Jack Bicknell (born February 20, 1938) is a retired

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, most recently known for his long involvement in NFL Europa and its predecessor, the

World League of American Football 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 ...

(WLAF). He served as the head football coach at the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine or UMO) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universities, flagshi ...

from 1976 to 1980 and at

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

from 1981 to 1988, compiling a career

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 ...

record of 77–90–2. In 1984, Bicknell coached his Boston College Eagles team to a 10–2 mark including a victory in the

Cotton Bowl Classic The Cotton Bowl Classic (also known as the Cotton Bowl) is an American college football bowl game that has been held annually in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex since January 1, 1937. The game was originally played at its namesake stadium i ...

. His

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

that season,

Doug Flutie Douglas Richard Flutie (born October 23, 1962) is an American former football quarterback whose professional career spanned 21 seasons. He played 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), eight seasons in the Canadian Football League (CF ...

, was awarded the

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...

. A native of

North Plainfield, New Jersey North Plainfield is a borough in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. It is located within the Raritan Valley region. As of the 2010 United States census, the borough's population was 21,936,North Plainfield High School North Plainfield High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grade from North Plainfield, in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the North Plainfield Scho ...

, graduating in 1955 and earning a scholarship to attend

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

.Lewis, Brian
"Bicknell interested in Rutgers coaching job"
''

Courier-News The ''Courier News'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Somerville, New Jersey, that serves Somerset County and other areas of Central Jersey. The paper has been owned by Gannett since 1927. Notable employees * John Curley, former pre ...

'', December 7, 1995. Accessed July 5, 2018. "Now, North Plainfield native Jack Bicknell would love nothing more than to come home as the next Rutgers football coach.... A 1955 North Plainfield grad, and a former Watchung Hills assistant, Bicknell's roots are strictly Central Jersey."

Coaching career

College

Bicknell was the head football coach at the

from 1976 to 1980, earning an 18–35–1 record. After that, he went to coach at

, where he stayed for ten years. At Boston College, he was 59–55–1, and was head coach in 1984 when

-winner

completed his famous

Hail Mary pass A Hail Mary pass is a very long forward pass in American football, typically made in desperation, with an exceptionally small chance of achieving a completion. Due to the difficulty of a completion with this pass, it makes reference to the Catho ...

Gerard Phelan Gerard P. Phelan (born January 20, 1963) is a former college football player who played wide receiver for Boston College. Career Early years Phelan played high school football for Archbishop John Carroll High School in Radnor, Pennsylvania a ...

to beat the

Miami Hurricanes The Miami Hurricanes (known informally as The U, UM, or The 'Canes) are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic A ...

as time expired. Bicknell son, Jack Jr., was the

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

for BC at the time of Flutie's miracle pass.

NFL Europe

Bicknell was named the head coach of the Barcelona Dragons at their inception in 1991, and served there until October 2003, when he was named head coach of the Scottish Claymores. He has an overall record of 59–55 in his

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 ...

career. Bicknell made four World Bowl appearances, and had been to three title games in six years. In 1991, he led the Barcelona Dragons to an 8–2 mark and a berth in the first World Bowl. In 1997, his Dragons won the first half of the season and went on to win World Bowl '97 in Barcelona. In 1999, the Dragons posted a league-best 7–3 mark before losing to Frankfurt in the

World Bowl The World Bowl was the annual American football championship game of the World League of American Football/NFL Europe. The World Bowl was played each year from 1991 to 2007 (except 1993 and 1994). The game was conceived as the final of the NFL-r ...

. Also posted a league-best 8–2 record in 2001 before losing World Bowl IX to the

Berlin Thunder The Berlin Thunder were a professional American football team in NFL Europe. History The Thunder came into existence as an expansion team, after the London/England Monarchs franchise shut down operations, prior to the 1999 season. Home games ...

in Amsterdam. On March 28, 2007, Bicknell stepped down as head coach of the Hamburg Sea Devils, citing health issues as the reason for his resignation.

Personal life

Bicknell is nicknamed "Cowboy Jack" because of his love for country music and horse riding. He and his wife, Lois, have three children, Jack, Jr., Wendy and

Bob Bob, BOB, or B.O.B. may refer to: Places * Mount Bob, New York, United States *Bob Island, Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica People, fictional characters, and named animals *Bob (given name), a list of people and fictional characters *Bob (surname ...

and five grandchildren. Both of his sons played for him at

and are currently football coaches, Bob with the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

and Jack, Jr. with the

North Carolina Tar Heels The North Carolina Tar Heels are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to individuals from the state of North Carolina, the ''Tar Heel ...

Head coaching record

College

Professional

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bicknell, Jack 1938 births Living people American football quarterbacks Barcelona Dragons coaches Boston College Eagles football coaches Hamburg Sea Devils coaches Maine Black Bears football coaches Montclair State Red Hawks football players Scottish Claymores coaches High school football coaches in New Jersey North Plainfield High School alumni People from North Plainfield, New Jersey Sportspeople from Somerset County, New Jersey Coaches of American football from New Jersey Players of American football from New Jersey American expatriate sportspeople in Spain American expatriate sportspeople in Germany American expatriate sportspeople in Scotland