Harvey Paul Johnson (June 22, 1919 – August 8, 1983) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

player and coach. He served two separate stints as the head coach for the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division ...

, first in the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...

(AFL) and then in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

(NFL). Born and raised in

Bridgeton, New Jersey Bridgeton is a city in Cumberland County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is the county seat of Cumberland County Bridgeton High School Bridgeton High School is a comprehensive community public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from the city of Bridgeton, in Cumberland County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the Bridgeton Public ...

and Staunton Military Academy.

Playing career

Johnson played as a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, pl ...

for the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one o ...

of the

All-America Football Conference The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was a professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League (NFL) from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many of the ...

(AAFC) from 1946 to 1949. In 1951, he played as a linebacker for the NFL's New York Yanks.

Coaching

After eight years as an assistant coach and then

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator is a coach responsible for a gridiron football (American football) team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's c ...

with the Buffalo Bills, Johnson first took the reins as head coach in 1968, when Joe Collier was fired two games into the season. The Bills went 1–10–1 with Johnson at the helm, and he was replaced the following year by

John Rauch John Rauch (August 20, 1927 – June 10, 2008), also known by his nickname Johnny Rauch, was an American football player and coach. He was head coach of the Oakland Raiders in the team's loss to the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl II in early ...

. Johnson returned to his role as the Bills' defensive backfield coach for two seasons before resuming the head coaching post in 1971. After finishing with a 1–13 record that year, Johnson was reassigned to the scouting department. He compiled a record of 2–23–1 in his two seasons. Johnson was also on the Buffalo Bills coaching staff when the Bills won the 1965 AFL Championship game. Johnson continued to work as a

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement * Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

for the team until his death in 1983. It was speculated that Johnson's love of thoroughbred horse racing, a passion he shared with owner Ralph Wilson, allowed him to stay on the Bills payroll despite his poor performance in coaching.Pollock, Chuck (March 27, 2014)
Pollock: Some fond memories of the Bills’ late owner
''Olean Times Herald''. Retrieved March 27, 2014.

Head coaching record

References

External links

1919 births 1983 deaths Bainbridge Commodores football players Buffalo Bills coaches Buffalo Bills scouts New York Yanks players New York Yankees (AAFC) players William & Mary Tribe football players Bridgeton High School alumni People from Bridgeton, New Jersey Sportspeople from Cumberland County, New Jersey Staunton Military Academy alumni Players of American football from New Jersey Buffalo Bills head coaches {{amfoot-coach-stub