BGDN: NFL coaches began careers on The Hill
 

WKU legends
NFL coaches began careers on The Hill

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Jimmy Feix knew he was working with extraordinary personnel.

There was Joe Bugel, who didn’t complain despite not receiving as much publicity as his fellow linebackers. Graduate assistant coach Jerry Glanville arrived and was “brilliant.” Then defensive tackle Romeo Crennel graciously switched positions during his senior campaign.

But not even Feix could envision what the talent he was working with almost 40 years ago would turn out to be. Then-Division II Western Kentucky had three future NFL coaches in its program.

“If it was my choice, I wish they all would have stayed here,” Feix joked. “But the grass sure was greener on the other side for some of them. I take a lot of pride in the fact that they’ve done so well.”

Crennel became the third former Western Kentucky assistant coach to reach the professional pinnacle last week when he was hired by the Cleveland Browns. Both Bugel and Glanville had two NFL head coaching stints – Bugel led the Arizona Cardinals from 1990-93 and the Oakland Raiders in 1997, while Glanville guided the Houston Oilers from 1985-89 and the Atlanta Falcons from 1990-93.

All three were with Western in 1967, when Glanville spent his lone year on the Hill as a graduate assistant coach. Bugel and Crennel both played at Western before becoming assistant coaches.

Bugel played from 1960-63 before coaching until 1968. Crennel played from 1966-69 and coached from 1970-1974.

“Western Kentucky gave everybody a chance to be successful,” Bugel said. “There’s been some big-timers to come out of that program, believe me. Jimmy Feix gave everybody an opportunity to do their dead-level best and that’s why the guys have been so successful.”

•••

The trio of NFL coaches had aspirations beyond coaching at Western Kentucky, but it’s impossible to think of being an NFL coach while at the base of a totem pole.

For Bugel, the bottom was serving food to his teammates.

Bugel originally went to the University of Miami before returning home to his native Pittsburgh. A family friend who was a WKU alumnus suggested to Bugel’s father that he attend Western Kentucky.

But in order to pay for his first year at Western, Bugel needed money.

“(Then WKU head coach) Nick Denes got me a job in the kitchen on campus and I had to slop it up for a year before I could get on scholarship,” Bugel recalled. “Everybody used to throw food at me, but I got even with a lot of those guys.”

Bugel began playing on Western’s offensive line before becoming a captain at linebacker.

When Bugel eventually became an assistant coach and Glanville arrived, the two were roommates. But according to Glanville, their log cabin-like residence had only one bed.

The two had flipped a coin for the bed and it didn’t land Jerry’s way.

“So I slept on newspapers,” Glanville said. “Joe would tell me to make my bed and that meant picking up the newspapers.”

And in order to save money, the two used some of their connections.

“One of our players worked at a pizza place and another worked at a doughnut shop, so we lived on doughnuts and pizzas,” Bugel said. “But it was a great time for a couple of bachelors.”

•••

Like Bugel and Glanville, Feix was a Western assistant before becoming the head coach after the 1967 season. Bugel spent a year under Feix; Glanville took a position at Georgia Tech in the summer of 1968.

Feix wasn’t surprised when both coaches moved on.

“They were aggressive-seeking, advancement in the profession kind of guys,” Feix said. “They were ambitious and you knew they’d do well.”

But Crennel was different.

Personality-wise, Crennel is low-key compared to Bugel and especially Glanville. Even though Glanville is now out of coaching, his legend still lives, thanks to his split-second quick one-liners replayed time after time on NFL Films reruns.

Perhaps Glanville’s most famous is when he told an official, “This is the NFL, which stands for Not For Long when you make those ... calls.”

Stories of Glanville’s recruiting efforts are still told on Western’s campus.

“He was recruiting a kid down in Georgia who was interested in forestry,” Feix remembered. “So Jerry said, ‘Oh come on up to Western because we’ve got trees all over the campus.’ He was over the top even in those days, but he was a brilliant defensive coach.”

Crennel was comparatively low key.

“He never lost his senses or his temper and made a fool out of himself, like we all do,” Bugel said.

Crennel was a starting defensive tackle going into his senior year, but Western’s offensive line was taking a beating in 1969.

Desperate for some help, Feix asked Crennel to move to the offense after the third game of the year.

“I was still playing and I was still starting, so I didn’t really have any reservations about it,” Crennel said. “That is part of my team makeup. I don’t know who instilled that, whether it is my mother or my family or the coaches that talk about team, but that year our offense was struggling and the coaches felt like they needed some help on the offensive side of the ball.”

As Feix recalls, “He just floored me when he was so willing to move.”

Ironically, coaching wasn’t Crennel’s first option after college. Crennel came from a military family that was stationed in Fort Knox before he attended Western.

When Crennel’s playing days were finished, Feix said Crennel’s military career was supposed to begin.

Although Crennel was a standout athlete for WKU, he wasn’t accepted by the military.

“He has flat feet and he couldn’t even pass the draft physical because of them,” Feix said. “I don’t see how he could run as a player. He had short bursts as a defensive tackle and when he moved to offense, he didn’t have to run that much, so it didn’t hinder him badly. Flat feet ended up making him millions.”

•••

Along with being a two-time NFL head coach, Bugel is famous for coaching the most distinguished offensive line in professional football.

Bugel was the offensive line coach for the famed “Hogs,” the Washington Redskins’ offensive line in the 1980s. Maybe unknowingly, the name actually originated when Bugel was at Western Kentucky.

“Frank Griffin was my line coach and he called us that because he was mad at us,” said Bugel, now in his second stint with the Redskins. “We had potbellies and he’d say ‘You gosh darn hogs.’ I knew Frank was angry that day because he had all this sweat coming down his brow. Well, that stuck with me. So when I had my line, I called them hogs and it caught on like wildfire.”

Bugel took more from his other coaching jobs besides nicknames.

“I never thought about being an NFL coach, but I thought about being a college coach,” Bugel said. “I loved Frank Griffin, Nick Denes and Jimmy Feix and I said I wanted to be like them. And they taught me so much that gave me the opportunity to move on.”

•••

Crennel is the lone WKU alum currently an NFL head coach. But many thought his promotion was long overdue.

Crennel helped orchestrate the New England Patriots’ defense to three Super Bowls over four years.

Feix was also concerned that at age 57, some teams would consider Crennel too old to be an NFL coach.

“A lot of teams were looking for a young, experienced head coach and that’s an oxymoron,” Feix said. “There’s no such thing.”

But those who were with Crennel almost 40 years ago all felt satisfaction when he earned his opportunity. And his hiring only adds to the credentials of what was an impressive group of coaching talent on the Hill.

“I take a lot of pride in it in that it reflects so positively on the football program and the whole university,” Feix said. “They proved that if you worked hard and produced, you’d get your break.”

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Western Kentucky football assistants Jerry Glanville (left) and Joe Bugel (right) flank head coach Jimmy Feix in a group photo circa 1968.