BACK IN BLACK
After generating a tremendous amount of excitement around the Portland State Football program in 2007, Viking Head Coach Jerry Glanville is eager to get his second season under way on the Park Blocks.

The well-documented media blitz that accompanied Glanville when he was hired on Feb. 28, 2007 carried over through spring football, into the summer and a variety of special events. Portland State came to the forefront of sporting interests in the Portland area and became a program to be watched around the country at the NCAA FCS level.

Glanville’s “Back In Black” motto - or was it just his black wardrobe? - regenerated fan interest as well. Season tickets increased four-fold, as the Viking program sold 4,113 for the 2007 season - the most since becoming a Division I member of the Big Sky Conference in 1996. Athletics sponsorships, booster club participation and advertising dollars also grew dramatically, with Glanville being a major factor in that improvement.

There was just one thing missing in 2007 - and Glanville would tell you himself: not enough victories on the field.

That is the source of Glanville’s motivation in 2008 - getting the Vikings back into the win column regularly and making Portland State a program to be reckoned with again in the Big Sky Conference and at the national level. Several obstacles have been removed that led to last year’s 3-8 record. After a full year, the transition of a new coaching staff, a new offense and a new defense should have taken hold. In addition, the Vikings will doubtful have to deal with as many major injuries to key players as they did in 2007.

A NEW ERA FOR VIKING FOOTBALL
There was a buzz heard along the Park Blocks in downtown Portland on the final day of February 2007, and it didn’t come from the bees on an early spring day. In fact, it was cold, windy and there were snow flurries in the Portland air. But, inside Smith Memorial Student Union, on the Portland State campus adjacent to the Park Blocks, it was just heating up. That buzz was coming from the 65-year old man at the podium, new Viking Football Coach Jerry Glanville.

Glanville was holding court with a few hundred interested spectators, and every media outlet in town. And that buzz carried right out the door, down the hall, to the street, the Park Blocks, and throughout town. Within 24 hours, Glanville was the biggest story in the Rose City. The Portland State ticket office phones were ringing with new season ticket orders, donors were stepping up with additional support for the program, the local paper introduced Jerry Glanville with banner headlines – on the front page. Media requests to speak with the new coach came minute-by-minute as radio stations all over town – and all over the country – sought to have the cantankerous Glanville on their talk shows as soon as possible. Notes and calls of congratulations came from former broadcast partners by the name of Nantz and Dawson.

Such is the effect of buzz, a little star power, coaching ability, and the skill to make people stand up and listen. Jerry Glanville brought all of that to the Viking football program.

He also brought an attitude of excitement in the way he wants to play. “If you think you’re tougher than we are, we’re going to run a play called 32 Cut, and I don’t care if we gain a yard, we’re going to knock somebody down.” Emphasis came strong and deliberate on the final three words.

On offense: “You run the football for toughness. You run the ball to tell the opponent that you’re as tough as they are. But you throw the ball to ring the bell.” Emphasis came strong on the euphemistic touchdown.

On defense: “We’ll be the hardest-hitting football team on the West Coast. Those who don’t want to hit people, we’ll help them transfer.” No emphasis necessary.

THE FACTS OF THE MATTER
Jerry Glanville is the 12th head coach in the history of the Portland State program, as it begins its 62nd season of football in 2008.

“When we started this process, we were looking for a coach who would take us to the next level in two areas: winning Big Sky Championships and playing an exciting brand of football that would put people in the stands,” said then-Interim Athletics Director Teri Mariani. “In his meeting with the committee and talking with all the people in our community, I think we have hit a home run.”

On his initial visit, Glanville met with a host of people, including administrators, athletics department officials, boosters, sponsors and the football search committee.

“Everybody I’ve met in the city has been really supportive, and I think we will be representing more than the university here, but also the city,” said Glanville. “They had me meet a lot of people and lot of people here are totally committed to this program. What I found here is a huge support group.”

“The strength of the entire two days were supporters, the alumni, and my meeting with the President (Bernstine) was tremendous. Teri (Mariani) told me I would like him and he would be supportive. And he was. We sang the blues together so I knew we were connected. That guy is on my side.”

The renowned Glanville, who has had a lengthy career in football, coached for 21 years in the NFL, nine years in the collegiate ranks and spent more than a decade as an NFL broadcaster.

