22 Facts About Ron Meyer

Ronald Shaw Meyer was an American college and professional football coach.

Ron Meyer served as the head football coach at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas from 1973 to 1975 and Southern Methodist University from 1976 to 1981, and as a head coach in the National Football League, with the New England Patriots from 1982 to 1984 and the Indianapolis Colts from 1986 to 1991.

At Westerville High School, Ron Meyer played football, basketball, and baseball, and he was class president each year.

Ron Meyer sought to go to Ohio State due to their success in football in the 50s, though it became clear that Ohio State would not accept him.

George Steinbrenner, a onetime graduate assistant on the Purdue Boilermakers football team, led Ron Meyer to believe that he could arrange a scholarship for Ron Meyer.

When Ron Meyer visited Purdue's football office Steinbrenner was not present and nobody else knew of the supposed scholarship.

Ron Meyer served as head coach for Penn High School's football team for a year.

In January 1976, Ron Meyer was hired as the head coach at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, where he led the Mustangs for six seasons.

Unlike other Texas coaches at the time, Ron Meyer recruited players regardless of race, creating a connection between SMU and inner-city and predominantly Black Texas schools.

Ron Meyer was implicated in the creation of a slush fund used to recruit new players through monthly payments or paying for moving expenses, ultimately resulting in the SMU football scandal.

Ron Meyer moved to the pros in 1982, where he coached the New England Patriots for three seasons.

Ron Meyer was named the AFC Coach of the Year in his first season where he led the New England Patriots to the playoffs in the strike-shortened 1982 season after the team had finished with the league's worst record the prior season.

Ron Meyer called for a stadium worker named Mark Henderson to drive his snowplow on the field in order to clear an area for holder Matt Cavanaugh to spot the ball and to give kicker John Smith better footing.

Ron Meyer required offensive players to board a separate bus from defensive players, forbade loud music in the locker room, and players could not leave their hotel the night before a game.

In October 1984, Ron Meyer responded by firing assistant coach Rod Rust, but Sullivan replaced Ron Meyer with Raymond Berry the next day, which was met with celebration among the players.

Ron Meyer returned to Dallas, and, along with former assistant Steve Endicott, founded sports agency Athletic Associates.

Ron Meyer was helped in large part by being reunited with his former college standout, Eric Dickerson, who was acquired by the Colts in a three-team, 10-player trade involving the Los Angeles Rams and Buffalo Bills.

Ron Meyer traded up in the draft to obtain George, which included sending star players, receiver Andre Rison, lineman Chris Hinton, and the Colts' first-round pick in 1991 to the Atlanta Falcons.

The heat was so extreme that Ron Meyer allowed coaches to go shirtless and barefoot during practice.

Ron Meyer was an NFL analyst for the show The Score on the NFL on the Canadian sports channel The Score.

In 2001, Ron Meyer was the coach of the XFL's Chicago Enforcers franchise, which he intended to use as a stepping stone to return to the NFL.

Ron Meyer died on December 5,2017, at age 76 from an aortic aneurysm while playing golf with friends in Lakeway, Texas.