"When Charley Winner was named head coach-designate of the New York Jets in 1973, he gave as one of his reasons for accepting the job, 'Where else could a coach go to help mold a team he'll be taking over a year from now?'
And in his season as defensive assistant to Weeb Ewbank, Winner was indeed fitting together some of the pieces of the winning puzzle he hopes to complete in the next few years.
But he had a chance to do even more than that.
'Learning personnel is naturally important,' said the 49-year-old Winner. 'Sometimes you have an idea about a player or two, but it may be from a second-hand source. This way I've gotten a first-hand look at all the people we've had available.
'But I've also had the opportunity to learn about the administration of the organization, to get to know the owners and to work with them. That's very important knowledge for a head coach.
'And finally I've gotten to know some of the members of the New York press. There are so many of them, I still don't know half the names. But at least I have had the chance to work with them for a year, and not coming in from the cold.'
So Winner has the advantage of having been on the inside of the organization which he will lead in 1974. This will be the second head coaching position for the man with just a middle initial but two birthdays.
'My birth certificate reads 'Charles H. Winner,' although the 'H.' is supposed to stand for 'Height' which is my mother's maiden name,' explained Winner. 'The doctor who filed the certificate just put down 'H.' and forgot to fill in the rest, so that's how it stands. Also, my certificate says I was born July 3, but my mother told me I was born July 2. So I celebrate both days!'
As St. Louis Cardinals head man for five years, Winner compiled the best record in Redbird history, 35-30-5. It was just when he thought he had the Cards ready for Super Bowl consideration in 1971 that he was released. He joined George Allen as defensive backfield coach for two seasons, including 1972's Super Bowl 'almost.'
Following that year, Winner had several opportunities to move on, but chose the one where he knew he'd get the most flak.
'I was well aware charges of nepotism would arise from my taking the Jet job,' he said. 'But I decided it was an offer I just couldn't pass up. I always wanted to be part of the New York sports scene, because I think New York is the best sports town in the country. And I thought I had proven myself to be considered on my own professional merits.' The charges might have never arisen were it not for Weeb's little talk to his Washington (St. Louis) football squad in 1947.
'I had just come from Brown, where I had been assistant,' Ewbank remembers. 'I married my oldest daughter to a halfback up there.' So Ewbank warned his Washington halfbacks he didn't want to catch any of them dating his other daughters. Listening attentively was a 22-year-old scatback from Somerville, New Jersey, who remembers saying to himself, 'Now why would I want to go out any of HIS daughters?' But Charley Winner soon found out. He and Nancy Ewbank starting dating and soon Weeb wasn't losing another daughter, he was gaining another halfback- and a coaching aide.
Winner's first professional football 'job' was helping out with the Cleveland Browns, where Ewbank was an assistant to Paul Brown. When Weeb took over the Colts in 1954, he brought Charley with him as a defensive coach and Winner designed the defense that helped Baltimore to back-to-back National Football League titles in 1958-1959.
When Ewbank moved on to New York in 1963, he offered to take Charley along. But Winner refused, saying it was time for him to strike out on his own. So he aided Don Shula for a couple of years before moving on to the St. Louis position.
'I've had the opportunity to work under some of the best coaches in history,' he says. 'Weeb, Shula, Allen. All of them are top notch. I've learned a little from each, but basically I'm my own coach. You can't try to copy another coach's style completely. It just doesn't work. You have to incorporate what you want from others, but put it together with your own touches.' Winner's own touches include an insatiable appetite for work.
'He's always at it,' noted Earlie Thomas, the Jets' veteran cornerback. 'And all the guys like him because we can see how his system will work for us once we get it down. We've made a lot of changes on defense, but in the long run we'll be a better team. It's just a matter of time.'
'My main theory is to treat everyone fairly,' said Winner. 'And of course my ultimate objective is to win. I think they go hand-in-hand. I believe in discipline but not to an over extensive degree. I like to think my players have pride, and that will drive them to try to be the best at their position. Dedication is essential if you are going to have a winning football team. And that starts with the head coach.' Coaching has been Winner's life.
'I never wanted to be a doctor, or a lawyer, or anything else but a coach,' he says. But when he's not busy with football, you'll find Charley Winner- eating! Despite his slim 5-foot-7 frame, Winner can eat with the best of them.
