Tag Archives: Jim Hanifan

The Next Great Quarterback

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Marino, Montana May Have To Make Room For Neil Lomax

(Editor’s Note: This is a reprint of a Dennis Dillon article from the September 23, 1985 edition of The Sporting News)

Over the years, quarterbacks have formed the Ursa Major in the National Football League’s galaxy of stars.

In the 1960s, Johnny Unitas and Bart Starr were the luminaries. Terry Bradshaw, Roger Staubach and Fran Tarkenton shown as brightly as anyone in the next decade. Thus far in the ‘90s, indelible prints have been left by Joe Montana and Dan Marino.

But a new star is rising. He began his ascent gradually, then shot into the constellation last year.

That star is the St. Louis Cardinals’ Neil Lomax, the latest in the NFL’s lineage of passing princes.

Lomax clearly exhibited credentials last season, throwing for 28 touchdowns and 4,614 yards and compiling the NFL’s fourth-best passer rating (92.5). He was fifth in completion percentage (.616) and sixth in yards per attempt (8.24).

Montana and Marino wound up as the leading men in Super Bowl XIX and, afterward, a Pepsi commercial. Lomax then adjourned to less-than-cosmopolitan West Linn, Oregon, where he spent a predominantly quiet off-season clutching golf clubs and fishing rods.

And there’s the disparity. Montana and Marino have become celebrities off the field. Lomax’s star? After the season, it sets rather inconspicuously in the Pacific Northwest.

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The 10 Greatest Big Red Games from the 1980s

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With NFL training camp upon us, let’s look at some of the greatest games in Big Red history. Below are my top 10 games from the 1980s (sorted by year). Agree? Disagree? Leave your thoughts in the comment section.

September 28, 1980: St. Louis Cardinals 24, Philadelphia Eagles 14

O.J. Anderson rushed for 151 yards and scored two touchdowns as the Cards knocked off previously unbeaten Philadelphia 24-14 at Busch Stadium. Box Score.

It was the Cardinals first win of the season (1-3) and the first in new head coach Jim Hanifan’s career.

“He cried when Dan Dierdorf gave him the game ball,” said Roger Wehrli.

“I was not prepared for an 0-3 start,” said Hanifan. “As a head coach you say, ‘Dammit, there must be something I’m not doing right. There’s something I’ve overlooked.’”

“We’re happy we won, we’re happy for ourselves,” said Dierdorf. “More than that, though, we’re happy for Jim. It hasn’t been easy on him.”

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Big Red Flashback: Cards-Vikings Faced Off in London in 1983

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When the Jacksonville Jaguars play the Atlanta Falcons on October 1 at Wembley Stadium in London, it will mark the 43rd time the NFL has held a regular-season or preseason game on British soil.

The first time was 40 years ago today (August 6, 1983), when the Cardinals met the Minnesota Vikings in the Global Cup. It was the brainchild of John Marshall, a former Hollywood screenwriter whose International Promotions Limited company sponsored the exhibition game. The Super Bowl had been televised in England for the first time the previous January—viewers stayed up into the wee hours of the morning because of the time difference—and Marshall believed there was interest to be mined in American football.

Quarterbacks Jim Hart (L) and Tommy Kramer meet at the 50-yard line at Wembley Stadium on August 6, 1983.

The Global Cup was played on a Saturday. The Cardinals, who had been practicing for a few weeks at training camp at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, flew out of St. Louis on a Global Airlines 707 charter that departed Lambert Field at around 7 p.m. Thursday and arrived at London’s Gatwick Airport at 10 a.m. Friday London time—some nine hours later. 

“It was a long, long, long flight,” former Big Red guard Joe Bostic recalled recently. 

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Forgotten Big Red Stars: Wayne Morris

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There may have been no player more respected in the Big Red locker room than Wayne Lee Morris. The six-foot-200 pound running back was a quiet, unassuming leader who did whatever the coaches asked of him.

The Cardinals selected Morris in the 5th round of the 1976 NFL draft out of Southern Methodist University. But the team was already stacked at running back with Pro Bowlers Terry Metcalf and Jim Otis as well as solid backups Steve Jones and Jerry Latin. Morris was hardly guaranteed a roster spot.

Wayne Morris

“In high school they had me starting on the varsity as a sophomore,” he told Tom Barnidge of the St. Louis Post Dispatch after the draft. “In college, I joined the varsity as a freshman. Now I’m trying to join it again. I hope this is one more stepping-stone.”

Morris was well-known in Dallas. He rushed for 3623 yards in three seasons at South Oak Cliff High School and was named an All-American in three different publications.

At SMU, he was the nation’s top freshman rusher with 884 yards and went on to set the school’s career rushing record. He ran for 154 yards in his first varsity game against Wake Forest and racked up 202 yards against Texas his senior season.

Morris knew that he would once again have to prove himself in the NFL.

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Coach Jim Hanifan Memorial Held in St. Louis

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A golf outing and Memorial were held last week in honor of longtime Cardinals and Rams coach Jim Hanifan who passed away last November at the age of 87.

Many of Hanifan’s former players and fellow coaches attended the Thursday Memorial Service including Dan Dierdorf, Jackie Smith, Dick Vermeil, Carl Peterson, Luis Sharpe, Adam Timmerman, and dozens of others.

Jim Hanifan

Dierdorf and Vermeil gave eulogies, Jackie Smith sang Danny Boy, and countless stories were told by friends and family into the night.

On Wednesday, the first annual Jim Hanifan Memorial Top Golf outing was held to benefit Cherish. Many former players were in attendance such as Mel Gray, Johnny Roland, Joe Bostic, Irv Goode and Willard Harrell. A good time was had by all.

