Galen Hall

Galen Samuel Hall (born August 14, 1940) is a retired American college and professional football coach and player. He is a native of Pennsylvania, and an alumnus of Penn State University, where he played college football. Hall was previously the offensive coordinator at the University of Oklahoma and the University of Florida, and the head coach of the University of Florida, the Orlando Thunder, the Rhein Fire, and the XFL's Orlando Rage. He most recently served as the offensive coordinator at his alma mater, Penn State.

Early life and education Hall was born in Altoona, Pennsylvania, in 1940, and grew up in Williamsburg, Pennsylvania. He was raised by his grandparents, following the death of his father several months before he was born.

Professional football career Hall signed as a backup quarterback with the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL) in 1962 and appeared in three games. He signed with the New York Jets of the American Football League (AFL) in 1963 and appeared in 13 games, including his only two career starts at the end of the campaign as Coach Weeb Ewbank attempted to jumpstart the slumping squad. Hall's first professional start came on December 14 against the Buffalo Bills, and he quickly threw a 73-yard touchdown pass to Don Maynard for what turned out to be the last touchdown pass in the history of the Polo Grounds. It would also be the last touchdown pass of Hall's short pro career, as he threw five interceptions over his two starts and the Jets lost both games. After the season, Hall decided to return to the college game as an assistant coach.

Coaching career After retiring as a player, Hall was hired as an offensive assistant for the West Virginia Mountaineers, where he coached wide receivers and tight ends during the 1964 and 1965 seasons.

Oklahoma In 1966, Hall joined the staff as a receivers coach under head coach Jim Mackenzie at Oklahoma. Hall was an assistant with the program for the next 17 years under three head coaches – Mackenzie, Chuck Fairbanks, and Barry Switzer. Switzer had been the Sooners' offensive coordinator before taking the head job for the 1973 season, and he promoted Hall to fill his old position.

Hall remained Oklahoma's offensive coordinator for a decade, during which time they boasted one of the most prolific offenses in college football. Using a run-heavy wishbone offense, the Sooners won two straight national championships (1974 and 1975), eight straight Big 8 championships, and produced Heisman Trophy-winning running back Billy Sims under Hall and Switzer.

After a disappointing season in 1983, Oklahoma retained head coach Barry Switzer while replacing most of his staff, including Hall.

Florida 1984 and 1985 seasons After leaving Oklahoma, Hall was quickly hired as the offensive coordinator for the Florida Gators under head coach Charlie Pell replacing Mike Shanahan, who had left Florida for the NFL. Unlike the option attacks he had run at Oklahoma, Hall was tasked with installing a balanced I-formation offense for the 1984 season to take advantage of the skills of senior quarterback Dale Dorminy and a veteran offensive line. Hall, who had not been at Florida when the violations occurred, was named interim head coach by athletic director Bill Carr on September 17.

The Gators won the remaining eight games on their schedule under Hall, including big wins over arch-rivals Georgia, Auburn, and Florida State, and finished with a 9–1–1 record. By virtue of an undefeated 5–0–1 conference record, Nonetheless, the Gators were crowned national champions by several minor polls, including that of The New York Times. Hall was named the Associated Press Coach of the Year and university president Marshall Criser named him the permanent head coach at the end of the season.

Despite the sanctions, Hall's 1985 Gators would again go 9–1–1 on the field and tie for the SEC lead with a 5–1 conference record, but could not claim the conference title because of NCAA and SEC probation. The NCAA ultimately slapped the Gators with two years' probation, and banned them from bowl consideration for the 1990 season. It deemed Hall's alleged violations serious enough that it would have kicked the Gators off live television during the 1990 season as well had school officials not forced Hall's resignation. Hall would never get another college head coaching job.

Professional coaching Orlando Thunder (WLAF) Hall continued his coaching career in 1991 as the offensive coordinator of the Orlando Thunder, a charter franchise of the new World League of American Football (WLAF), where he was reunited with former Florida Gator quarterback Kerwin Bell. Hall was promoted to head coach in 1992 and coached the Thunder to an 8–2 record and a berth in World Bowl II, for which he was named WLAF coach of the year. The Orlando franchise folded after the season along with all WLAF teams in North America. In 1994, Hall coached the Charlotte Rage of the Arena Football League to a 5–7 record, and a spot in the playoffs.

Rhein Fire From 1995 to 2000, Hall served as head coach for the Rhein Fire, a new franchise of NFL Europe, which was a reconfigured WLAF consisting exclusively of teams based in Europe. Hall won two NFL Europe championships (1998 and 2000) and two coach of the year awards with the Fire and was the second-winningest coach in WLAF/NFL Europe history with forty-four victories.

Orlando Rage In 2001, Hall returned to coaching in the US where he was named head coach of the XFL's Orlando Rage. The Rage boasting a league-best 8–2 regular season record and Hall was named XFL Coach of the Year.

The XFL folded after a single season, and in 2002, Hall joined the staff of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys as running backs coach, where he was reunited with former Florida Gator running back Emmitt Smith.

Penn State In late 2004, Hall returned to his alma mater, Penn State, to become the offensive coordinator and running backs coach under head coach Joe Paterno, who had been an assistant coach at Penn State during his college days. It was Hall's first collegiate job of any sort since being pushed out at Florida 15 years earlier. However, Paterno had no qualms about hiring him, saying that Hall was "a good coach who got screwed."

Retirement Paterno was ousted late in the 2011 season due to fallout from the Penn State child sex abuse scandal. Though Hall had no connection to the scandal, new head coach Bill O'Brien opted to replace most of Paterno's coaching staff, including Hall. In 2015, Hall and some of Paterno's other former assistant coaches filed suit against Penn State, claiming that the school did not fulfill their employment contracts by stopping payment on their severance packages.

After leaving Penn State, Hall retired to Groveland, Florida.

Head coaching record College

CFB Yearly Record Entry year = 1984 name = Florida overall = 8–0 conference = 5–0

Professional Team Year Regular season PostseasonWon LostTiesWin %FinishWonLostWin %ResultORT1992820.8001st in N. American East Div. 1 1 .500 Lost World Bowl II to Sacramento Surge; WLAF Coach of the YearRHE1995460.4005th in league – – – RHE1996370.3006th in league – – – RHE1997730.7001st in league 1 1 .500 Lost World Bowl V to Barcelona DragonsRHE1998730.7001st in league 2 0 1.000 Won World Bowl VI over Frankfurt Galaxy; NFL Europe Coach of the YearRHE1999640.6003rd in league – – – –RHE2000730.7001st in league 1 0 1.000 Won World Bowl VIII over Scottish Claymores; NFL Europe Coach of the YearTotal(WLAF/NFLE)42280 522 League Championships; 3 Coach of the Year AwardsCHR1994570.4173rd in East – – – ORR2001820.8001st in Eastern Div. 0 1 .000 XFL Coach of the YearTotal55370.598 53.6252 League Championships; 4 Coach of the Year Awards