Many times, the best coaches were never the best player. Despite their dedication to the game, they can never get past their own physical limitations. As the old saying goes: Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach. That's the case with Jerry Rhome. The longtime quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator spent 25 years navigating the NFL, teaching gunslingers young and old the intricate details of the position that could boost their own ability. In many ways, Rhome was watching his dream come to fruition.
The Early Years
Jerry Rhome was born on March 6, 1942 in Dallas, Texas. As the son of a football coach, he gravitated to the game at an early age and took great pride in leading his father's Sunset High School teams from under center. While he excelled in both baseball and basketball, his true passion lay on the gridiron.
Under his father's tutelage, young Jerry became an All-American quarterback his senior year while fielding over 100 offers from colleges big and small. He chose to stay close to home and signed with SMU. He earned the starting spot as a sophomore in 1961 and quickly demonstrated that he was in over his head by completing 74 of 129 passes for 693 yards and throwing just one touchdown pass against six interceptions.
Needing a fresh start, Rhome transferred to the University of Tulsa for his final two years of eligibility. After sitting out 1962 due to the NCAA transfer rules, Rhome passed for 1,909 yards and 10 touchdowns as a junior. However, his 13 interceptions were alarming. He knew that he needed to clean up his performance on the field if he wanted a shot at the NFL.
He did more than just clean up his performance as a senior. He excelled. That magical year of 1964 was one of the most memorable in Tulsa football history. Jerry Rhome led the nation with 3,128 total yards while passing for 2,870 and 32 touchdowns against just four interceptions. He even came in second in one of the closest Heisman Trophy votes of all time, losing by a nose to Notre Dame's John Huarte.
Jerry Rhome didn't finish his senior year completely empty-handed, having earned both consensus All-America honors as well as the prestigious Sammy Baugh Trophy which is given annually to college football's best passer. After beating Ole Miss 14-7 in the Bluebonnet Bowl, Rhome was drafted by both the New York Jets of the AFL and the Dallas Cowboys of the NFL. He chose the more established league as well as his hometown.
The NFL
Jerry Rhome only had to wait until the fourth week of his rookie year before getting his first start. While the Cowboys would go on to lose to the Eagles 35-24, Rhome was busy sharing quarterbacking duties with fellow rookie Craig Morton. That's never an easy task for anyone, let alone a rookie, but Rhome held his own just long enough to heave an 82-yard touchdown pass to "Bullet" Bob Hayes to begin the second half. For the game, Jerry Rhome went 8-14 for 138 yards. His next start the following week was much less memorable as he completed just one of his five passes for 19 yards.
He only started once more for the Cowboys. Late in 1966, he led Dallas to a 17-7 win over the Giants by completing 9 of 14 passes for 93 yards and an interception. After spending 1969 on the bench in Cleveland, he left for Houston where he stated four times in 1970. His most impressive game was a 30-20 loss to the Bengals where he completed half of his 54 passes for 315 yards and two touchdowns while coughing up two interceptions. After making brief stops in Los Angeles and Montreal, Jerry Rhome retired as a player in December 1972. But his relationship with the game was far from over.
The Coach
After retiring as a player, Jerry Rhome immediately took a job as quarterbacks coach with his alma mater, the University of Tulsa. While there, the young coach came across a nimble-footed receiver named Steve Largent. Over the next three years, Rhome watched as Largent gained 2,385 yards and score 32 touchdowns, twice leading all of college football with 14 touchdown receptions.
When Largent graduated, Rhome was already in Seattle with the expansion Seahawks. After convincing the coaching staff to give the tiny receiver a chance, Rhome's judgement soon proved to be prophetic. As he transitioned from coaching quarterbacks to coordinating the whole offense, Rhome watched as Largent made both Jim Zorn and Dave Krieg look exceptional, gaining 6,534 yards and scoring 43 touchdowns through the air (with one more coming on the ground). By the time Rhome left for Washington D.C. in 1983, Steve Largent was well on his way to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Rhome got a tremendous education in the nation's capital, coaching a slew of quarterbacks with a wide range of skill sets. He came to the Redskins when they were more of a power-running team, with John Riggins often powering his way through the line. Still, quarterback Joe Theismann was the consummate leader, displaying courage that overshadowed his fragile frame while earning league MVP honors.
The Redskins tore through their schedule that year, winning 14 and losing twice on their way to the Super Bowl. They felt that they were a team of destiny, but the L.A. Raiders had another idea. Theismann threw two interceptions that night, after having thrown 11 all year, and was finished the game with a paltry 45.3 quarterback rating while the Raiders rumbled for a convincing 38-9 victory.
Theismann played for another year and a half before breaking his leg in front of the whole nation on Monday Night Football. Once he went down in the middle of 1985, Jay Schroeder took the reins of the offense, nearly leading the team to the playoff that year. The Redskins returned to the postseason the following year, but were shutout in the NFC Championship Game against the New York Giants.
The Redskins had a quarterback controversy all of 1987, but despite the chaos under center they never lost their identity. All year long, Schroeder and backup Doug Williams battled it out. Interestingly, even though Williams never won any of his starts, he was named the starter for the playoffs.
What happened next was simply historic. The Redskins beat both the Bears and the Vikings on their way to the Super Bowl. While in San Diego, Williams threw for four touchdown passes, earning the game's MVP and becoming the first Black quarterback to win the Super Bowl. At long last, after having been in the NFL since 1965, Jerry Rhome finally had his Super Bowl ring.
Charged by his Super Bowl triumph, Jerry Rhome bolted to San Diego to be the Chargers' offensive coordinator. Unfortunately, the Chargers were going through a complete rebuild that year, having lost the services of quarterback Dan Fouts and tight end Kellen Winslow to retirement. As a result, the once-mighty Chargers offense faltered, finishing 26th in the NFL.
From there, Rhome went to the worst team in the NFL: the Dallas Cowboys. While Dallas would go 1-15 that year, they did draft quarterback Troy Aikman. They even drafted the University of Miami's Steve Walsh who appeared to be a favorite of coach Jimmy Johnson. While the coaching staff argued about who should start under center, Jerry Rhome was alway adamant about who he believed should start: Aikman. Even though he went 0-11 that year, Rhome knew that the Cowboys had their guy.
Jerry Rhome never got to see his advice come to fruition as he left for Phoenix the following year. The Cardinals were not good in those days and Rhome struggled to come up with a winning game plan week after agonizing week. Still, there was a bright spot. In 1991, Chris Chandler came over from Tampa. He started 13 games in 1992, throwing for 2,832 yards and 15 touchdowns. It was because of that performance that Rhome was convinced he could work with Chandler.
Two years later, after a pit stop coaching receivers in Minnesota, Jerry Rhome and Chris Chandler were once again working with each other, this time in Houston. In 25 starts, Chandler threw for more than 4,500 yards and 33 touchdowns. It was Jerry Rhome's last hurrah as an offensive coordinator.
His final two stops in St. Louis and Atlanta were forgettable. Interestingly, he left each job the year before the franchise got a difference-maker under center. For the Rams, it was Kurt Warner and the Greatest Show on Turf; for the Falcons, it was Michael Vick. After working as an offensive consultant with the Vikings in 2005, Jerry Rhome retired.
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