Hanifan’s daughter Kathy, son Jim, and grandson Austin were in town to participate in the celebration of his life.

Hanifan was the offensive line coach for the Cardinals from 1973-1978 and was head coach from 1980-1985. He later returned to St. Louis and became the offensive line coach for the Rams under Dick Vermeil in 1997 where he would remain until 2002. A couple of years later he moved to the Rams radio booth and became a beloved straight-shooting sidekick of Steve Savard. Hanifan remained in St. Louis until his death in 2020.

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Big Red Characters: “Dr. Doom” John Barefield

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Posted by Bob Underwood

John Barefield spent only three seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals, but with all due respect to Conrad Dobler, there may not have been a larger character. The 6-foot-2, 230-pound linebacker was the Cards second-round draft pick in 1978 out of Texas A&I University where he was known for wearing quarters in his ears, stalking cemeteries at night, writing poetry about his tackles, and going by the name of Doctor Doom.

John “Dr. Doom” Barefield played with the Cardinals from 1978-1980 (Photo courtesy of Paul Turner)

“I know I’m strange. I’ve got a strange mind,” the flamboyant linebacker said at a rookie workout at Busch Stadium in 1978. “I see visions, vibes and things. I was going to leave my Dr. Doom cap back at college, but I found myself putting it back on.”

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Big Red Flashback 1980: Cards Hire Jim Hanifan

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(Editor’s Note: Jim Hanifan became the Cardinals head coach on January 30, 1980. Below is Coach Hanifan’s account of how he was hired. It was taken from an excerpt of his book Beyond Xs and Os: My Thirty Years in the NFL)

My name had come up when there were openings for head coaching jobs in the NFL, and i really thought if I kept my nose clean I would have a shot at getting one of those jobs. I just didn’t think it would be in St. Louis.

Even though I really did want the job, it still caught me a little off guard when Don (Coryell) walked into my office and said Bill (Bidwill) had called to request permission to speak with me. I didn’t hear from him until a week later. We were coaching at the Pro Bowl in Hawaii, and after the game I was back in my hotel room packing and getting ready to leave for the airport when Bill called. We agreed to meet two days later in San Diego.

The day that Bill arrived, it was pouring down rain. I agreed to meet him in a parking lot, because he wanted to be very secretive. I told him to follow me, and we would stop off and have lunch at a Mexican restaurant that was on the way to my house. It was managed by my friend Ray Ogas, who now works for the Rams.

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How Jim Hanifan survived crashing Bud Wilkinson’s Car Into a Train

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By Bob Underwood

Most St. Louis football fans probably remember Jim Hanifan from his assistant coaching days with Don Coryell and the Cardiac Cards or when he was the Big Red head coach from 1980-1985. Younger fans may remember his time with the St. Louis Rams or later as the straight-shooting beloved analyst in the Rams radio booth with Steve Savard.

But some forget that Jim Hanifan was one of the few assistant coaches who stuck around for a year after Don Coryell left the Cardinals in 1978. Owner Bill Bidwill shocked the football world when he hired college coaching legend Bud Wilkinson, who led Oklahoma to three national championships and 14 conference titles. At the time, Hanifan had a year left on his contract, but he also had several offers to leave St. Louis.

Jim Hanifan (L) coached the Cards offensive line under Bud Wilkinson in 1978.

“I had options,” Hanny wrote in his book Beyond Xs & Os, My Thirty Years in the NFL. “At least six teams were vying for my services. I thought I was back in high school, being recruited all over again.”

Hanifan decided to stay in St. Louis and work under Wilkinson, a man who he once said “probably has more charisma than anybody I have ever met in my life.”

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Former Big Red Coach Jim Hanifan Passes Away at 87

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St. Louis has lost yet another institution with the passing of the beloved Jim Hanifan who coached with both the Big Red and St. Louis Rams.

Hanifan was the offensive line coach for the Football Cardinals from 1973-1978 and then head coach from 1980-1985. He later won Super Bowl rings while coaching with Washington and the St. Louis Rams. Many younger St. Louis NFL fans will remember Hanifan in the Rams radio booth from 2004-2008.

Jim Hanifan coached with the Cards for 12 of the 28 seasons they were in St. Louis.

Hanifan was known as one of the top offensive line coach’s in the history of the NFL. His 1975 Big Red offensive line of Dan Dierdorf, Conrad Dobler, Tom Banks, Bob Young and Roger Finnie allowed only 8 sacks the entire season, an NFL record at the time. His first season in Washington, his offensive line gave up only 9 sacks as the Redskins went 14-2 and won the Super Bowl. And Hanifan coached a St. Louis Rams offensive line that protected Kurt Warner during the Greatest Show on Turf years which included two Super Bowl appearances and a Championship.

Coach Hanifan loved St. Louis, his former players, and the thousands of friends that he made over his 60+ years in football. He will be greatly missed.

Tributes started pouring in on social media just a couple of hours after the learning of Coach Hanifan’s passing.

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Where are They Now? Pat Tilley

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Pat Tilley described the catch as “incredible.”

No, the former Cardinals wide receiver was not talking about his one-handed, backhanded grab for a touchdown against the Baltimore Colts in 1980, arguably the most memorable of his 468 receptions during an 11-season career with the Big Red. He was referring to the 120-pound striped marlin he and his wife, Susie, reeled in recently while fishing the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

Certainly, it will make for a much more pleasant memory than Tilley’s visit to Cabo three years ago. Back then, he woke up one morning and couldn’t speak. He had suffered a stroke.

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