Don Strock (born November 27, 1950 in
Pottstown, PennsylvaniaPottstown is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States 40 miles northwest of Philadelphia, on the Schuylkill River. Pottstown was laid out in 1752–53 and named Pottsgrove in honor of its founder, John Potts. The old name was abandoned at the time of the incorporation as a...
) was a former professional
footballAmerican football, known in the United States and Canada simply as football, and often as Gridiron or Tackle football outside North America, is a competitive team sport known for combining strategy with physical play. The objective of the game is to score points by advancing the ball into the...
player who was the head coach of the
Florida International UniversityFlorida International University, commonly referred to as FIU, is a public research university located in Miami, Florida, in the United States, with its main campus at University Park...
football team from 2002-2006.
Strock played collegiately at
Virginia TechVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, better known as Virginia Tech, is a public land grant polytechnic university in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States...
and graduated in 1973. In 1972, Strock led the nation in total passing and total offense, yet finished only ninth in voting for the
Heisman TrophyThe Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , named after the former college football coach John Heisman, is awarded annually by the Heisman Trophy Trust to the most outstanding player in collegiate football...
.
To date, Strock still holds many collegiate football passing records at his
alma materAlma mater is Latin for "nourishing mother". It was used in ancient Rome as a title for various mother goddesses, and in Medieval Christianity for the Virgin Mary. In modern times it is ordinarily used to refer to the university or college a person attended...
Virginia Tech and was inducted into the Virginia Tech Athletics Hall of Fame in 1985.
Strock played in the
National Football LeagueThe National Football League is the largest professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing its name to the National Football League in 1922. The league currently consists of...
as a
quarterbackQuarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the center, in the middle of the offensive line. Quarterbacks are the leaders of the offensive team, responsible for calling the play in the huddle...
.
Don Strock (born November 27, 1950 in
Pottstown, PennsylvaniaPottstown is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States 40 miles northwest of Philadelphia, on the Schuylkill River. Pottstown was laid out in 1752–53 and named Pottsgrove in honor of its founder, John Potts. The old name was abandoned at the time of the incorporation as a...
) was a former professional
footballAmerican football, known in the United States and Canada simply as football, and often as Gridiron or Tackle football outside North America, is a competitive team sport known for combining strategy with physical play. The objective of the game is to score points by advancing the ball into the...
player who was the head coach of the
Florida International UniversityFlorida International University, commonly referred to as FIU, is a public research university located in Miami, Florida, in the United States, with its main campus at University Park...
football team from 2002-2006.
College
Strock played collegiately at
Virginia TechVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, better known as Virginia Tech, is a public land grant polytechnic university in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States...
and graduated in 1973. In 1972, Strock led the nation in total passing and total offense, yet finished only ninth in voting for the
Heisman TrophyThe Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , named after the former college football coach John Heisman, is awarded annually by the Heisman Trophy Trust to the most outstanding player in collegiate football...
.
To date, Strock still holds many collegiate football passing records at his
alma materAlma mater is Latin for "nourishing mother". It was used in ancient Rome as a title for various mother goddesses, and in Medieval Christianity for the Virgin Mary. In modern times it is ordinarily used to refer to the university or college a person attended...
Virginia Tech and was inducted into the Virginia Tech Athletics Hall of Fame in 1985.
Professional
Strock played in the
National Football LeagueThe National Football League is the largest professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing its name to the National Football League in 1922. The league currently consists of...
as a
quarterbackQuarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the center, in the middle of the offensive line. Quarterbacks are the leaders of the offensive team, responsible for calling the play in the huddle...
. A 5th round selection (111th overall pick) of the
1973 NFL DraftThe 1973 National Football League Draft was held on January 30–31, 1973.-Player selections:-Round one:-Round two:-Round three:-Round four:-Round five:-Round six:-Round seven:-Round eight:-Round nine:-Round ten:...
, he spent the majority of his professional career with the
Miami DolphinsThe Miami Dolphins are a professional football team based in the Miami, Florida metropolitan area. They play home games at Land Shark Stadium, in the suburb of Miami Gardens. They are headquartered at the Miami Dolphins Training Facility in Davie, Florida. The Dolphins belong to the Eastern...
