Dick Nolan (American football)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dick Nolan
Date of birth	March 26, 1932(1932-03-26)
Place of birth	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Date of death	November 11, 2007 (aged 75)
Position(s)	Safety
College	Maryland
NFL Draft	1954 / Round 4 / Pick 41
Career Record	69-82-5
Playing Stats	DatabaseFootball
Coaching Stats	DatabaseFootball
Team(s) as a player
1954-1956, 1957 1958-1961 1962	New York Giants Chicago Cardinals New York Giants Dallas Cowboys
Team(s) as a coach/administrator
1968-1975 1978-1980	San Francisco 49ers New Orleans Saints

Richard Charles Nolan (March 26, 1932 – November 11, 2007) was the father of Mike Nolan and a former head coach of the San Francisco 49ers in the 1960s and 1970s.

In his youth, he was quarterback at White Plains High School and later a standout at the University of Maryland.^[1] In the NFL, he played for a total of nine seasons (1954-62) in the defensive halfback, safety, and defensive back positions.^[2] He was drafted in the 1954 NFL Draft by the New York Giants in the team's fourth-round pick, the 41st overall.^[3] He later went on to play for the Chicago Cardinals (now known as the Arizona Cardinals) and the Dallas Cowboys as well. He retired from playing after the 1962 football season.

For six seasons, he was an assistant to Coach Tom Landry in Dallas, and afterwards, he was head coach of the 49ers for eight seasons from 1968 through 1975, noted for developing the defense and taking the team to three straight NFC West division titles (1970-72), twice missing the Super Bowl by only one game (1970-71). Additionally, he was head coach for the New Orleans Saints from 1978-80 going 15-29. He was the first Saints head coach to win 6, 7, and 8 games in a single season, going 7-9 in 1978 and 8-8 in 1979.^[4] Nolan was fired by the Saints in 1980 after an 0-12 start.

In 2005, his son, Mike, was signed with the 49ers to be head coach.

He died on November 11, 2007 in Texas.

This biographical article relating to an American football coach is a stub. You can help by adding to it.