Jerry Pettibone
Encyclopedia
Jerry Pettibone is a former American football
player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Northern Illinois University
from 1985 to 1990 and at Oregon State University
from 1991 to 1996, compiling a career college football
record of 46–84–2.
in Dallas, Texas
. He earned All-State honors as a running back
on the state championship football team in 1956 and 1957. He received the honor to be in the first class inducted into the Jesuit Sports Hall of Fame. After graduating from Jesuit High School, Pettibone received a scholarship to the University of Oklahoma
, where he played halfback
under Bud Wilkinson
.
, Southern Methodist University
, and Texas A&M University
. In his career as an assistant coach, he coached in 11 major bowls
and won eight Big Eight Conference
championships. Teams he was with collectively produced a record of 168–64–3 (.721). He was with two national championship teams. Jerry helped to recruit 20 consensus All-Americans, two Heisman Trophy
winners, two Outland Trophy
winners and a Lombardi Award
winner.
At Oklahoma, he was part of eight bowl games and was with two national championship teams. He was part of seven Big Eight championship teams at Oklahoma. He recruited Heisman Trophy winner Billy Sims
, running back in 1978 after rushing for 1,782 yards. One of Pettibone's early Oklahoma classes graduated 17 of 25 players into the National Football League
. At Nebraska, he coached in three bowl games. As recruiting coordinator, he helped to recruit consensus All-Americans Irving Fryer, running back Mike Rozier
and center
Mark Traynowicz. Rozier won the Heisman Trophy in 1983 after rushing for 2,148 yards. At Texas A&M, Pettibone was named as 'No. 1 Recruiter in America' by Sports Illustrated
. Pettibone's initial recruiting class at Texas A&M ranked first in the Southwest Conference and #5 in the nation. That class produced six Aggie starters the first year.
. He was the head coach for the Huskies from 1985 to 1990. Northern Illinois recorded a 9–2 record in 1989 to tie the best-ever record in history of the school. Pettibone was named Coach of the Year for major northern independent schools by Sporting News. NIU established four school records (most points, most touchdowns, most rushing touchdowns and most possession time) and the Huskies were ranked among the top 25 in five different categories. Northern Illinois recorded its first ever victory over a top 25 rated team when it downed Fresno State. Northern Illinois also established 51 school records and seven NCAA
records during Pettibone's final three years. In his time at NIU, he posted a record of 33–32–1.
In 1991, Pettibone left Northern Illinois to become the head coach at Oregon State University
, replacing Dave Kragthorpe
. The contrasting styles of offenses between Kragthorpe and Pettibone made the transition very difficult. Kragthorpe ran an extremely pass oriented offense while he was at the helm. Pettibone, on the other hand, preferred the running game and specifically the wishbone formation
and the triple option
. In his first two seasons at Oregon State, he only managed one win in each season. However, in season three and four, things started to click and his teams posted four wins in each of those seasons. Oregon State finished second in the nation in rushing in 1993. Pettibone was named co-runner-up for the Division I-A Coach of the Year honors by Sports Illustrated. In season five, things went down hill again, and the Beavers dropped back to 1–10. After a 2–9 season in 1996, Pettibone resigned as the head coach. During his stint as the head coach, Oregon State had two 15-game losing skids.
to become the assistant athletic director
at the University of Oklahoma
in 1996. He spent one year at Oklahoma, and then was terminated in the wake of budget cuts in the department.
Pettibone currently works for Jeld-Wen
, and initially worked out of Norman, Oklahoma
, for one year before moving to Jacksonville, Oregon
. He has since moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado
where he currently lives with his wife, Susy. In addition to his responsibilities with Jeld-Wen, he also has maintains a personal football evaluation service for high school and junior college athletes to help them determine what level their playing ability falls under, and how to navigate the college recruiting process. His only daughter, Shanda, has worked for the San Antonio Spurs
, Denver Broncos
, and Dallas Cowboys
. She is currently with the American Airlines Center
in Dallas, home to the Dallas Mavericks
and Dallas Stars
.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Northern Illinois University
Northern Illinois University
Northern Illinois University is a state university and research institution located in DeKalb, Illinois, with satellite centers in Hoffman Estates, Naperville, Rockford, and Oregon. It was originally founded as Northern Illinois State Normal School on May 22, 1895 by Illinois Governor John P...
from 1985 to 1990 and at Oregon State University
Oregon State University
Oregon State University is a coeducational, public research university located in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. The university offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees and a multitude of research opportunities. There are more than 200 academic degree programs offered through the...
from 1991 to 1996, compiling a career college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
record of 46–84–2.