(1973-1987). He also played one season with the
Cleveland BrownsThe Cleveland Browns are an American football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They play in the AFC North division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . The original Cleveland Browns began play in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and...
(1988) and part of a season on the roster of the
Indianapolis ColtsThe Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. They are members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League ....
(1989) before retiring as a player.
Strock is well-remembered for coming off the bench on January 2, 1982, for the
Miami DolphinsThe Miami Dolphins are a professional football team based in the Miami, Florida metropolitan area. They play home games at Land Shark Stadium, in the suburb of Miami Gardens. They are headquartered at the Miami Dolphins Training Facility in Davie, Florida. The Dolphins belong to the Eastern...
in an
AFC Divisional Playoff GameThe NFL playoffs following the 1981 NFL season led up to Super Bowl XVI.-AFC: Buffalo Bills 31, New York Jets 27:at Shea Stadium, Flushing, Queens, New York*Game time: 12:00 p.m...
against the
San Diego ChargersThe San Diego Chargers are an American Professional Football team based in San Diego, California. They are currently members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . The club began play in 1960 as a charter member of the American Football League...
at the
Miami Orange BowlThe Miami Orange Bowl was a stadium in the City of Miami, west of Downtown in Little Havana. Considered a landmark, it was the home stadium for the University of Miami Hurricanes football team and the temporary home of the Florida International University Golden Panthers for the 2007 football...
. Strock led Miami from a 0-24 deficit to tie the score in the 3rd quarter. Ultimately, Miami lost the game to San Diego, 41-38, in overtime. The game is also remembered for the image of San Diego
tight endThe tight end is a position in American football on the offensive team. The tight end is sometimes the last man on the offensive line, but has a slightly different build and, in some cases, a different role than other linemen...
Kellen WinslowKellen Boswell Winslow is a former professional American football tight end with the Missouri Tigers and the San Diego Chargers. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest tight ends in the history of the game...
being helped off the field by his teammates while suffering from exhaustion. Strock finished the game with 29 of 43 completions for 403 yards and four touchdowns, with one interception. The game later became known as
The Epic in MiamiThe Epic in Miami is the name given to a National Football League AFC divisional playoff game between the San Diego Chargers and the Miami Dolphins that took place on January 2, 1982 in the Miami Orange Bowl...
and has entered
NFL loreNational Football League lore is a collection of information that NFL fans retain and share.Since the NFL was founded in 1920, it has grown from an informal network of teams based mostly in small towns and cities into the most popular and successful sports league in the United States...
as one of the greatest games ever in NFL history.
Every game with two 400 or more yard quarterbacks
Don Strock played in one of the five greatest NFL passing games. Below is a list of every game where two quarterbacks passed for 400 or more yards.
| Rank |
Quarterback |
Date |
Game |
Attempts |
Comp |
Yards |
TDs |
INTs |
Rating |
| 1 |
Ken O'Brien Kenneth John O'Brien is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League for the New York Jets and Philadelphia Eagles. When he retired he was the only Jets quarterback to have ever been ranked the number 1 passer for a season...
Dan MarinoDaniel Constantine Marino, Jr. is an American Hall of Fame quarterback who played for the Miami Dolphins in the National Football League...
|
9/21/1986 |
New York Jets: 51
Miami Dolphins: 45 |
43
50 |
29
30 |
479
448 |
4
6 |
1
2 |
126.0
112.3 |
| Total: |
|
|
96 Points |
93 |
59 |
927 |
10 |
3 |
|
| 2 |
Dan MarinoDaniel Constantine Marino, Jr. is an American Hall of Fame quarterback who played for the Miami Dolphins in the National Football League...
Drew BledsoeDrew McQueen Bledsoe is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League, best known as the starting quarterback for the New England Patriots from 1993-2001. During the 1990s and early 2000s, he was perceived to be the face of the Patriots franchise...
|
9/4/1994 |
Miami Dolphins: 39
New England Patriots: 35 |
42
51 |
23
32 |
473
421 |
5
4 |
1
2 |
124.3
96.6 |
| Total: |
|
|
74 Points |
93 |
55 |
894 |
9 |
3 |
|
| 3 |
Jim Kelly James Edward Kelly is a former American football quarterback in the NFL for the Buffalo Bills and the USFL's Houston Gamblers....
