1980 Houston Oilers

1980 Houston Oilers season
Head Coach	Bum Phillips
Home Field	Astrodome
Results
Record	11–5
Place	2nd AFC Central
Playoff Finish	Lost Wild Card Game
Timeline
Previous Season	Next Season
1979	1981

The 1980 season was the Houston Oilers 21st season and their 11th in the NFL. The franchise scored 295 points while the defense gave up 251 points. Their record of 11 wins and 5 losses resulted in a second place finish in the AFC Central Division. The Oilers appeared twice on Monday Night Football. In their first appearance on Monday Night Football, the Oilers beat the Cleveland Browns 16–7. In their second appearance, the Oilers defeated the New England Patriots 38–34. Earl Campbell would lead the NFL in rushing for the third consecutive year and have four 200 yard rushing games.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Pick #	NFL Team	Player	Position	College
38	Houston Oilers	Angelo Fields	Offensive Tackle	Michigan State University

Regular season

Earl Campbell

• In 1980, Earl Campbell had four 200 yard rushing games.

Date	Opponent	Attempts	Yards	Touchdowns
Oct. 19	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	33	203	0
Oct. 26	Cincinnati Bengals	27	202	2
Nov. 16	Chicago Bears	31	206	0
Dec. 21	Minnesota Vikings	29	203	1

Schedule

Game	Date	Opponent	Result	Oilers points	Opponents	Oilers first downs	Record	Attendance
1	Sept. 7	at Pittsburgh Steelers	Loss	17	31	16	0–1	54,386
2	Sept. 15	at Cleveland Browns	Win	16	7	23	1–1	80,243
3	Sept. 21	Baltimore Colts	Win	21	16	27	2–1	47,878
4	Sept. 28	at Cincinnati Bengals	Win	13	10	20	3–1	50,413
5	Oct. 5	Seattle Seahawks	Loss	7	26	16	3–2	46,860
6	Oct. 12	at Kansas City Chiefs	Loss	20	21	21	3–3	75,048
7	Oct. 19	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Win	20	14	23	4–3	48,167
8	Oct. 26	Cincinnati Bengals	Win	23	3	17	5–3	49,189
9	Nov. 2	at Denver Broncos	Win	20	16	23	6–3	74,717
10	Nov. 10	New England Patriots	Win	38	34	20	7–3	51,524
11	Nov. 16	at Chicago Bears	Win	10	6	20	8–3	59,390
12	Nov. 23	at New York Jets	Loss	28	31	28	8–4	52,358
13	Nov. 30	Cleveland Browns	Loss	14	17	17	8–5	51,514
14	Dec. 4	Pittsburgh Steelers	Win	6	0	13	9–5	53,960
15	Dec. 14	at Green Bay Packers	Win	22	3	22	10–5	53,201
16	Dec. 21	Minnesota Vikings	Win	20	16	23	11–5	51,064

Standings

AFC Central
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA
Cleveland Browns	11	5	0	.688	357	310
Houston Oilers	11	5	0	.688	295	251
Pittsburgh Steelers	9	7	0	.563	352	313
Cincinnati Bengals	6	10	0	.375	244	312

Personnel

Staff/Coaches

1980 Houston Oilers final staff
	Front Office President – Bud Adams General Manager – Bum Phillips Senior Vice President/Chief Administrative Officer – Ladd Herzeg Assistant General Manager – Pat Peppler Director of College Scouting – Joe Woolley Head Coaches Head Coach – Bum Phillips Offensive Coaches Quarterbacks/Receivers – King Hill Offensive Backs – Andy Bourgeois Offensive Line – Joe Bugel			Defensive Coaches Defensive Coordinator – Ed Biles Defensive Line – Wade Phillips Linebackers – John Paul Young Defensive Secondary – Bob Gambold Special Teams Coaches Special Teams – John Paul Young

Roster

1980 Houston Oilers roster
Quarterbacks 10 Craig Bradshaw 14 Gifford Nielsen 12 Ken Stabler Running Backs 34 Earl Campbell 26 Rob Carpenter 39 Adger Armstrong 45 Tim Wilson (FB) 47 Ronnie Coleman 42 Boobie Clark Wide Receivers 84 Billy "Whiteshoes" Johnson 82 Mike Renfro 00 Ken Burrough 85 Carl Roaches 81 Jeff Groth 83 Tim Smith Tight Ends 86 Mike Barber 87 Dave Casper 88 Rich Caster		Offensive Linemen 55 Carl Mauck C 58 David Carter C/G 66 Greg Davidson C 63 Bob Young C/G 76 Morris Towns G/T 70 Conway Hayman 74 Leon Gray T 77 Angelo Fields 60 Ed Fisher Defensive Linemen 65 Elven Bethea 67 Mike Stensrud 69 Andy Dorris 71 Ken Kennard 78 Curley Culp 79 Charles Davis		Linebackers 50 Daryl Hunt ILB 51 Ted Thompson ILB 52 Robert Brazile OLB 56 Art Stringer ILB 54 Gregg Bingham ILB 53 Thomas Henderson OLB 57 John Corker OLB 59 Ted Washington OLB Defensive Backs 27 Greg Stemrick CB 28 Jack Tatum FS 32 Vernon Perry SS 33 J.C. Wilson CB 36 Carter Harwig CB/FS 37 Mike Reinfeldt FS		Special Teams 16 Toni Fritsch 18 Clifford Parsley P,QB Reserve Lists 5 Chester Marcol K Practice Squad None Rookies in italics

Postseason

AFC Wild Card

	1	2	3	4	Total
Oilers	7	0	0	0	7
Raiders	3	7	0	17	27

• Stadium = Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, California
• Time = 2:00 p.m. PST
• Weather= 58°F, sunny
• TV = NBC
• TV Announcers = Charlie Jones and Len Dawson
• Referee = Chuck Heberling
• Attendance= 52,762

Even though the Oilers recorded more yards, more first downs, and more time of possession, the Raiders scored on big plays to win, 27–7.

Awards and records

• Earl Campbell, NFL Rushing Leader, (1,934)
• Earl Campbell, All-Pro selection 1980
• Earl Campbell, Pro Bowl selection 1980
• Earl Campbell, NEA NFL MVP (1980)
• Earl Campbell, NFL Offensive Player of the Year (1980)

Milestones

• Earl Campbell, 3rd 1,000 yard rushing season
• Earl Campbell, 3rd NFL Rushing Title
• Earl Campbell, Four 200 Yard Rushing Games (Oct. 19, Oct. 26, Nov., 16, Dec. 21)

External links

• 1980 Houston Oilers season article at Wikipedia
• 1980 Houston Oilers at Pro Football Reference
• 1980 Houston Oilers at jt-sw.com