'It all goes back to the time I spent in a German prisoner-of-war camp during World War II,' he explains. Winner served as a radio operator and gunner and flew 17 missions before being shot down in March of 1945.
'I was imprisoned in Stalag Luft, Barth-on-the-Baltic, for about six months before the Russians came along and liberated the camp,' he says. 'During that time we'd only get maybe half-a-loaf of German black bread or some kind of dehydrated soup to eat. We were lucky if somebody shot a horse, and we'd get a hunk of meat occasionally.
'But all the time we'd sit around and think about what we were going to eat as soon as we got out. And I've been eating ever since!' Winner also likes to fish ('I never get much of a chance') and to raise tomatoes ('Best in the country- Burpee High-bred Big Boys').
He and Nancy have two daughters, Cinda, 21 and Lisa, 16.
'Neither is dating a halfback,' Winner reported."
-Vinny DiTrani, The New York Jets Official 1974 Yearbook
KEN SHIPP (Offensive Coordinator and Receivers Coach)
"Shipp handles coaching duties with quarterbacks and receivers and will serve as Charley Winner's offensive coordinator. He worked very closely last year with Joe Namath, Al Woodall and Bill Demory, teaching them his system of passing.
Ken has coached in the NFL for six years. He spent 1971 and 1972 working as offensive coach for the New Orleans, tutoring Archie Manning. He previously had been hired to his first NFL job under Charley Winner at St. Louis in 1968, and remained with the Cardinals through 1970.
Shipp has an extensive college coaching record dating back to 1951. He started at Middle Tennessee State and spent two years there. He moved to Trinity University (1953-57), Florida State (1958), Tulsa (1961-62), South Carolina (1963) and Miami (Florida) from 1964-67. He spent two years with the Montreal Alouettes of the CFL (1959-60).
Ken was born in Old Hickory, Tennessee."
-The New York Jets Official 1974 Yearbook
DICK VORIS (Defensive Coordinator and Defensive Line Coach)
"Voris joins the Jets this year to assume duties as Charley Winner's defensive coordinator. He has coached in the NFL for 15 seasons in addition to a six-year tenure in the colleges.
Dick coached with the L.A. Rams in 1953 and 1954 before going to West Point where he served as Earl Blaik's chief aide from 1955 through 1957. He then assumed a head coaching job at Virginia from 1958-1960.
Voris was Player Personnel Director under Vince Lombardi at Green Bay in 1961-62 and then became defensive coordinator at San Francisco (1963-67). He went to the Cardinals under Winner (1968-71) prior to joining Detroit (1972), and spent last season as head defensive coach at Baltimore.
Dick graduated from San Jose State and is a World War II veteran of the Marine Corps. He was born in Los Angeles."
-The New York Jets Official 1974 Yearbook
MIKE HOLOVAK (Offensive Backfield)
"Holovak enters his second season as coach of the running backs, and also handles general offensive duties and film breakdown work. He had served as scout for the Jets combine group in 1972.
Mike was head coach of the Boston Patriots from 1961-68, earning AFL Coach of the Year honors in 1966. He guided the Patriots to the AFL's Eastern Division title in 1963. He was offensive coach of the 49ers in 1969, joined Oakland as a talent scout in 1970 and was Raiders receiving coach in 1971.
Holovak was an All-America fullback at Boston College from 1939-42. Following a tour of duty in the Navy, he played for the L.A. Rams in 1946 and then with the Bears in 1947 and 1948.
He returned to Boston College in 1949 and assumed the head coaching job in 1951. He guided the Eagles to a 49-23-3 record before joining he Patriots as Director of Player Personnel in 1959.
Mike was born in Lansford, Pennsylvania."
-The New York Jets Official 1974 Yearbook
BOB FRY (Offensive Line)
"In all his six years as a pro, Bob Fry has held on to a starting role at offensive tackle. Born in Cincinnati, he was brilliant at the University of Kentucky. The Rams drafted him in 1953 and he surprised with his mobility, speed and punishing blocking ability. His lack of weight (239 pounds) has never hampered his ability to 'ride out' opposing and bulkier tackles."
-1961 Pro Football Handbook
"One of the lightest offensive tackles in the NFL, Bobby Fry begins his tenth season, his fifth with the Cowboys. Only 232, he's a stringy 6-4, but his speed, mobility and clever blocking techniques make up for his lack of bulk. An old pro, he provides leadership for his many young teammates.