Steve Young |
9/13/1992 |
Buffalo Bills: 34
San Francisco 49ers: 31 |
33
37 |
22
26 |
403
449 |
3
3 |
1
1 |
126.2
127.0 |
| Total: |
|
|
65 Points |
70 |
48 |
852 |
6 |
2 |
|
| 4 |
Dan Fouts Daniel Francis "Dan" Fouts is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League. Fouts played for the San Diego Chargers from 1973 through 1987, and is famous for being one of the most prolific quarterbacks of the Super Bowl Era...
Ken Anderson |
12/20/1982 |
San Diego Chargers: 50
Cincinnati Bengals: 34 |
40
56 |
25
40 |
435
416 |
1
2 |
2
1 |
87.0
97.0 |
| Total: |
|
|
84 Points |
96 |
65 |
851 |
3 |
3 |
|
| 5 |
Dan Fouts Daniel Francis "Dan" Fouts is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League. Fouts played for the San Diego Chargers from 1973 through 1987, and is famous for being one of the most prolific quarterbacks of the Super Bowl Era...
Don Strock |
1/2/1982 |
San Diego Chargers: 41
Miami Dolphins: 38 |
53
43 |
33
29 |
433
403 |
3
4 |
1
1 |
116.2
118.7 |
| Total: |
|
|
79 Points |
96 |
62 |
836 |
7 |
2 |
|
Arena Football League, the World League and the NFL
Strock began his coaching career as the head coach of the
Miami Hooters-Sacramento Attack :The Sacramento Attack was an Arena Football League team that competed under that name in the 1992 AFL season only.-Miami Hooters :...
of the
Arena Football LeagueThe Arena Football League was founded in 1987 as an indoor American football by Jim Foster. It was played indoors on a smaller field than American football, resulting in a faster-paced and higher-scoring game...
for one season in 1993. The following season he moved on to be the head coach of the
Massachusetts Marauders-Detroit Drive :The Detroit Drive were a professional arena football team playing as an Arena Football League team from 1988-1993. They were in six consecutive championship ArenaBowls, one for each season of the team's Detroit existence, winning four of them, making them the dominant team of the...
and again only stayed for one season. He then moved on to be an assistant coach of the
Rhein FireThe Rhein Fire were a professional American football team in NFL Europe, formerly the World League of American Football. Established in Germany in 1995, the franchise resurrected the name of the former Birmingham Fire team which was active during the 1991-1992 WLAF seasons.-History:The team was...
in the
World LeagueThe World League of American Football was founded in 1990 with support from the National Football League to play professional American football in North America, Europe and later possibly Asia...
during 1995 season. Between 1996-1998 seasons, he was the quarterbacks coach of the
Baltimore RavensThe Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. They compete in the AFC North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
in the NFL.
Florida International University
On September 13, 2000, Strock was named the first head football coach in FIU's history. He was named to the position just shy of two years before the university's inaugural football game. Prior to being named head coach he was the director of football operations, a job he had obtained the year before. His overall record through the 2006 football season was 15-41.
On November 15, 2006 Strock resigned as head coach of the FIU Golden Panthers. Of his 15 career victories, none came during the 2006 campaign and only three of them came against
Division IDivision I is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association in the United States....
-A opponents. His resignation came after an 0-9 start and a
much-publicized brawlThe Florida International University – University of Miami was a bench-clearing brawl that occurred on October 14, 2006 in a college football game between the University of Miami Hurricanes and the at the Orange Bowl stadium in Miami, Florida....
against the University of
Miami HurricanesThe Miami Hurricanes are the varsity sports teams of the University of Miami. They compete in the Coastal Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference . Their traditional athletic rivals include the Seminoles of Florida State University and the Gators of the University of Florida...
caused 16 players from FIU to be suspended. His resignation became effective following FIU's last game against
Troy UniversityTroy University is a public university located in Troy, Alabama and founded in 1887 as Troy Normal School with a mission to educate and train new teachers. Troy has since evolved into a comprehensive state university. The main campus enrollment as of the fall of 2007 is 6,177 students...
on December 2, 2006.
External links