Early life
Pettibone's football career started at Jesuit High SchoolJesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas
Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas is a private, college-preparatory school for young men under the direction of the Society of Jesus and home to the Jesuit Dallas Museum in Dallas, Texas...
in Dallas, Texas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
. He earned All-State honors as a running back
Running back
A running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...
on the state championship football team in 1956 and 1957. He received the honor to be in the first class inducted into the Jesuit Sports Hall of Fame. After graduating from Jesuit High School, Pettibone received a scholarship to the University of Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma
The University of Oklahoma is a coeducational public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two became the state of Oklahoma. the university had 29,931 students enrolled, most located at its...
, where he played halfback
Halfback (American football)
A halfback, sometimes referred to as a tailback, is an offensive position in American football, which lines up in the backfield and generally is responsible for carrying the ball on run plays. Historically, from the 1870s through the 1950s, the halfback position was both an offensive and defensive...
under Bud Wilkinson
Bud Wilkinson
Charles Burnham "Bud" Wilkinson was an American football player, coach, broadcaster, and politician. He served as the head football coach at the University of Oklahoma from 1947 to 1963, compiling a record of 145–29–4. His Oklahoma Sooners won three national championships and 14...
.
Assistant coach
Pettibone spent time as an assistant coach at the University of Oklahoma, the University of Nebraska–LincolnUniversity of Nebraska–Lincoln
The University of Nebraska–Lincoln is a public research university located in the city of Lincoln in the U.S. state of Nebraska...
, Southern Methodist University
Southern Methodist University
Southern Methodist University is a private university in Dallas, Texas, United States. Founded in 1911 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, SMU operates campuses in Dallas, Plano, and Taos, New Mexico. SMU is owned by the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church...
, and Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...
. In his career as an assistant coach, he coached in 11 major bowls
Bowl game
In North America, a bowl game is commonly considered to refer to one of a number of post-season college football games. Prior to 2002, bowl game statistics were not included in players' career totals and the games were mostly considered to be exhibition games involving a payout to participating...
and won eight Big Eight Conference
Big Eight Conference
The Big Eight Conference, a former NCAA-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football, was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association by its charter member schools: the University of Kansas, University of Missouri, University...
championships. Teams he was with collectively produced a record of 168–64–3 (.721). He was with two national championship teams. Jerry helped to recruit 20 consensus All-Americans, two Heisman Trophy
Heisman Trophy
The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , is awarded annually to the player deemed the most outstanding player in collegiate football. It was created in 1935 as the Downtown Athletic Club trophy and renamed in 1936 following the death of the Club's athletic director, John Heisman The Heisman Memorial...
winners, two Outland Trophy
Outland Trophy
The Outland Trophy is awarded to the best United States college football interior lineman by the Football Writers Association of America. It is named after John H. Outland. One of only a few players ever to be named All-America at two positions, Outland garnered consensus All-America honors in...
winners and a Lombardi Award
Lombardi Award
The Rotary Lombardi Award is awarded annually to the best college football lineman or linebacker. The Lombardi Award program was approved by the Rotary Club in Houston in 1970 shortly after the death of Vince Lombardi. The committee outlined the criteria for eligibility for the award, which...
winner.
At Oklahoma, he was part of eight bowl games and was with two national championship teams. He was part of seven Big Eight championship teams at Oklahoma. He recruited Heisman Trophy winner Billy Sims
Billy Sims
Billy Sims is a former college football and NFL running back. He won the Heisman Trophy in 1978.-Early years:...
, running back in 1978 after rushing for 1,782 yards. One of Pettibone's early Oklahoma classes graduated 17 of 25 players into the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top 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...
. At Nebraska, he coached in three bowl games. As recruiting coordinator, he helped to recruit consensus All-Americans Irving Fryer, running back Mike Rozier
Mike Rozier
Michael Rozier is a former American collegiate and professional football running back who won the Heisman Trophy in 1983. He was born in Camden, New Jersey. Mike and his wife, Rochelle, an attorney, reside in South Jersey and together they have one son. Mike has two other children who reside in...
and center
Center (American football)
Center is a position in American football and Canadian football . The center is the innermost lineman of the offensive line on a football team's offense...
Mark Traynowicz. Rozier won the Heisman Trophy in 1983 after rushing for 2,148 yards. At Texas A&M, Pettibone was named as 'No. 1 Recruiter in America' by Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
. Pettibone's initial recruiting class at Texas A&M ranked first in the Southwest Conference and #5 in the nation. That class produced six Aggie starters the first year.
Head coach
Pettibone's first head coaching position was at Northern Illinois UniversityNorthern Illinois University
Northern Illinois University is a state university and research institution located in DeKalb, Illinois, with satellite centers in Hoffman Estates, Naperville, Rockford, and Oregon. It was originally founded as Northern Illinois State Normal School on May 22, 1895 by Illinois Governor John P...
