George Perles
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George J. Perles was a defensive line coach, defensive coordinator, and assistant head coach of the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers from 1971-1981, and the head coach of the Michigan State Spartans from 1982-1994. He was later elected to the MSU Board of Trustees on November 11, 2006.
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[edit] Early Years
George Perles was born in Detroit, Michigan on July 16, 1934. The only child of Julius and Nellie Perles, George grew up in Detroit and attended Western High. Upon graduating Perles and 17 of his high school friends jointly enlisted in the US Army.
[edit] Return to MSU
After returning from active duty, Perles returned to Michigan where he enrolled at Michigan State University and played football under legendary coach Duffy Daugherty. Perles played the 1958 season before his playing career was cut short by a knee injury. Perles then started his football coaching career as a graduate assistant at Michigan State before moving on to the high school ranks in Chicago and Detroit, where his St. Ambrose Academy team won their first Detroit City League Championship in 1961. Perles returned to Michigan State as defensive line coach under his mentor, Daugherty, in 1967.
[edit] USFL
In 1982, Perles was hired as the first head coach of the Philadelphia Stars of the fledgling United States Football League. Perles worked for one year with the Stars during the development and formation of the league and the team, but left the Stars when he was offered the Michigan State University head football coaching position in 1982 just before the USFL season began. The Stars subsequently hired Jim Mora to coach the team assembled by Perles, which went on to win the first USFL Championship in 1983.
[edit] Steelers
In 1972, Chuck Noll, head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers Football Club of the National Football League (NFL), reviewed more than 200 resumes and interviewed many candidates before deciding to offer George Perles the position of defensive line coach with the Steelers. In Perles’ first season with the Steelers in 1972 the Steelers made the payoffs for the second time in franchise history (the first coming in 1947), losing to the Miami Dolphins in the AFC Championship. The Miami Dolphins went on to become the first undefeated Super Bowl Champion.
In 1974, the Steelers won their first of six consecutive American Football Conference Central Division championships, and went on to win their first Super Bowl, holding the Oakland raiders to 16 rushing yards in the American Football Conference Championship and the Minnesota Vikings to 16 rushing yards in the Super Bowl in January 1975. The Pittsburgh “Steel Curtain” defense was born with Perles’ innovative Stunt 4-3 defense as its backbone.
Perles was promoted to defensive coordinator for the Steelers in 1977 and then to assistant head coach under Noll in 1978. During Perles' 10 years with Pittsburgh (1972-1981) the Steelers won an unprecedented four Super Bowls and became known as the team of the decade in the 1970’s largely on the back of their dominating defense.
[edit] Return to MSU
Perles returned to Michigan State University on December 3, 1982 inheriting a team which had won just ten games in the previous three seasons. Perles lead the Spartans into two bowl games in his first three seasons, and then in 1987 lead the Spartans to the Big Ten conference championship and their first Rose Bowl since 1966. The 1987 Spartan team won the Rose Bowl in January 1988, defeating Southern California 20-17 and ending the season ranked number 8 in the nation. Perles was voted Coach of the Year in 1987 by Sporting News.
During Perles’ 12 seasons at Michigan State, the Spartans appeared in 7 bowl games, won 2 Big Ten Championships and accumulated a Big Ten record of 57-38-3. In 1988, Perles turned down the head coaching position and a $2.2 million contract with the Green Bay Packers of the NFL to stay with his alma mater. Again in 1990 the NFL came knocking, and this time Perles turned down a head coaching job with the New York Jets.
In 1988, Perles was given the role of athletic director, in addition to, his duties as head coach at Michigan State University
[edit] Michigan State Coaching Record
| Year | Record | Bowl Game |
|---|---|---|
| 1983 | 4-6-1 | None |
| 1984 | 6-6 | Cherry (L) Army, 10-6 |
| 1985 | 7-5 | All-American (L) Ga Tech, 17-14 |
| 1986 | 6-5 | None |
| 1987 | 9-2-1 | Rose (W) USC, 20-17 |
| 1988 | 6-5-1 | Gator (L) Georgia, 34-27 |
| 1989 | 8-4 | Aloha (W) Hawaii, 33-13 |
| 1990 | 8-3-1 | Sun (W) USC, 17-16 |
| 1991 | 3-8 | None |
| 1992 | 5-6 | None |
| 1993 | 6-6 | Liberty (L) Louisville, 18-7 |
| 1994 | 5-6 (Wins Voluntarily Forfeited) | None |
| Total | 73-62-4 |
[edit] NCAA Sanctions
After an NCAA investigation in 1994 uncovered infractions involving grade tampering by an assistant coach, MSU President M. Peter McPhereson ordered self-imposed sanctions on MSU including loss of scholarships and the forfeiture of all 1994 victories. In the end, the NCAA accepted the self imposed sanctions and Perles was found "not culpable" for any of the violations in its final report.
[edit] Dismissal from MSU
Perles was dismissed by MSU President M. Peter Mcpherson before the 1994 season was finished.
[edit] Motor City Bowl
In 1995, George Perles and former Michigan State University Sports Information Director, Ken Hoffman, founded and initiated the Motor City Bowl, a collegiate football bowl game in Detroit. In 2006, the Motor City Bowl enjoyed a record crowd of more than 54,000 people in its 10th game with Perles as chief executive officer and Hoffman as executive director.
[edit] MSU Board of Trustees
In November 2006, George Perles was elected to the Board of Trustees of Michigan State University. He began serving an eight-year term beginning January 1, 2007.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Frank "Muddy" Waters |
Michigan State Head Football Coach 1983–1994 |
Succeeded by Nick Saban |
