James Franklin Eddy (May 2, 1936 – October 27, 2016) 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 with ...

coach 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 ...

(NFL) and

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

New Mexico State University New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public land-grant research university based primarily in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest public institution of higher education in New Mexico and one of the state's tw ...

Early years

Eddy attended Checotah High School, where he played multiple sports. He played as a

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

in football. He graduated at 16 years old, after skipping 2 grades early in his education. He accepted a football scholarship from

, where he played

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

and

Coaching career

Eddy's coaching career began as a high school coach in Odessa, Texas. He was later named head coach at Roswell High School. In 1968, he joined the coaching staff at his alma mater,

, where he was an assistant head coach and defensive coordinator. In 1972, he joined

Tommy Hudspeth Tommy Joe Hudspeth (September 14, 1931 – June 23, 2015) was an American and Canadian football coach and executive at both the collegiate and professional levels. He was the head coach at Brigham Young University (BYU) from 1964 to 1971, and the ...

UTEP Miners The UTEP Miners is the name given to the sports teams of the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). They are informally referred to as the Miners, UTEP, or Texas–El Paso. UTEP was a member of the Western Athletic Conference from 1967 to 2005, ...

coaching staff as the defensive coordinator. Eddy's next coaching job was as the

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 ...

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 1 ...

, which he held until he was promoted to

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

in 1977. In Eddy's first season, the Roughriders went 8–8 and missed the playoffs only one season removed from playing the

Ottawa Rough Riders The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded in 1876. Formerly one of the oldest and longest-lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup championship nine ...

in the

64th Grey Cup The 64th Grey Cup was played on November 28, 1976, at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. The Ottawa Rough Riders defeated the Saskatchewan Roughriders 23–20 in what is considered one of the most thrilling Grey Cup games, featuring some of the mos ...

. Eddy was fired during the 1978 season after the Riders lost their first five games. In 1979, Eddy joined the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

coaching staff, where he was reunited with his former boss in Saskatchewan, John Payne. His next coaching job was with the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the Canadian F ...

, first as the defensive backfield coach, then as the Als interim head coach. In 1982, he moved to the front office as Director of Operations and Player Personnel of the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

. Along with head coach

Bob O'Billovich Robert O'Billovich, nicknamed "Bobby O" or "Obie", (born June 30, 1940) is an east regional scout for the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League (CFL). O'Billovich has been involved with the CFL since 1963 in the roles of player, coach, general ...

, he helped rebuilt an Argonauts team that had gone 2–14 the prior season into a team that won the East Division championships in both of Eddy's seasons there and won the

71st Grey Cup The 71st Grey Cup was the 1983 Canadian Football League championship game played at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver between the Toronto Argonauts and hometown BC Lions. The Argos narrowly defeated the Lions 18–17, claiming their first Grey Cup vic ...

in 1983. Eddy was the defensive coordinator of the

Houston Gamblers The Houston Gamblers were an American football team that competed in the United States Football League in 1984 and 1985. The Gamblers were coached by veteran NFL head coach Jack Pardee in both their seasons. They were noteworthy for introducing ...

for both of the team's seasons in the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(USFL). He contributed to the team reaching the playoffs both years and winning a Division Title in 1984. In 1986,

Jack Pardee John Perry Pardee (April 19, 1936 – April 1, 2013) was an American football linebacker and the only head coach to helm a team in college football, the National Football League (NFL), the United States Football League (USFL), the World Footbal ...

hired Eddy to become defensive coordinator of the

Houston Cougars football The Houston Cougars football program is an NCAA Division I FBS football team that represents the University of Houston. The team is commonly referred to as "Houston" or "UH" (spoken as "U of H"). The UH football program is a member of the Big 1 ...

team. He spent three seasons there, helping the school post a 22-10-1 record, while leading the

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma an ...

in defense in 1988 and 1989. In his final season, the defense finished sixth in the nation in scoring defense. Eddy followed Pardee to the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 as ...

, where he remained the coach's defensive coordinator in 1990. His defense led the American Football Conference, while finishing third in the league in total defense, third in the NFL in pass defense and tied for fifth in sacks. The Oilers earned three playoff berths, including the club's first AFC Central Division crown in 1991. He was fired following the Oilers 1992 playoff loss to 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. ...

in an infamous game which would become known as The Comeback, when the team lost 38–41, after being in front 35–3, early in the third quarter. He joined the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

coaching staff in 1993 as a defensive assistant and later as the team's linebackers coach. While in Dallas, he helped win two

Super Bowls The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

. In 1996, Eddy became the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

defensive coordinator. He would hold that job for only one season. He decided to retire in 1997. In 2000, he was one of the candidates for the vacant Cowboys head coaching position, but lost the job to

Dave Campo David Cross Campo (born July 18, 1947) is an American football coach and former player. Campo served as the head coach for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL) from 2000 to 2002, compiling a record of 15 wins and 33 losses. He ...

Personal life

On October 27, 2016, he died from complications of

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

at the age of 80.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eddy, Jim 1936 births 2016 deaths Dallas Cowboys coaches Detroit Lions coaches Hamilton Tiger-Cats coaches Houston Cougars football coaches Houston Oilers coaches National Football League defensive coordinators New Mexico State Aggies football players New Mexico State Aggies football coaches Saskatchewan Roughriders coaches Montreal Alouettes coaches United States Football League coaches UTEP Miners football coaches Toronto Argonauts general managers High school football coaches in New Mexico High school football coaches in Texas People from McIntosh County, Oklahoma Players of American football from Oklahoma Neurological disease deaths in Oklahoma Deaths from Alzheimer's disease