In 2005 and 2006, Glanville was the defensive coordinator at the University of Hawai’i under former Portland State quarterback June Jones. The Warriors improved from 5-7 in 2005 to 11-3 in 2006, winning the Hawai’i Bowl over Arizona State. The Warriors also improved statistically on defense, allowing 61 fewer yards and 11 fewer points per game.

Glanville was influenced to look into the Portland State head coaching position by Jones and former Portland State Head Coach Mouse Davis. “If this job was anywhere else, you probably wouldn’t have heard from me. It was because of two people that have a past history - and their plaques hang on the wall in the Athletic Hall of Fame here - in June Jones and Mouse Davis. June said that ‘you and that school would be tremendous.’ And when Teri (Mariani) called me, the interest grew. Finally, my wife Brenda, when we were flying to Portland, she said let’s be open-minded about this. When she says that, that means we’re coming home. When we got to the hotel that night after a whirl-wind first day, she told me that this was the only place that she’d leave home and come to.”

PAST EXPERIENCE
Glanville’s time at Hawai’i followed a long and successful NFL coaching career and broadcasting career. Glanville coached in the NFL from 1974 to 1993. He spent his final eight seasons as a head coach for the Houston Oilers and the Atlanta Falcons.

Glanville began his NFL career as a special teams coach and defensive assistant with the Detroit Lions from 1974-76. He joined Atlanta in 1977 as a defensive back coach and then served as defensive coordinator (1979-82) for a Falcons defense that once set an NFL single-season record for fewest points allowed (129). Glanville then traveled to Houston in 1984, and as the team’s defensive coordinator the next two seasons, turned the league’s worst rushing defense into the top-ranked unit in the NFL. He took over the head coaching duties in the final two games of the season in 1985, following the firing of Hugh Campbell, and became their full-time head coach in 1986. He led the club to three consecutive appearances in the playoffs as the Oilers’ defense popularized “The House of Pain” in the Houston Astrodome.

Glanville’s success in Houston brought him back to Atlanta in 1990, this time as head coach. After a disappointing first-year record of 5-11, Glanville turned the team around with a 10-6 record in 1991 and a wild-card playoff berth. He spent two more years as head coach at Atlanta. While an NFL head coach, Glanville had Jones as an assistant twice, as the Oilers’ quarterbacks coach (1987-88) and as the Falcons’ assistant head coach (1991-93).

Glanville and Jones reunited in Hawai’i prior to the 2005 season when Jones hired Glanville as his defensive coordinator. Glanville had spent the previous 11 years broadcasting NFL games, including on FOX for five years, on HBO’s Inside the NFL for six years and on CBS’s NFL Today and TFN (The Football Network).

Glanville began his career in collegiate coaching. In 1967, he was the defensive coordinator at Western Kentucky. Then from 1968 to 1973, Glanville was the defensive ends, outside linebackers and special teams coach at Georgia Tech. He helped lead the Yellow Jackets to three bowl game appearances.

As an avid motor-sports fan and participant, he and his No. 81 Glanville Motor Sports Inc., team have raced in various NASCAR series, while drag racing in the NHRA and Fun Ford, and participating in ARCA racing. Glanville actually raced in Portland on May 5, 1995 in the NASCAR Supertruck Series at Portland Speedway (he broke an axle in the race, completing 193 laps).

Glanville also names a number of country music stars among his friends. A great lover of the country sound, as well as the blues, he is a member of the Georgia Country Music Hall of Fame.

Born in Detroit, Glanville was raised in Perrysburg, Ohio. On July 17, 2001, his high school, Perrysburg High, retired his jersey (number 73). The city proclaimed the day to be “Jerry Glanville Day.” In 2007, Glanville was inducted into the Perrysburg High School Hall of Fame as the MVP of the undefeated 1959 football team.

A graduate of Northern Michigan University where he played linebacker on the football team, he was inducted into the NMU Hall of Fame in 1992 and was a recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award. He later received a master’s degree from Western Kentucky University.

THE IMPACT OF CELEBRITY
It’s not likely that an individual affiliated with the Portland State Athletics program has ever created such a stir in the media as Jerry Glanville did when he was hired. Glanville was instantly the most popular man in the City of Roses. The press conference introducing Glanville as the new head coach was overflowing. Every media outlet in town, PSU faculty, staff, administrations, students, and other interested bystanders trailed out into the hallway. Fans showed up, some carrying vintage Houston Oiler helmets (remember them?) for Glanville to autograph. And so, it began.

