Henry Charles Bullough (January 24, 1934 – November 24, 2019) 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 wi ...

player and coach. He played college football at

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

and graduated in 1954. Bullough was a starting guard for the Spartans team that won the

1954 Rose Bowl The 1954 Rose Bowl was the 40th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, on Friday, January 1. The third-ranked Michigan State Spartans of the Big Ten Conference defeated the #5 UCLA Bruins of the ...

. He was selected by the Green Bay Packers with the 53rd pick in the fifth round of the

1955 NFL Draft The 1955 National Football League draft was held January 27–28, 1955 at the Warwick Hotel in New York City. This was the ninth year that the first overall pick was a bonus pick determined by lottery. With the previous eight winners ineligib ...

Coaching career

Bullough's first coaching position was at his alma mater,

, where he served for 11 seasons. In 1970, he became linebackers coach for the Baltimore Colts 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 ...

(NFL) under head coach Don McCafferty. As defensive coordinator for the New England Patriots in the 1970sMaking the switch to 3–4 defense is an old trick for Patriots
''Boston Globe'', September 5, 2003 Bullough is credited, along with his college teammate

Chuck Fairbanks Charles Leo Fairbanks (June 10, 1933 – April 2, 2013) was a football coach who was a head coach at the high school, college and professional levels. He served as the head coach at the University of Oklahoma from 1967 to 1972 and at the Universi ...

, with having been a significant figure in bringing the

3–4 defense In American football, the 3–4 defense is a common defensive alignment consisting of three down linemen and four linebackers. It is a called a "base defense" because it is the default defensive alignment used on "base downs" (1st and 2nd downs ...

to the NFL. After Fairbanks was suspended prior to the final game of the 1978 season, Bullough's and fellow assistant Ron Erhardt were named co-head coaches for the remainder of the season. After the season, Patriots owner Billy Sullivan appointed Erhardt head coach instead of Bullough. Bullough would remain defensive coordinator for one more season with the Patriots. In 1980, new Cincinnati Bengals head coach and former Green Bay Packers teammate,

Forrest Gregg Alvis Forrest Gregg (October 18, 1933 – April 12, 2019) was an American professional football player and coach. A Pro Football Hall of Fame offensive tackle for 16 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), he was a part of six NFL champ ...

wooed Bullough to install the 3–4 defensive system in Cincinnati.
"The Daily Sentinel", January 17, 1980 Two seasons later the Bengals would go to the Super Bowl XVI, Super Bowl where they fell just short against the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

. While with the Bengals, Bullough also tutored

Dick LeBeau Charles Richard "Dick" LeBeau ( ; born September 9, 1937) is a former American football cornerback and coach in the National Football League (NFL). He was active with the NFL for 59 consecutive seasons, 14 as a player with the Detroit Lions and ...

who, not only would succeed Bullough as defensive coordinator but, is credited as the innovator of the 3–4 zone blitz scheme. Bullough also served as defensive coordinator for the Green Bay Packers in 1984. He was named the head coach for the Pittsburgh Maulers of 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) for the 1985 season, but the team folded after the 1984 season. He instead moved on to the Buffalo Bills, where he replaced Kay Stephenson for the final 12 games of the 1985 season and remained head coach for the first nine games of the 1986 season before being fired.

Personal life

Bullough was married to his wife of 49 years Lou Ann Bullough and they had three children together, Cheryl, Shane, and

Chuck Chuck is a masculine given name or a nickname for Charles or Charlie. It may refer to: People Arts and entertainment * Chuck Alaimo, American saxophonist, leader of the Chuck Alaimo Quartet * Chuck Barris (1929–2017), American TV producer * C ...

, and nine grandchildren, Corey, Kristi, Jake, Max, Riley, Byron, Holly, Chloe and Annika.

Head coaching record

^ Co-coach with Ron Erhardt

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bullough, Hank 1934 births 2019 deaths Sportspeople from Scranton, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania American football guards Michigan State Spartans football players Green Bay Packers players Coaches of American football from Pennsylvania Michigan State Spartans football coaches Baltimore Colts coaches New England Patriots coaches New England Patriots head coaches National Football League defensive coordinators Cincinnati Bengals coaches Buffalo Bills coaches Buffalo Bills head coaches Green Bay Packers coaches United States Football League coaches Detroit Lions coaches