Athletes - John Rauch

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	Athletes - John Rauch

John Rauch (born August 20, 1927 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is a former American football player and coach.

Rauch's football playing career almost ended before it began. At the age of 14, he was diagnosed with a heart murmur and instructed to give up the sport. Ignoring the dire warnings, Rauch was a three-sport star at his Pennsylvania high school, then put together an outstanding college career. Earning the starting quarterback slot for the University of Georgia as a freshman in 1945, he led the Bulldogs to a 36-8-1 record. Included in these victories are four straight bowl game appearances, as well as an undefeated record in 1946. On an individual level, he won first team All American accolades following his senior year, and left the school as college football's all-time passing leader with 4,044 yards.

Rauch was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the 1949 NFL draft, but then sent to the transplanted New York Yankees in exchange for the rights to Southern Methodist University's Doak Walker. During his first season with the Yanks in 1949, Rauch saw action on both sides of the ball, throwing for 169 yards and one touchdown, while also intercepting two passes. The following year, he saw action in eight contests, throwing for 502 yards and six touchdowns, then split time with New York and the Philadelphia Eagles in 1951, combining for 288 yards and one touchdown pass.

In 1952, Rauch began his coaching career with the first of two seasons at the University of Florida. After spending the 1954 season at Tulane University, he returned to his alma mater the next year as an assistant for four seasons. In 1959, he headed back to New York as an Army assistant, working with future boss, Al Davis.

Three years later, he came back to Tulane for the 1962 campaign, then moved to the professional level to begin a three-year stint with the American Football League's Oakland Raiders. Working under Davis, Rauch was the heir apparent and was promoted to head coach on April 8, 1966, when Davis became commissioner of the AFL.

After leading the Raiders to an 8-5-1 mark in his first year, Rauch's squad lost just once during the 1967 regular season and faced the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl II. For his efforts, Rauch was named the AFL Coach of the Year.

In 1968, the team again flourished during the regular season with a 12-2 mark, but lost the AFL championship game to the New York Jets. During the latter stage of the season, Davis' frequent visits to practice became a source of aggravation for Rauch. On January 16, 1969, Rauch dealt with the problem by resigning to become head coach of the Buffalo Bills.

The shift meant going from one of the sport's top teams to the team that finished with the worst record. However, with the first pick in the college draft, the Bills selected Heisman Trophy-winning running back O.J. Simpson. Rauch then caused controversy by using the fleet runner as a blocking back, negating his ample skills, with Buffalo improving by only two games to finish with a 4-10 record in 1969.

Following a 3-10-1 record in 1970, Rauch avoided being dismissed, and was seemingly prepared to handle the reins for the upcoming year. However, on July 20, 1971, he abruptly resigned following a heated discussion with team owner Ralph Wilson, Jr.. The source of the argument stemmed from Rauch's negative comments about former Bills' players Ron McDole and Paul Maguire. When Wilson indicated that he would issue a statement of supprt for the players, Rauch quit.

After briefly serving as a scout for the Packers, Rauch was hired on October 10 as quarterback coach of the Eagles. He served in that capacity until the entire staff was fired on December 18, 1972. Less than three weeks later, Rauch was hired as head coach of the Canadian Football League's Toronto Argonauts, leading the team to a playoff berth in his first year. After a slow start to begin the 1974 season, Rauch was dismissed on September 4.

Returning to the NFL the following year, Rauch served as backfield coach for the Atlanta Falcons, but then resigned on February 18, 1976 to become offensive coordinator of the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That tenure would prove to be short after Rauch had repeated conflicts with head coach John McKay, resulting in his resignation after just five regular season games.

Rauch returned to Atlanta to work under interim coach Pat Peppler, but was not retained after the team won three of its final nine games.

Accepting a lower profile position after years of turmoil, Rauch became head coach of the Admiral Farragut Academy in St. Petersburg, Florida on September 10, 1977, remaining in that position for a number of years. During this period, he also served as director of the short-lived Canadian-American Bowl, a postseason all-star game. Rauch also served as a part-time writer for the St. Petersburg Indpendent, a local newspaper that had him cover his old team, the Raiders, when they reached Super Bowl XV. Upon the arrival of the United States Football League, Rauch returned to professional football as the team's director of operations.

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