Bud Carson

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Leon H. "Bud" Carson (born April 28, 1931 in Brackenridge, Pennsylvania; died December 7, 2005 in Sarasota, Florida) was an American football coach best-known for his role on the Pittsburgh Steelers' championship teams of the 1970s.

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[edit] Career

Carson played defensive back for North Carolina from 1949 to 1951, then entered the Marines. After his discharge, he went into coaching, working at Georgia Tech under head coach Bobby Dodd. Carson took over as head coach in 1967. Under Carson, the Yellow Jackets endured three straight 4-6 seasons before going 9-3 and winning the Sun Bowl in 1970. In 1971, Tech finished 6-6 after a Peach Bowl loss. His dismissal as Head Coach of the Yellow Jackets was reported in the Atlanta Constitution under the headline "Bitter Bud Carson Is Ousted at Tech".

[edit] NFL Career

Steelers head coach Chuck Noll hired Carson as defensive coordinator in 1972. Under Carson, the "Steel Curtain" developed as one of the best defenses in National Football League history. The unit, led by Jack Lambert, Mel Blount, Jack Ham and Mean Joe Greene, gave up fewer points than any other American Football Conference team in Pittsburgh's Super Bowl seasons of 1974 and 1975. In 1976, the Curtain gave up fewer than 10 points a game.

After the 1977 season, Carson took over the defensive-coordinator job with the Los Angeles Rams, who lost to the Steelers in Super Bowl XIV. He later served on the coaching staffs of the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Colts before running the New York Jets' defense from 1985 to 1988. He finally landed a head-coaching job with the Cleveland Browns for the 1989 season.

Cleveland won the AFC Central Division in 1989 before losing to John Elway's Denver Broncos in the conference championship for the third time in four years. Browns owner Art Modell fired Carson halfway through the 1990 season, which ended with a 3-13 record. Carson returned for stints as an assistant with the Philadelphia Eagles (his 1991 crew pulled the rare feat of being ranked #1 versus the pass, #1 versus the rush, and #1 over all) and Rams — by then in St. Louis — before retiring in 1997.

[edit] Family

Carson, a long-time smoker, died in 2005 of emphysema. He was married to Linda Carson, an anchorwoman at Sarasota television station WWSB. His daughter Cathi Carson is the consumer reporter at two Jacksonville stations in Jacksonville WTEV and WAWS and was formerly a reporter at WWSB.

[edit] External link

[edit] Other sources

  • Grossi, Tony (2004). Tales from the Browns Sideline. (Champaign, Ill.): Sports Publishing LLC. ISBN 1-58261-713-9
  • Carroll, Bob, et al. (1999). Total Football II. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-270174-6.
Preceded by
Bobby Dodd		 Georgia Tech Head Football Coach
1967– 1971		 Succeeded by
Bill Fulcher
Preceded by
'		 Pittsburgh Steelers Defensive Coordinators
1972-1977		 Succeeded by
Woody Widenhofer
Preceded by
Marty Schottenheimer		 Cleveland Browns Head Coaches
1989–1990		 Succeeded by
Jim Shofner


Cleveland Browns Head Coaches
Brown • Collier • Skorich • Gregg • Modzelewski • Rutigliano • Schottenheimer • Carson • Shofner • Belichick • Palmer • Davis • Robiskie • Crennel
Georgia Tech Head Football Coaches
West • Borleske • Finnegan • Nalley • Collier • Strickler • McKee • Heisman • Alexander • Dodd • Carson • Fulcher • Rodgers • Curry • Ross • Lewis • O'Leary • McWorter • Gailey
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