories as the Chargers' head coach, he currently ranks third on the team's all-time win list behind Sid Gilman (87 wins in 11 seasons) and Don Coryell (72 in nine seasons). He also remains tied with Coryell for the most playoff wins in team history.

Ross assumed the reins in San Diego prior to the 1992 season. Despite losing the first four games of the season, the Chargers won 11 of the final 12 regular-season games and claimed San Diego's first AFC West title since 1981and its first playoff appearance since 1982.

Those accomplishments didn't go unnoticed as Ross was rewarded with a host of postseason honors. For his efforts, the rookie NFL mentor was named National Football League Coach of the Year by United Press International, Pro Football Weekly, Football News Digest, Maxwell Football Club and the Pro Football Writers Association.

Still Ross' most successful NFL showing took place in 1994 when he led San Diego to the only Super Bowl appearance in franchise history. Ross' relentless coaching style drove the team to playoff victories over the Miami Dolphins and Pittsburgh Steelers before falling to the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XXIX.

"I'm extremely excited about being named the head football coach at Army," stated Ross. "From my very youth, right up until the present time, I've always had a tremendous amount of respect for West Point and what it's stood for. I think it's a place of great pride and tradition, and a place of great learning. I think it represents college football in its purest form, and I'm very, very proud to have the opportunity to be associated with the Academy.

"The spirit of West Point really appealed to me. My background has a military tone. I have a son who graduated from the Naval Academy, another son who graduated from the Air Force Academy, and I'm a graduate of a military school myself. I served almost three years on active duty in the United States Army with the Third Armored Cavalry Regiment. I have a deep appreciation of what West Point stands for and a deep respect for it. I know this - that West Point boasts some of the finest young men that any institution could ever offer. I look forward to the opportunity to work with them and to be an integral part of their lives while at the Academy."

Prior to turning around the San Diego Chargers franchise, Ross reversed the fortunes of the Georgia Tech gridiron program, carrying the Yellow Jackets into the national spotlight. As only the eighth full-time head coach in school history, he inherited a Georgia Tech program that had fallen on hard times, struggling to a 5-20 mark before his arrival. The Yellow Jackets won 18 of 20 games during one stretch of his tenure, and were crowned national champions by United Press International in 1990. Georgia Tech registered an 11-0-1 record and posted a convincing 45-21 win over Nebraska in the Florida Citrus Bowl that year to finish as the nation's lone unbeaten team. Georgia Tech won its first Atlantic Coast Conference title, and the school's first national and conference championship of any kind since 1952. Ross was also a consensus choice as national coach of the year that season.

The Richmond, Va., native closed his George Tech career with a 31-26-1 record (.543), including a 26-6-1 (.803) mark over his final 33 games. His successful stint in Atlanta was capped with a come-from-behind victory over Stanford in the Aloha Bowl. He departed for the National Football League shortly after that Christmas Day triumph.

"Today marks the end of a long and exhaustive process, and the beginning of a great new chapter in the history of Army's proud football program," said Greenspan. "We couldn't be more excited to turn the reins of our program over to someone the stature of Bobby Ross. He is a man of tremendous character and uncompromising ethics as displayed by his long and decorated career in both the collegiate and professional ranks. He has proven to be a winner both on and off the field and we feel very strongly in his ability to restore the Army program to its former state of glory. Most importantly, we feel coach Ross will be an outstanding role model for our young men, casting an eye toward our primary mission of developing leaders of character for the United States Army.

"When we began our national search back in October, our primary goal was to hire a person that we felt would represent the institution and its core values to the fullest, while restoring the competitive success of our football program. We feel very confident that we've accomplished that with the hiring of Bobby Ross."

Before taking the job at Georgia Tech, Ross spent five seasons at the University of Maryland, where his Terrapin teams were celebrated for their explosive offenses. During his time at Maryland, the Terrapins compiled a sparkling 39-19-1 record (.607), with Ross guiding UM to three ACC titles and four bowl games. Ross' Maryland teams produced a number of outstanding talents, including All-American quarterbacks Boomer Esiason, Frank Reich and Stan Gelbaugh, as well as former Detroit Lions All-Pro center Kevin Glover.

Ross was born on Dec. 23, 1936, in Richmond, Va. After graduating from Benedictine High School in 1955, he attended Virginia Military Institute, where he started at quarterback and defensive back for two seasons and served as captain of the football team as a senior. Ross graduated from VMI in 1959 with a bachelor of arts degree in English and History. Following a tour of duty in the U.S. Army as a first lieutenant (1960-62) and four seasons of coaching at the high school level, Ross began his collegiate coaching career at his alma mater in 1965. He went on to serve assistant coaching stints at William & Mary, Rice and Maryland before accepting his first head coaching job at The Citadel in 1973. He spent four years as an assistant coach with the Kansas City Chiefs (1978-81) before returning to the collegiate ranks as head coach at Maryland.

Ross has been out of coaching since resigning from his position with the Detroit Lions nine games into the 2000 season.

"When you've done something for 44 years and then it leaves you for a period of time, you get very excited about returning to it," Ross explained. "When the leadership at the Academy offered me this opportunity, I was extremely excited and I jumped at it, to be very honest. I've followed football during the period of time that I've been away from coaching, followed it collegiately and professionally, so I think I'm well-versed and well-rested to begin anew.

"I've studied Army's roster closely. I know we lose just 10 seniors, only three of which were starters, so it's a young football team. There's a lot to be done between now and when we get on the field for spring practice. I think the initial response by myself will be to meet with each and every one of the players. I know they start exams soon, but I'm hoping to have the opportunity to sit down with each one on a personal, one-on-one basis and get to know them first and foremost. Before we do anything, before we can block and tackle and run and throw and catch, I think we've got to build a bond of trust. I'm going to be very open and up front with our players. My door is going to be open at all times. I want to get to know them right away and start working on our bond of trust that I think begins the building of our football family."

Ross and his wife, Alice, have three sons: Chris, Kevin and Robbie; two daughters: Mary and Teresa; and 15 grandchildren. Chris (1984) and Kevin (1988) graduated from the Air Force Academy and Naval Academy, respectively. Kevin currently serves as running backs coach at the University of Virginia.

Ross will begin his new duties at Army immediately, assuming full control of one of the nation's most storied gridiron programs this afternoon. He expects to begin building his initial Black Knight coaching staff in the days ahead.