Marion Campbell, the only man to serve two stints as the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, has died.
He was 87.
Campbell died in Plano, Texas. His son Scott was an offensive lineman at Georgia and a member of the 1980 national championship team. He is currently director of college scouting for the Washington Redskins.
Campbell starred at Georgia from 1949-51 and played several seasons in the NFL as one of the last two-way players before beginning his coaching career. Campbell served as Falcons head coach (1974-76, 1987-89) and returned to Georgia as defensive coordinator for one season under Ray Goff in 1993.
The Falcons organization, former longtime public relations executive Frank Kleha, running back Gerald Riggs and quarterback Steve Bartkowski remembered Campbell fondly on Monday. Also, Claude Humphrey paid tribute to Campbell during his Hall of Fame induction speech.
Here’s what they had to say about the Swamp Fox:
RICH McKAY, Falcons president
“We were saddened to hear of the passing of Marion Campbell,” McKay said. “He was a head coach for our organization on two different occasions, and left a lasting impression on the NFL as a player and as a coach. Our thoughts are with his family during this time, and the Swamp Fox will truly be missed.”
FRANK KLEHA, Longtime Falcons PR executive
“The Swamp Fox had a brilliant defensive mind and called every single defensive play each game as Falcons head coach, which never happens anymore in the NFL. He was a tough minded, demanding coach I think because of his background as a great All-Pro NFL player. But he was also fair, honest, genuine and well-respected by, not just his players, but everyone in the Falcons organization. I remember he talked Falcons Hall of Fame (defensive end) Claude Humphrey into leaving his farm in Tennessee to join his defensive staff in 1987. Claude couldn’t tell Swamp Fox no because of the high regard he had for him as a person first and coach second, which tells you everything you need to know. He was the first head coach out of seven that I had the privilege to work with and he helped me grow in my profession. I will never forget Coach Campbell for the type of man he was, the way he treated everyone, and what he represented to the history of the NFL.”
GERALD RIGGS SR., Ring of Honor running back
“He was affectionately known as the Swamp Fox. I had two go-arounds with him. He was one of the defensive coaches when I first got there under Leeman Bennett. I always remember him having that tough, no-nonsense type of attitude. He reminded me of the old coach at Green Bay, Forest Gregg. They were similar type coaches.
“He was always a very tough-minded defensive coach. He knew how to put those guys together. I think he was around when they had the Grits Blitz in Atlanta, if I’m not mistaken. He part of that whole scheme when they did that with (Jerry) Glanville and all those guys who were there at the time.
“He was influential in my career because he was the coach who traded me from Atlanta to Washington. As players say, that’s part of the game. That’s business. I respected him as a coach…I always thought very highly of him as a pretty sound and solid defensive coach. It’s really sad about a really great defensive coach that we’ve lost right now.
“He was right up there with the likes of Buddy Ryan. He just didn’t quite have the players overall, but I think he always had the defensive scheme to do those type of things….
“He was a hoot. I still remember once incident where we were out practicing on the field, and I’ve never forgotten this. We were up in old Suwanee where we had those three football fields and we had one all the way at the back by the river. I remember he made us practice that day and inclement weather was coming.
“We went out there on the field and during warmups, all of sudden it starts to rumbling a little bit. Coach was like ‘tough it out. It’s just a little bit of rain.’ Well, about three minutes later a big crack of thunder came around and hit one of the goal posts. After that lightning hit, everybody dropped to the ground. We looked up and he was running across the fields and there was a rooster tail coming off of him. It was time for everybody to go. He looked liked Herman Munster trying to run across the field with those bad knees. It was the funniest thing, because everybody was running and passing him up.
“He was a good guy.”
STEVE BARTKOWSKI, Ring of Honor quarterback
“I loved Marion Campbell. He was one of my favorite people that I’ve ever met in football. He was just as rock solid as anybody I’ve ever been around. Of course, he’s the guy who drafted me, so I’m a little partial.
“He had just a brilliant defensive mind. I really like playing for him than playing against him when he went to Philly. I had many sleepless nights thinking about having to play against his defense.
“Marion was rock solid. You never had to guess what he was thinking. He was always straight forward and honest with everybody their position on the team. The way that he went about his daily business. He was just a great family man. He was a great man. He will be sorely missed.”
CLAUDE HUMPHREY, Falcons Hall of Famer
(From his Hall of Fame Induction speech on August 2, 2014 in Canton, Ohio.)
“My second year in Atlanta we got a new coach, and his name was Marion Campbell. Ladies and gentlemen, one of the finest men to ever walk on this earth. Marion Campbell took me under his wings and he told me, now, Claude, let me tell you something, you were rookie of the year all right. You had a good season, but, Son, those people at home studied and next year it won’t be the same. You won’t be running around blocking.
“So he had coached the fearsome foursome. He had coached David Jones and Marilyn Olsen. And he remembered a lot of their techniques. So he began to teach them to me. It wasn’t hard because he was a good teacher. I caught on very quickly. That’s why I ended up making all pro the next year and going to the Pro Bowl because of Coach Marion Campbell.”
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