The bios on that famous 1959 Kentucky football staff
In my column about the relationship between Paris native Bill Arnsparger and Don Shula, who passed away on Monday, I wrote about how they first met on Blanton Collier’s 1959 football staff at Kentucky.
That staff turned out to be known for producing five NFL head coaches, three NFL titles and one collegiate championship.
Here are bios of that 1959 Kentucky staff.
Bill Arnsparger — The Paris native played his college football at Miami (Ohio). He coached under Woody Hayes at Ohio State before joining Blanton Collier at Kentucky. He coached with the Baltimore Colts, Miami Dolphins and San Diego Chargers in the NFL, going to four Super Bowls. He was also head coach of the New York Giants from 1974-76. Arnsparger was head coach at LSU, winning an SEC title, and was also athletics director at Florida, where he hired Steve Spurrier as head football coach. Arnsparger died in 2015 at age 88.
Blanton Collier — A successful football and basketball coach at Paris High School, Collier was an assistant under Paul Brown with the Cleveland Browns before being named UK’s head coach in 1954. After going 41-36-3 in eight seasons, Collier did not have his contract renewed. He rejoined Brown in Cleveland before becoming head coach in 1963. The Browns won the NFL title in 1964, beating Don Shula’s Colts. Collier was 76-34-2 before retiring after the 1970 season. He died in 1983 at age 76.
Bob Cummings — Tennessee native who played for Bill Alexander and Bobby Dodd at Georgia Tech; coached in high school and college football, including Tennessee Tech, Georgia Tech, Kentucky and Miami (Fla.). Also coached with the NFL’s New Orleans Saints. Cummings died in 2016 at age 94.
Ermal Allen — Played basketball, football, track and golf at UK. Was an assistant under Bear Bryant and Collier at UK, then was hired by Tom Landry to be the Dallas Cowboys’ backfield coach in 1962. Allen coached in five Super Bowls with Dallas before retiring in 1983. He died in 1988 at age 69.
John North — Played football and basketball at Vanderbilt before playing professionally with the Baltimore Colts. Was an assistant at Tennessee Tech, Kentucky and LSU before moving to the NFL. He was head coach of the New Orleans Saints where he went 11-23 before being fired in his third season. North died in 2010 at age 90.
Ed Rutledge — Played football at Western Kentucky and was a successful high school coach at Bowling Green, Danville and Paducah Tilghman before joining Collier’s staff at UK. He was an assistant for Don Shula with the Colts and served as a scout for Bill Arnsparger with the New York Giants. Rutledge died in 2001 at age 83.
Howard Schnellenberger — The Louisville native was an All-American for Blanton Collier at UK in 1955 before joining Collier’s coaching staff. After leaving Kentucky, he coached under Bear Bryant from 1961-65 before joining the NFL as an assistant with the Los Angeles Rams. Schnellenberger was Don Shula’s assistant with the Miami Dolphins before becoming head coach of the Baltimore Colts for two seasons. He was head coach at the University of Miami, winning the national title in 1983. He was head coach at Louisville from 1985-94, Oklahoma in 1995 and Florida Atlantic from 2001-11. Schellenberger is 86.
Don Shula — A native of Grand River, Ohio, Shula played his collegiate football at John Carroll before playing professionally for Paul Brown and the Cleveland Browns. After coaching under Blanton Collier at UK in 1959, Shula was defensive backs coach for the Detroit Lions before becoming head coach of the Baltimore Colts in 1963 at age 33. He won an NFL title with the Colts in 1968 before the Colts lost to the Jets in Super Bowl III. Shula became head coach of the Miami Dolphins in 1970. In 26 seasons with the Dolphins, Shula was 257-133-2 with four Super Bowl appearances and two Super Bowl titles. Overall, he was 328-156-6 and still holds the record for most wins by an NFL coach. Shula died Monday at age 90.
This story was originally published May 6, 2020 at 7:38 AM.
