Making A Case for Chuck Fairbanks for the Patriots Hall

After starting 11-4, Fairbanks accepted the Head Coaching job at Colorado. Billy Sullivan fired him and Ron Erhardt coached the team in the season finale, a loss to Miami. Then Sullivan brought Fairbanks back for the playoffs, with a home game against the Houston Oilers. Any chance the Patriots had at going deep in the playoffs was gone. They came out flat and uninspired and Earl Campbell ran roughshod over them enroute to a 31-14 thumping in the franchise’s first home playoff game

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The chances of Fairbanks getting one of the three slots by the nomination committee are slim. The Super Bowl teams from the 2000s beckon and the voters, the fans, most of whom weren’t even born during that era will give zero chance of Fairbanks being selected. They should.

- See more at: Making A Case for Chuck Fairbanks for the Patriots Hall - PatsFans.com

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turkeyneck said:

I hated the way Fairbanks' time in NE ended. It was one of the most infuriating moments in the history of the Pats - mostly because of the loss of what could have been. Fairbanks was the second best coach the Pats ever had. So good that he is closer to Belichick than the rest of the pack is to Fairbanks. Still, I'm torn over whether that outweighs his dastardly departure.

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AndyJohnson said:

Come on.Its the Hall of Fame, not the Hall of Sentimentality or What Could Have Been.

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turkeyneck said:

Ultimately, AJ, it comes down to this. I'm swayed, despite being a big Fairbanks fan, that he does not belong.

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363839 said:

Yeah Fairbanks would have had the cred for Pats HoF had he not scooted out the door on us for a college team...I felt so jilted...sniff..Screw him!

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Jimke said:

Fairbanks left the team because of interference from Chuck Sullivan. In 1976 the Patriots lost to the Raiders
in that infamous playoff game. Hannah's and Gray's contracts were up after the season was over. General
Manager Fairbanks negotiated new contracts for the duo but Chuck Sullivan would not approve the contracts. Hannah and Gray held out to start the season. The Patriots lost two of their first three games

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Zeus said:

The Patriots became respectable under Fairbanks. He inherited a team that went 13-29 in the three previous season an went 46-39 with NE. (this record included a 5-9 start in 1973 and an injury plagued 3-11 1975 season).

His teams featured (arguably) the best running attack in league history and were innovators on defense, bringing the 3-4 into prominence.

The Patriots drafted players such as John Hannah, Sam Cunningham, Darryl Stingley, Mike Haynes, Raymond Clayborn, Stanley Morgan, Pete Brock, Russ Francis, Steve Nelson (and that's just off the top of my head). He absolutely fleeced the 49ers in an incredibly one-side trade for Jim Plunkett (3 #1's, 1 #2 and back up QB Tom Owen).

He assembled an excellent staff of assistants - Ron Erhardt, Ray Perkins, Red Miller and Hank Bullough went on the become NFL head coaches while Charlie Sumner, Rollie Dotsch got head coaching jobs in the USFL.

(An interesting side note - Ernie Adams was an offensive assistant under Fairbanks, hired in 1976 after serving as an unpaid intern in 1975. Adams later prepared scouting reports which Fairbanks called the most complete and thorough reports he had seen in his coaching career.)

The Patriots were a laughingstock before Fairbanks and quickly became a contender under his leadership. The Hannah-Gray holdout in 1977 cost the Patriots a playoff berth and irreparably poisoned the relationship between the business-like Fairbanks and the Sullivan insane asylum.

With Chuck Fairbanks, we had the first glimpse of what professional football could be. Who knows what would have happened if the Sullivans just let Fairbanks do his job?

Patriots Hall of Fame? Hell yes.

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Zeus said:

The Patriots became respectable under Fairbanks. He inherited a team that went 13-29 in the three previous season an went 46-39 with NE. (this record included a 5-9 start in 1973 and an injury plagued 3-11 1975 season).

His teams featured (arguably) the best running attack in league history and were innovators on defense, bringing the 3-4 into prominence.

The Patriots drafted players such as John Hannah, Sam Cunningham, Darryl Stingley, Mike Haynes, Raymond Clayborn, Stanley Morgan, Pete Brock, Russ Francis, Steve Nelson (and that's just off the top of my head). He absolutely fleeced the 49ers in an incredibly one-side trade for Jim Plunkett (3 #1's, 1 #2 and back up QB Tom Owen).

He assembled an excellent staff of assistants - Ron Erhardt, Ray Perkins, Red Miller and Hank Bullough went on the become NFL head coaches while Charlie Sumner, Rollie Dotsch got head coaching jobs in the USFL.

(An interesting side note - Ernie Adams was an offensive assistant under Fairbanks, hired in 1976 after serving as an unpaid intern in 1975. Adams later prepared scouting reports which Fairbanks called the most complete and thorough reports he had seen in his coaching career.)

The Patriots were a laughingstock before Fairbanks and quickly became a contender under his leadership. The Hannah-Gray holdout in 1977 cost the Patriots a playoff berth and irreparably poisoned the relationship between the business-like Fairbanks and the Sullivan insane asylum.

With Chuck Fairbanks, we had the first glimpse of what professional football could be. Who knows what would have happened if the Sullivans just let Fairbanks do his job?

Patriots Hall of Fame? Hell yes.

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IllegalContact said:

meh........Fairbanks did well with the players Bucko Kilroy found for him.......as far as Plunkett getting traded, it had more to do with Plunkett making demands than anything else, though it was a damned nice return...don't credit anyone but the niners for being willing to give up all that

FYI....Plunkett was traded 40 years ago today

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Zeus said:

Yeah, I thought about Kilroy. He was hired by Upton Bell in 1971 and brought the Patriots out of the dark ages when it came to scouting. I don't think the Patriots participated in the original combine (BLESTO, not to be confused with the modern day nationally televised underwear Olympics) before Bucko.

Still, Fairbanks was the coach and GM and he turned things around in a hurry. Good players, good staff, tightly run organization despite the epic dysfunction from Billy & co.

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Mack Herron said:

Great post. The Patriots were a joke when he got here and competitive after he left. That he accomplished this resurrection with the Sullivans in charge only underscores his accomplishments. No doubt in my mind he should be in.

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