Ray Perkins

Walter Ray Perkins (born December 6, 1941) is a former American football player and coach. He played as a wide receiver for the University of Alabama and Baltimore Colts. He later worked as a football coach for 28 years, including stints as the head coach for the New York Giants, the University of Alabama, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Arkansas State University.

Early life and playing career
Perkins was born in Petal, Mississippi. He attended the University of Alabama, playing football 1964–1966. He played for the legendary coach Bear Bryant and was a teammate of Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Namath. The Crimson Tide won national championships in both 1964 and 1965, and Southeastern Conference championships in 1964, 1965, and 1966. During his senior year, he was named team captain. He was also selected as an All-American in 1966.

He played for the National Football League's Baltimore Colts as a wide receiver from 1967–1971, under coach Don Shula. Perkins caught a 68-yard touchdown pass from Johnny Unitas in the 1970 AFC Championship Game to lead the Colts to a 27–17 victory over the Oakland Raiders and a berth in Super Bowl V.

Coaching career
He coached in the NFL as an assistant for the New England Patriots (1974–1977) and San Diego Chargers (1978) before becoming head coach of the New York Giants from 1979–1982, helping to build the team that his successor, Bill Parcells, won two Super Bowls with in 1986 and 1990. Perkins hired future NFL head coaches Parcells, Bill Belichick and Romeo Crennel as young assistants.

Perkins became head coach at his alma mater, the University of Alabama, for four years from 1983–1986, compiling a record of 32–15–1 and winning three bowl games, but went 5-6 in 1984, the school's first losing season since 1957, the year before Bryant's tenure began. He has the distinction of being the only head coach to lead Alabama to a victory over the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. There was controversy from unsatisfied boosters and alumni at Alabama, and a lucrative contract offer from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers led Perkins to leave Alabama for a second chance in the NFL after the 1986 Alabama season.

Perkins served as head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1987 to 1990. Some of his former college players got a chance to play for him in the NFL: QB Mike Shula, Kurt Jarvis, and linebacker Keith McCants. His career coaching record in the NFL was 42–75. He was fired mid-way through the 1990 season, and replaced by Richard Williamson. Williamson, like Perkins, was an Alabama alumnus. Perkins returned to college coaching at Arkansas State University in 1992. After just one year, Perkins became the offensive coordinator of the New England Patriots, serving under Bill Parcells from 1993–1996. He also spent 1997 with the Oakland Raiders as an offensive coordinator. On December 20, 2011, he was introduced as the new head football coach at Jones County Junior College in Ellisville, Mississippi. He currently resides in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

Controversy
In 1992, former Alabama player Gene Jelks, who had been recruited by Perkins, publicly accused Alabama coaches and boosters of providing him with illegal cash payments and other inducements during his recruitment and years at Alabama (Jelks played from 1985–1989). Jelks's charges resulted in an National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) investigation of the Alabama football program. Perkins's former assistant coach Jerry Pullen sued Jelks for slander, but he lost that case and two subsequent appeals, including an appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court.

Honors

 * SEC Player of the Year, 1966
 * First-Team All-American, Split end, 1966
 * Inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, Class of 1990
 * Inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame, Class of 1998
 * He was elected to the Senior Bowl Hall of Fame in 2005

Trivia
Ray Perkins's teammate on the 1970 Colts team was Bill Curry, who played center. Curry would replace Perkins as the head coach at Alabama.

Perkins coached Mike Shula at Alabama, and also for one season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Shula was later hired as an assistant coach of the Buccaneers (1996–1999). Shula became a successor of Perkins's at Alabama as the head football coach there in 2003–2006.

Perkins was the first offensive coordinator for Don Coryell during Coryell's tenure with the San Diego Chargers. His replacement was Joe Gibbs.