John E. Beake (born December 20, 1938) is a retired American football executive who served as general manager of the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

of 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 ...

from 1985 to 1998.

Coaching

Beake graduated from

Long Branch High School Long Branch High School is a comprehensive, four-year community public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades in the city of Long Branch, in Monmouth County, New Jersey, operating as part of the Long Branch Public Sch ...

in 1957 and

Trenton State College The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) is a public university in Ewing Township, New Jersey. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education. Established in 1855 as the New Jersey State Normal School, TCNJ was the first normal school, or ...

in 1961. He then earned a master's degree from

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

, where he served as a graduate assistant under

Rip Engle Charles A. "Rip" Engle (March 26, 1906 – March 7, 1983) was an American football player and coach of football and basketball. He served as the head football coach at Brown University from 1944 to 1949 and at Pennsylvania State University from ...

. He was the head basketball and assistant football coach at

New York Military Academy New York Military Academy (NYMA) is a college preparatory, co-ed boarding school in the rural town of Cornwall, north of New York City, and one of the oldest military schools in the United States. Originally a boys' school, it started admitting ...

from 1963 to 1964. He then spent four seasons as the head football coach at

Nyack High School Nyack High School is a secondary school serving parts of the Town of Orangetown and Town of Clarkstown, New York, United States. The original Nyack High School building is now part of BOCES. Since 1990, Nyack High School has been located less t ...

, where he compiled a 24–4–4 record and won three league champions. In 1968 he was hired as an assistant coach by the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

. In his seven seasons in Kansas City, the Chiefs won three division titles, one conference championship, and

Super Bowl IV Super Bowl IV was an American football game played on January 11, 1970 at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was the fourth and final AFL–NFL World Championship Game in professional football prior to the AFL–NFL merger taking eff ...

. After one season as the offensive coordinator at

Colorado State Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...

, Beake rejoined his Chiefs' former boss,

Hank Stram Henry Louis Stram (; January 3, 1923 – July 4, 2005) was an American football coach. He is best known for his 15-year tenure with the Dallas Texans / Kansas City Chiefs of the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (N ...

, in New Orleans.

Executive

In 1979, Beake joined the Denver Broncos as director of pro personnel. In 1981 he was promoted to director of player personnel. In 1984 he was named assistant general manager. Shortly thereafter, the Broncos were sold and general manager Hein Poulus resigned. After going without a general manager for the 1984 season, the Broncos promoted Beake on February 18, 1985. Beake ran the administrative side of the Broncos, focusing on contract negotiations. He was third in the team's power structure behind the owner and head coach. During Beake's tenure as GM, the Broncos appeared in four Super Bowls and won one of them. On March 3, 1999, Beake was reassigned to the position of vice president of administration and

Neal Dahlen Neal (Neil) is a given masculine name and surname of Gaelic and Irish origin. The name is an Anglicisation of the Irish Niall which is of disputed derivation. The Irish name may be derived from words meaning "cloud", "passionate", "victory", "hono ...

succeeded him as general manager. He left the Broncos organization the following year to become the National Football League's vice president of player development and managing director of football operations for

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...

. In 2002 he was promoted to vice president of football development and operations. The NFL announced Beake's retirement on March 9, 2004.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beake, John 1938 births The College of New Jersey alumni Colorado State Rams football coaches Denver Broncos executives High school football coaches in New York (state) Kansas City Chiefs coaches Long Branch High School alumni New Orleans Saints coaches NFL Europe executives Penn State Nittany Lions football coaches Pennsylvania State University alumni Sportspeople from Long Branch, New Jersey TCNJ Lions football players Living people