Pat Sullivan (American football)

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Patrick Joseph Sullivan (born January 18, 1950) is a former American football player, winner of the 1971 Heisman Trophy, and college football coach.

Sullivan was formerly the offensive coordinator at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and is currently the head coach for Samford University.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Sullivan began his athletic career as a three-sport star at Birmingham's John Carroll Catholic High School. Although a talented baseball and basketball player, he chose to play football for Auburn University where he would become the starting quarterback in 1969 under the tutelage of head coach Shug Jordan. Over the next three seasons, the 6' tall and 190 lb. Sullivan would break school and NCAA records for passing while leading the team to a 26-7 record. In 1970, he led the NCAA in total offense with 2856 yards and set an NCAA record for most yards per play with 8.57. In his career, he was responsible for 71 touchdowns (53 passing/18 rushing) to tie the NCAA record. In his senior season, Sullivan completed 162 passes on 281 attempts for 2012 yards and 20 touchdowns. This performance was enough to edge out Ed Marinaro for the 1971 Heisman Trophy. Also an excellent student, Sullivan was named an Academic All-American and graduated with a bachelor's of science in business administration in 1972.

After college, Sullivan had a short professional football career playing first with the Atlanta Falcons from 1972 to 1976 and then the Washington Redskins in 1976 and 1977. He left football to enter private business in Birmingham where he worked in insurance and as a tire company executive. Sullivan also spent five seasons doing radio color commentary for Auburn football games before joining the staff at Auburn in 1986 as quarterbacks coach under head coach Pat Dye. He worked with AU quarterbacks Jeff Burger, Reggie Slack, and Stan White during his six years at Auburn.

On January 2, 1992, Sullivan became the 27th head football coach of Texas Christian University, inheriting a probation-wracked team. After two losing seasons, he led TCU to a 7-5 mark in 1994 to win a share of the Southwest Conference championship. The next season produced another winning record of 6-5 before TCU joined the Western Athletic Conference in 1996 and fell once again on hard times. Losing seasons in 1997 and 1998 resulted in Sullivan's resignation in November 1998 with an overall record of 24-42-1. However, he is best noted for recruiting LaDainian Tomlinson to play at TCU.

In January 1999, Sullivan became the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach of UAB. He helped develop Darrell Hackney into the best quarterback in UAB history who was able to make it to the NFL as an undrafted free agent picked up by the Cleveland Browns.

After neck surgery in September 2003, Sullivan was diagnosed with throat cancer (squamous cell carcinoma) and began chemotherapy and radiation treatments in December. In April 2004, doctors told him he was clear of cancer cells but he continues to be monitored for recurrence. Sullivan missed only one game in the 2003 season due to treatment but lost around 50 pounds over the course of his treatment.

On December 1, 2006, Sullivan was named head coach at Samford University, replacing Bill Gray.

Sullivan is married to the former Jean Hicks of Birmingham and they have three children — Kim, and twins Kelly and Patrick, Jr.

[edit] Honors and awards

  • Heisman Trophy - 1971
  • All-American - 1970, 1971 (unanimous)
  • SEC Player of the Year - 1970, 1971
  • Gator Bowl Most Valuable Player - 1970
  • Sugar Bowl Most Valuable Player - 1971
  • Senior Bowl Most Valuable Player - 1972
  • College All-Star Game Most Valuable Player - 1972
  • Alabama Sports Hall of Fame
  • National Football Foundation Hall of Fame
  • Sugar Bowl Hall of Fame
  • Gator Bowl Hall of Fame
  • Senior Bowl Hall of Fame
  • College Football Hall of Fame - 1991
  • Southwest Conference Coach of the Year - 1994

[edit] Reference

[edit] External links

Preceded by:
Jim Plunkett		 Heisman Trophy Winner
1971		 Succeeded by:
Johnny Rodgers
Preceded by:
Jim Wacker		 TCU Horned Frogs Head Football Coach
1992–1997		 Succeeded by:
Dennis Franchione
Preceded by:
Bill Gray		 Samford University Head Football Coach
2006–present		 Succeeded by:
Current Coach
TCU Horned Frog Head Football Coaches
Field • Morrison • Hildebrand • Cronk • Hyde • Langley • Lewis • Lever • Stewart • Cahoon • Boles • Freeland • Daniel • Tipton • Hackney • Driver • McKnight • Bell • Schmidt • Meyer • Martin • Taylor • Pittman • Tohill • Shofner • Dry • Wacker • Sullivan • Franchione • Patterson
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