Glanville was featured in local newspapers from the Oregonian to the Portland Tribune to Willamette Week. He was on the cover of the PSU Alumni Magazine as the feature story for the spring.

Every television station in town sought out lengthy one-on-one interviews, as did virtually all the radio stations.

ESPN came to Portland - twice - as did the Seattle Times, and radio talk show hosts all over the country asked to have “just a few minutes of Jerry’s time.” The radio requests came from almost every major media market in the U.S.

The questions weren’t all about football either. They were frequently about his other two great loves - music and auto racing.

While Glanville couldn’t meet all the interview requests, he emphasized that he would speak to everyone local. And speak he did - to the Portland State Vanguard student newspaper, PDX Magazine, the Portland Mercury, and country music stations KUPL and KWJJ, just to name a few - all with the desire to reach the local fans, sell tickets, and elevate the excitement around Portland State football.

Glanville had a story (or two) for everyone, both interesting and humorous. And that was the magic that Glanville brought to Portland State - the ability to connect with everyone.

When the Spring Football game rolled around in May, Portland State went to PGE Park instead of the usual local high school. Fans arrived two hours early to pick out seats for season tickets and the game drew three times the normal crowd for a Viking spring exhibition.

The “All-Access” Jerry Glanville made a difference to the athletic program right away.

THE JERRY GLANVILLE FILE:
2nd year at Portland State: 3-8

Birthdate: October 14, 1941
Hometown: Perrysburg, OH
Alma Mater: Northern Michigan, 1964
Masters Degree: Western Kentucky
Playing Experience: Linebacker, Northern Michigan, 1961-64
Family: Wife, Brenda, and son, Justin (25)

COACHING EXPERIENCE:
2007-08 Portland State (3-8) Head Coach, Defensive Coordinator
2005-06 Hawai’i, Defensive Coordinator
1990-93 Atlanta Falcons (27-37), Head Coach
1986-89 Houston Oilers (33-32), Head Coach
1984-85 Houston Oilers, Defensive Coordinator
1983 Buffalo Bills, Secondary
1979-82 Atlanta Falcons, Defensive Coordinator
1977-78 Atlanta Falcons, Secondary/Special Teams
1974-76 Detroit Lions, Special Teams/Defensive Assistant
1968-73 Georgia Tech, Defensive Ends/OLBs/Special Teams
1967 Western Kentucky, Defensive Coordinator/Special Teams
1966 Cincinnati Reading (OH) HS Defensive Coordinator
1964-65 Lima (OH) Central Catholic HS Defensive Coordinator

Bowl Games Coached:
Sun Bowl
Peach Bowl
Liberty Bowl
Senior Bowl (twice)
Hawai’i Bowl
NFL Pro Bowl

NFL Playoff Games Coached:
Seven as a head coach (3-4), 11 overall.

JERRY GLANVILLE OFF THE FIELD:
Broadcaster:
2003-04 The Football Network,College Game Analyst for the 1-AA Game of the Week/NFL Studio Host
1999-2003 CBS Sports, Studio Host for “NFL Today”/NFL Game Analyst
1996-2002 HBO Sports, Studio Host for “Inside the NFL”
1994-98 Fox Sports, NFL Game Analyst

Owner/Driver: No. 81 Glanville Motor Sports, Inc.

Author: Elvis Don’t Like Football

Video Game: Jerry Glanville’s Pigskin Footbrawl

Hall of Fame Honors:
Northern Michigan University
Perrysburg (OH) High School
Georgia Country Music

Jerry Glanville – Portlander
In a very short period of time, Jerry Glanville has become ingrained in
the Portland community.
• Threw out the first pitch at Portland Beavers game, June 2007
• Blanketed by Pendleton Woolen Mills, September 2007
• Presenter at the Oregon Sports Awards, January 2008
• Adoptive parent, chimpanzee, Portland Zoo, February, 2008
• Named an honorary Royal Rosarian at the Portland Rose Festival, June 2008

Portland Television Features
• Camp Glanville: Tackling PSU Football - a 20-week series on the Viking
football team, May-September, 2008, Comcast Sports Net
• Jerry Glanville: The Man, The Coach, The Legend - a profile of the new
Viking coach, May 2007, Comcast Sports Net