Jim Owens

James Donald Owens (March 6, 1927 – June 6, 2009) was an American professional football player and coach. He played one year in the National Football League (NFL) as an end for the Baltimore Colts. His career in coaching was longer-lived, as he held the position of head coach at the University of Washington from 1957 to 1974, compiling a record of in 18 seasons.

Biography

Playing career Packing a white night-time football, Jim Owens is tackled at the end of a 20-yard reception from quarterback Y.A. Tittle in an August 1950 preseason NFL game. Owens played college football at the University of Oklahoma from 1946 to 1949, under head coach Bud Wilkinson, where he was a teammate of Darrell Royal, who, coincidentally, was the Huskies' head coach in 1956, then took the same post at Texas, allowing Owens to come to Seattle. He played a year of pro football in 1950 for the Baltimore Colts, a one-win squad worthy of mention as among the worst teams in NFL history.

Coaching career

After his brief foray in professional football came to an end, Owens served as a college assistant coach for six years under Bear Bryant at the University of Kentucky and at Texas A&M University. According to legend, after the 1956 season, when the Washington Huskies were looking for a head coach, Bryant indicated to reporters that Owens "will make a great coach for somebody some day."

In 1959 and 1960, he led Washington to back-to-back ten-win seasons and consecutive Rose Bowl wins. He was awarded the UPI Pacific Coast Coach of the Year for 1959 and 1960. He also coached the Huskies to the 1964 Rose Bowl. Owens concurrently served as the athletic director at Washington from 1960 to 1969. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1982.

Owens' 1960 team was awarded the national championship by the Helms Athletic Foundation after defeating Minnesota in the 1961 Rose Bowl. The Golden Gophers had already been awarded the AP, UPI, and NFF national championships at the end of the regular season, as was customary at the time.

Owens resigned as head coach of the Huskies following the 1974 season at the end of his last contract, a three-year deal at $33,000 per year. His later years at Washington were marred by accusations of racism and the backlash that resulted from his actions and attitudes towards black players. He was succeeded as head coach by Don James, the head coach at Kent State, who also led the Huskies for eighteen seasons. Owens later apologized for his actions as part of his acknowledgements as a statue of him was erected at Washington in 2003.

Owens died at age 82 in 2009 at his home in Bigfork, Montana.

Head coaching record