Fry was a college star at Kentucky. He joined the Rams and started for five seasons before coming to the Cowboys in their inaugural 1960 season.
He's an off-season real estate man in Cincinnati."
-Dave Anderson, Pro Football Handbook 1964
"Fry joins the Jets this year to handle offensive line work, filling the spot previously held by Wimp Hewgley for three years. He brings with him a record of 21 consecutive seasons in the NFL either as a player, administrator or coach. He headed up the Pittsburgh Steelers' offensive line for the past five years and shared responsibility for their powerful ground game which set a club record in 1972.
Bob was a starting offensive tackle for the Rams from 1953-59 with time out for a two-year Army hitch. He was an original member of the Dallas Cowboys from 1960 through 1964.
He joined the Falcons as a scout in 1965 and was assistant Player Personnel Director and offensive line coach at Atlanta from 1967-68. He joined the Steelers with Chuck Noll in 1969.
Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Fry was a star tackle under Bear Bryant at Kentucky in the early '50s."
-The New York Jets Official 1974 Yearbook
BUDDY RYAN (Linebackers)
"Ryan joined the Jet staff of assistants in 1968, and will handle the linebackers this year for the first time after working with the defensive line for six seasons. He's known for molding the rushing defenses which have ranked near the top; the '68 Jets were first in the AFL against the rush, second in 1969, and in 1970 his charges led the AFC in rushing defense.
Buddy won four letters as a guard at Oklahoma State from 1952-55. He was defensive line coach at the University of the Pacific in 1967 after being head defensive coach at Vanderbilt in 1966. From 1961-65, he was defensive line coach at the University of Buffalo.
Ryan played on the Fourth Army championship team in Japan. He saw action in Korea and was a sergeant upon his discharge.
He was born in Frederick, Oklahoma."
-The New York Jets Official 1974 Yearbook
SAM RUTIGLIANO
"Hired by Charley Winner to tutor the secondary this season, Rutigliano has had seven seasons in the NFL, spending time with Denver and New England. He entered the pros with Denver and coached their receivers from 1967-70 before moving to a similar post with New England (1971-73).
Sam has a high school and college coaching record dating back to 1956, when he started out as head coach at Lafayette High School in Brooklyn. He later was head coach at Greenwich (CT) High (1959-61) and Chappaqua (NY) High (1962-63). He was backfield coach at Connecticut (1964-65) and spent one year (1966) as receiving coach at Maryland before coming to the pros.
Rutigliano holds a B.A. from Tulsa where he won three letters in football as a wide receiver. He graduated from Erasmus Hall High in Brooklyn, where he was born."
-The New York Jets Official 1974 Yearbook
JESS THOMPSON (Talent Scout and Assistant Coach)
"Thompson enters his third season with the Jets after joining the team in the summer of 1972. He serves as a scout in the Jets Galaxy combine with Denver, New Orleans and Houston and played an important role in last January's draft. He served for six years as a scout in the Blesto VII combine from 1965-70 and joined the Houston Oilers as Director of Scouting in 1971.
Jess has been in football all his life. He began his coaching career at Seminole High in Oklahoma and two years later moved to Cameron J.C. where he produced two Little Rose Bowl champs in his 13 years there. He also served as a defensive assistant coach at Mississippi Southern (two years), Tulsa (five years) and Texas Tech (two years) before moving to the Calgary Stampeders in 1961.
Jess was born in Sunset, Texas."
-The New York Jets Official 1974 Yearbook
CARROLL HUNTRESS (Talent Scout and Assistant Coach)
"Huntress will serve as a scout in the Jets combine with Denver, Houston and New Orleans. He has a coaching record in the high school and collegiate ranks which extends back to 1949.
Carroll began at Mechanic Falls High in Maine and after two years moved to Portland (ME) High in 1951. He remained as head football coach there until 1960 when he joined the University of Maryland. He coached the freshmen and the offensive ends for five years at College Park, then became head coach at Bucknell in 1965, serving four years. Most recently he was an assistant coach at Kentucky for four years.
Among the players Huntress has coached are Tom Mitchell, Gary Collins, Walter Rock, Roger Shoals and Sam Havrilak.
He was born in Saco, Maine."
-The New York Jets Official 1974 Yearbook
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