. He was the head coach for the Huskies from 1985 to 1990. Northern Illinois recorded a 9–2 record in 1989 to tie the best-ever record in history of the school. Pettibone was named Coach of the Year for major northern independent schools by Sporting News. NIU established four school records (most points, most touchdowns, most rushing touchdowns and most possession time) and the Huskies were ranked among the top 25 in five different categories. Northern Illinois recorded its first ever victory over a top 25 rated team when it downed Fresno State. Northern Illinois also established 51 school records and seven NCAA
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
records during Pettibone's final three years. In his time at NIU, he posted a record of 33–32–1.
In 1991, Pettibone left Northern Illinois to become the head coach at Oregon State University
Oregon State University
Oregon State University is a coeducational, public research university located in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. The university offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees and a multitude of research opportunities. There are more than 200 academic degree programs offered through the...
, replacing Dave Kragthorpe
Dave Kragthorpe
Dave Kragthorpe is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at South Dakota State University in 1969, at Idaho State University from 1980 to 1982, and at Oregon State University from 1985 to 1990, compiling a career college football record of...
. The contrasting styles of offenses between Kragthorpe and Pettibone made the transition very difficult. Kragthorpe ran an extremely pass oriented offense while he was at the helm. Pettibone, on the other hand, preferred the running game and specifically the wishbone formation
Wishbone formation
The wishbone formation, also known simply as the ’bone, is an offensive formation in American football. The style of attack to which it gives rise is known as the wishbone offense...
and the triple option
Triple Option
The triple option is an American football scheme used to offer multiple ways to progress the football forward in the field of play. The triple option is based on the option run, but uses three players who may run with the ball instead of the two that are used in the standard option run.The triple...
. In his first two seasons at Oregon State, he only managed one win in each season. However, in season three and four, things started to click and his teams posted four wins in each of those seasons. Oregon State finished second in the nation in rushing in 1993. Pettibone was named co-runner-up for the Division I-A Coach of the Year honors by Sports Illustrated. In season five, things went down hill again, and the Beavers dropped back to 1–10. After a 2–9 season in 1996, Pettibone resigned as the head coach. During his stint as the head coach, Oregon State had two 15-game losing skids.
Later life and family
Pettibone left Corvallis, OregonCorvallis, Oregon
Corvallis is a city located in central western Oregon, United States. It is the county seat of Benton County and the principal city of the Corvallis, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Benton County. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 54,462....
to become the assistant athletic director
Athletic director
An athletic director is an administrator at many American colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and related staff involved in intercollegiate or interscholastic athletic programs...
at the University of Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma
The University of Oklahoma is a coeducational public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two became the state of Oklahoma. the university had 29,931 students enrolled, most located at its...
in 1996. He spent one year at Oklahoma, and then was terminated in the wake of budget cuts in the department.
Pettibone currently works for Jeld-Wen
JELD-WEN
Jeld-Wen is a corporation with over 150 divisions and 20,000 employees worldwide. The business manufactures building products, including windows, interior and exterior doors, and garage doors. Jeld-Wen owns several distribution facilities and operates several resort properties...
, and initially worked out of Norman, Oklahoma
Norman, Oklahoma
Norman is a city in Cleveland County, Oklahoma, United States, and is located south of downtown Oklahoma City. It is part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, Norman was to have 110,925 full-time residents, making it the third-largest city in Oklahoma and the...
, for one year before moving to Jacksonville, Oregon
Jacksonville, Oregon
Jacksonville is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States, a few miles west of Medford. It was named for Jackson Creek, which runs through the community and was the site of one of the first placer gold claims in the area. It includes Jacksonville Historic District which was designated a U.S....
. He has since moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Colorado Springs is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and most populous city of El Paso County, Colorado, United States. Colorado Springs is located in South-Central Colorado, in the southern portion of the state. It is situated on Fountain Creek and is located south of the Colorado...
where he currently lives with his wife, Susy. In addition to his responsibilities with Jeld-Wen, he also has maintains a personal football evaluation service for high school and junior college athletes to help them determine what level their playing ability falls under, and how to navigate the college recruiting process. His only daughter, Shanda, has worked for the San Antonio Spurs
San Antonio Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio, Texas. They are part of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association ....
, Denver Broncos
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado. They are currently members of the West Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
, and Dallas Cowboys
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas...
. She is currently with the American Airlines Center
American Airlines Center
The American Airlines Center is a multi-purpose arena, located in the Victory Park neighborhood, near downtown Dallas, Texas.It is home to the Dallas Mavericks of the NBA, and the Dallas Stars of the NHL....
in Dallas, home to the Dallas Mavericks
Dallas Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks are a professional basketball team based in Dallas, Texas. They are members of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association , and the reigning NBA champions, having defeated the Miami Heat in the 2011 NBA Finals.According to a 2011...
and Dallas Stars
Dallas Stars
The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas, Texas. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The team was founded during the 1967 NHL expansion as the Minnesota North Stars, based in Bloomington, Minnesota. The...
.