John Rosenberg (American football)
John David Rosenberg (born 1947 or 1948) is a former American football coach. His coaching career has spanned over 30 years at a variety of levels, including collegiate and professional teams in the United States, and club teams in Europe. Most notably, he served as head football coach at Brown University from 1984 to 1989, compiling a record of 23–33–3. Rosenberg is credited by some as the creator of the zone blitz defense made popular by the Pittsburgh Steelers.[2] His career has included national championships in three countries.
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1947 or 1948[1] |
| Playing career | |
| 1963–1967 | Harvard |
| Position(s) | Linebacker |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1972–1973 | Villanova (DC) |
| 1974–1982 | Penn State (assistant) |
| 1983 | Philadelphia Stars (DB) |
| 1984–1989 | Brown |
| 1994 | Los Angeles Valley CC (DC) |
| 1997 | Cal State Northridge (DC) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 23–33–3 |
United States
Penn State
Rosenberg was an assistant coach at Penn State for 11 seasons, working for head coach Joe Paterno. During this time he coached in 11 bowl games, including the National Championship team in 1982. He coordinated recruiting from 1974 to 1977, and also served as defensive backfield coach from 1977 to 1982.
Philadelphia
In 1983, he was an assistant coach with the Philadelphia Stars in the first year of the United States Football League (USFL). Jim Mora Sr. was head coach and Carl Peterson, former president of the Kansas City Chiefs, was the general manager.
Brown University
Rosenberg was the head coach at Brown University in the Ivy League from 1984 to 1989. He led the Bears to three consecutive winning seasons, including a 7–3 mark in 1987. He resigned in 1990 following a 2–8 season in 1989 and a season with no victories in 1988. School officials acknowledged that calls from alumni for his dismissal had been growing. He had a 23–33–3 record in his six seasons at Brown.
Germany
Munich
In 1994, he went to Europe for the first time as head coach of the Munich Thunder of the Football League of Europe (FLE), which disbanded after one season. In 1995, he was head coach of the Berlin Adler in the German Football League (GFL). He also was the defensive coordinator of the Cologne Crocodiles from 1998 to 1999 and the Munich Cowboys from 2000 to 2001. He was the head coach for the Cowboys from 2007 from 2009. In 2010, he was head coach of the Plattling Black Hawks.
Hamburg
In 2002, he was head coach of the Hamburg Blue Devils in the GFL, winning the German Bowl for the German National Championship. In 2004, he coordinated the defense of the Braunschweig Lions, Germany's most winning team with 15 straight German Bowl appearances and ten National Championships.
Italy
In 2005, he became the head coach of the Bergamo Lions, one of Europe's most successful teams.[3] Bergamo has won the Italian League Championship for 10 straight years and won the Eurobowl (equivalent to European soccer's Champions League) in American Football in 2000, 2001, and 2002. He won the Italian League title in 2005 and lost the Eurobowl championship game to the Vienna Vikings, finishing with a 13–1 record.
Personal
Rosenberg received a bachelor's degree from Harvard University, where he studied social psychology and organizational behavior. He received a master's degree in counselor education from Penn State in 1972.
Rosenberg grew up in Newton, Massachusetts. He now lives in Los Angeles, California where he has done some writing and editing for films and television projects with football themes. He also was a sports radio talk show host in the early 1990s.
He holds a U.S. Patent for a board game he created in the late 1970s.[4]
Head coaching record
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brown Bears (Ivy League) (1984–1989) | |||||||||
| 1984 | Brown | 4–5 | 4–3 | 4th | |||||
| 1985 | Brown | 5–4–1 | 4–3 | 4th | |||||
| 1986 | Brown | 5–4–1 | 4–2–1 | 3rd | |||||
| 1987 | Brown | 7–3 | 5–2 | T–2nd | |||||
| 1988 | Brown | 0–9–1 | 0–6–1 | 8th | |||||
| 1989 | Brown | 2–8 | 2–5 | T–5th | |||||
| Brown: | 23–33–3 | 19–21–2 | |||||||
| Total: | 23–33–3 | ||||||||
References
- Stefan Reckziegel (26 July 2002). "Football: John Rosenberg sucht das Gespräch" (in German). Retrieved 1 March 2020.
- Bramel, Jene (10 September 2010). "Guide to N.F.L. Defenses, Part 5: The Zone Blitz". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 April 2013.
- "John Rosenberg is new head coach of Bergamo Lions". EuroBowl.info. European Federation of American Football. 11 January 2005. Retrieved 19 April 2013.
- "Patent US4027882 – Franchise board game". Google.com. Retrieved 19 April 2013.