Ted Tollner
| Sport(s) | Football |
|---|---|
| Biographical details | |
| Born |
May 29, 1940 San Francisco, California |
| Alma mater | Cal Poly |
| Playing career | |
| 1959–1961 | Cal Poly |
| Position(s) | Quarterback |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1971–1972 | San Mateo JC |
| 1973–1980 | San Diego State (OC) |
| 1981 | BYU (QB) |
| 1982 | USC (OC) |
| 1983–1986 | USC |
| 1987–1988 | Buffalo Bills (WR) |
| 1989–1991 | San Diego Chargers (assistant) |
| 1992–1993 | Los Angeles Rams (QB) |
| 1994–2001 | San Diego State |
| 2002–2003 | San Francisco 49ers (QB) |
| 2004 | San Francisco 49ers (OC) |
| 2005 | Detroit Lions (OC) |
| 2007–2008 | San Francisco 49ers (assistant) |
| 2009–2010 | Oakland Raiders (PGC) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 69–68–1 |
| Bowls | 1–3 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Awards | |
| Pac-10 Coach of the Year (1984) | |
Alfred Theodore Tollner (born May 29, 1940) is a former American football player and coach. He served as head coach at the University of Southern California (USC) from 1983 to 1986 and San Diego State University (SDSU) from 1994 to 2001, compiling an overall college football record of 69–68–1. Tollner also was an assistant coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, including stints as offensive coordinator for the San Diego Chargers, San Francisco 49ers and Detroit Lions.
Playing career
Tollner attended California Polytechnic State University, where he was a quarterback on the 1960 team that suffered a plane crash in Toledo, Ohio in which 22 people of the 45 people on board were killed, including 16 of Tollner's teammates.
He was a member of the silver medal winning U.S. baseball team at the 1963 Pan American Games.[1]
Coaching career
High school
Tollner's first coaching job was at Morro Bay High School. He served for a year there before moving on to Woodside High School where he worked one year as offensive coordinator before coming head coach.[2]
College
Tollner then coached at College of San Mateo from 1968 to 1972. He served as the offensive coordinator for San Diego State under Claude Gilbert from 1973 to 1980. He also served as the quarterbacks coach at Brigham Young (BYU) in 1981.
He became offensive coordinator of the USC Trojans football program under head coach John Robinson in 1982, and succeeded to the head coaching position a year later when Robinson stepped down to take an administrative post at the university.[3] During his four-year tenure Tollner compiled a 26–20–1 record. He led the Trojans to the Pacific-10 conference championship in 1984. That team defeated Ohio State in the 1985 Rose Bowl game. He was replaced as the USC head coach by Larry Smith after the 1986 season after going 1–3 in the UCLA-USC rivalry and 0–4 vs. Notre Dame in the Notre Dame–USC rivalry.
In 1994, he returned to San Diego State, this time as the head coach. He coached there for eight years. Tollner was known for scheduling a tough non-conference schedule including schools like Washington, Wisconsin, USC, Arizona, Arizona State and Oklahoma. His Aztec teams posted eight-win seasons in 1995 and 1996, the first time it reached that level in consecutive years since 1977. In 1998, his Aztecs posted a 7–1 conference record (7–5 overall), grabbed a share of the conference championship, and earned a trip to the Las Vegas Bowl. Overall, he led the Aztecs to a 43–48 record until his firing in 2001.
NFL
Tollner served as the wide receivers coach for the Buffalo Bills from 1987 to 1988. He served as the offensive coordinator for the San Diego Chargers from 1989 to 1991. He served as the quarterbacks coach for the Los Angeles Rams from 1992 to 1993. In 2002, he then became the quarterbacks coach for the San Francisco 49ers. After two successful seasons, he was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2004. When Dennis Erickson was fired as head coach, he was not retained. In 2005, he became the offensive coordinator of the Detroit Lions. When Steve Mariucci and several of his assistants were fired 11 weeks into the season, Tollner was demoted to tight ends coach for the remainder of the season.[4]
In late 2006, he was listed[5] as a potential candidate for the head coaching opening for the University of San Diego that later went to Ron Caragher.[6]
In late 2007 it was announced that he would serve as offensive assistant for the San Francisco 49ers in a late season attempt to revive the lacking offense. In early 2008 Tollner was named quarterbacks coach/assistant to the head coach for the San Francisco 49ers to get a permanent role in the organization again. On December 30, 2008, Tollner was dismissed from the 49ers along with running backs coach Tony Nathan and offensive coordinator Mike Martz.
On February 4, 2009, Tollner was introduced as a part of the Oakland Raiders' coaching staff as he was named the passing game coordinator of the team. When Hue Jackson was hired as the Raiders head coach he dismissed Tollner and several others from their positions.
Head coaching record
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches# | AP° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USC Trojans (Pacific-10 Conference) (1983–1986) | |||||||||
| 1983 | USC | 4–6–1 | 4–3 | 4th | |||||
| 1984 | USC | 9–3 | 7–1 | 1st | W Rose | 9 | 10 | ||
| 1985 | USC | 6–6 | 5–3 | T–4th | L Aloha | ||||
| 1986 | USC | 7–5 | 5–3 | T–4th | L Florida Citrus | ||||
| USC: | 26–20–1 | 21–10 | |||||||
| San Diego State Aztecs (Western Athletic Conference) (1994–1998) | |||||||||
| 1994 | San Diego State | 4–7 | 2–6 | 8th | |||||
| 1995 | San Diego State | 8–4 | 5–3 | 5th | |||||
| 1996 | San Diego State | 8–3 | 6–2 | T–2nd (Pacific) | |||||
| 1997 | San Diego State | 5–7 | 4–4 | T–4th (Pacific) | |||||
| 1998 | San Diego State | 7–5 | 7–1 | T–1st (Pacific) | L Las Vegas | ||||
| San Diego State Aztecs (Mountain West Conference) (1999–2001) | |||||||||
| 1999 | San Diego State | 5–6 | 3–4 | T–5th | |||||
| 2000 | San Diego State | 3–8 | 3–4 | T–5th | |||||
| 2001 | San Diego State | 3–8 | 2–5 | 7th | |||||
| San Diego State: | 43–48 | 32–29 | |||||||
| Total: | 69–68–1 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title | |||||||||
| |||||||||
Coaching tree
Assistant coaches under Ted Tollner who became NCAA or NFL head coaches:
- Dino Babers: Eastern Illinois (2012–2013), Bowling Green (2014–2015), Syracuse (2016–present)
- Steve Mariucci: California (1996), San Francisco 49ers (1997–2002), Detroit Lions (2003–2005)
- Chuck Pagano: Indianapolis Colts (2012-Present)
- Dave Wannstedt: Chicago Bears (1993–1998), Miami Dolphins (2000–2004), Pitt (2005–2010)
References
- ↑ "Tollner Named New CSM Grid Coach". San Mateo County Times. April 29, 1971. p. 21. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
- ↑ Okay, just who is Ted Tollner
- ↑ Trojans shuffle coaches
- ↑
- ↑ USD football job attracting local interest
- ↑ Ron Caragher Named USD Head Football Coach