Ken Meyer

Ken Meyer was a former football coach at the high school, collegiate and professional levels. He may be best remembered as the head coach of the National Football League's San Francisco 49ers in 1977.

A native of Ashtabula, Ohio, Meyer played quarterback at Denison University, then gained his first coaching experience as head coach at an Ohio high school. From 1952-1957, he was an assistant at his alma mater before accepting an assistant coaching position at Wake Forest University in 1958. After two years with the Demon Deacons, he moved on to take another assistant position, this time with the Florida State Seminoles.

Following three years in that capacity, Meyer accepted an assistant's role at the University of Alabama under legendary coach Paul "Bear" Bryant in 1963. During his five years with the Crimson Tide, he worked with the team's quarterbacks, a group which included future Pro Football Hall of Famer Joe Namath, as well as long-time signal caller Ken Stabler.

When Dick Nolan was hired as head coach of the 49ers in 1968, he hired Meyer to tutor the team's offensive backs. After one year, Meyer departed to accept a similar role with the New York Jets, reuniting him with Namath. Despite coming off a win in Super Bowl III, the Jets were never able to recapture their magic during Meyer's four years with the team, with major injuries to Namath serving as a major culprit.

On February 6, 1973, Meyer left the Jets to accept the position of offensive coordinator with the Los Angeles Rams, reuniting him with Chuck Knox, who had worked with him at Wake Forest. During four frustrating years, the team reached the NFC Championship game three times, but lost on each occasion.

Meyer finally became a head coach when the 49ers fired Monte Clark and hired him on April 19, 1977. However, following a 5-9 record, Meyer was fired on January 10, 1978, and returned to coaching nine weeks later as the offensive coordinator with the Chicago Bears under new head coach Neill Armstrong. The Bears reached the postseason only once in Meyer's three seasons, with the veteran coach resigning on December 24, 1980.

Meyer returned to the college ranks for the next two years, once again serving as offensive coordinator for Tulane University. When former mentor Chuck Knox became head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, he hired Meyer as an assistant on February 24, 1983.

Finnish American Football Association [ [http://www.sajl.org SAJL ry - Suomen Amerikkalaisen Jalkapallon Liitto ] ] invited Meyer to run quarterback clinic in 1992 and he returned to the country to coach Turku Trojans [ [http://turkutrojans.com Turku Trojans - amerikkalainen jalkapallo ] ] for 1993 and National Team of Finland for 1993-1995. Finland won the European Championship under Meyer in 1995. He also coached Team Finland juniors in European Championship games held in Frankfurt 1996 as assistant coach. Junior national team won the games.

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