Fairbanks coached the Patriots in the 1970s.
Darrell Royal (left) andf Chuck Fairbanks shake hands in 1967.
Chuck Fairbanks, the man who helped raise the Patriots to prominence in the 1970s, passed away in Scottsdale, Ariz. Tuesday after losing a battle with brain cancer. He was 79.
Fairbanks coached the Patriots from 1973-78, leading to the team to a 46-40 record and two playoff births during his tenure.
A pioneer of the game, Fairbanks helped the Patriots to relevance during the 1970s by popularizing the 3-4 defense (elements of his system are still used today) and streamlining the draft process. Under his watch, the team drafted players such as Sam Cunningham, Steve Grogan, John Hannah and Mosi Tatupu, among others.
When it was learned last year that Fairbanks was battling cancer, current New England coach Bill Belichick credited him for his impact on the organization.
"At the time he came here, he did a great job in turning the Patriots around, making them one of the top teams in the AFC," Belichick said. "Some of the things that he brought to the Patriots and the league in the 70s were things that stood the test of time and have been a big principle of this league for many, many years, such as the 3-4 defense, the way he organized the draft, personnel meetings, things like that."
Fairbanks' influence on New England can still be felt today.
The offense that the Patriots currently run, the Erhardt-Perkins system, was birthed by Ron Erhardt and Ray Perkins while they were working for Fairbanks in the 1970s. Instead of organizing plays by route trees or calling a single receiver's route, the Erhardt-Perkins system organizes plays by concepts.
While the system has evolved over the years, Belichick said during the 2007 season that Fairbanks could show up today and understand most of New England's offensive concepts.
"Chuck has had a tremendous influence on the league as well as this organization in terms of nomenclature and terminology and those kinds of things,” Belichick said. “I’m sure Chuck could walk in and look at our playbook and probably 80 percent of the plays are the same terminology that he used — whether it be formations or coverages or pass protections. ... All of the stuff that was really the fundamentals of his system are still in place here."
The Patriots struggled early under Fairbanks, but in 1976, two years after installing his 3-4 system, the team went 11-3 and made it to the playoffs, where it faced the Raiders in the first round. After trailing 21-10 in the fourth quarter, a controversial roughing the passer call wiped out an incompletion and allowed Ken Stabler to run in the ball with eight seconds left for a comeback victory.
New England appeared poised to make another run in 1978, but Fairbanks' tenure came to a controversial close prior to a playoff game against the Oilers, when he was fired by Billy Sullivan after accepting the head coaching job at Colorado. The Patriots lost the game and Fairbanks later admitted to recruiting players while still coaching New England.
Prior to landing in New England, Fairbanks coached at Oklahoma, where he implemented the wishbone-T offense. The Sooners won three Big Eight conference titles under him and went 11-1 during his final two seasons.
He departed mid-way through his contract, allowing Barry Switzer to take over, but much like his time in New England, Fairbanks' legacy in Oklahoma is complicated. Following his departure, recruiting violations were revealed in Oklahoma, which led to a two-year bowl ban and caused the Sooners to forfeit nine games from the 1972 season.
Fairbanks accepted a coaching job with the USFL's New Jersey Generals in 1982 and immediately found his way back onto the NCAA's radar when he violated an unwritten role by signing Herschel Walker, who still had college eligibility remaining. Fairbanks was fired after going 6-12 during his only season in New Jersey.
Fairbanks spent his later years focused on real estate and developing golf courses.