Ex-Football Coach Now Runs Business : From Post Patterns to Post Office, a New Task

These days, instead of worrying about blitzing linebackers, former National Football League head coach Bill Austin has to deal with irate customers, like the woman who walked into his downtown mail business Friday and threw a fit because he could not guarantee overnight delivery of a prom dress.

Austin, 58, and 230 pounds, is only five pounds heavier than when he was drafted as a 20-year-old offensive guard by the New York Giants in 1949. During four years as a head coach--Pittsburgh Steelers 1966-68 and Washington Redskins 1970--Austin’s teams went 17-36-3.

He coached the Steelers and Redskins in the years when the two teams were perennial doormats in the NFL. Chuck Noll, who took the Steelers to four Super Bowl championships, replaced Austin in 1969 and had a record of 1-13 in his first year as head coach.

Piling On Was Common

A large, friendly man with thinning hair and glasses, Austin played and coached in an era when defensive players were given license to do almost whatever they could to nail a runner, and piling on was a way of ensuring that a running back would not get up and run.

“Today’s game is more push and shove, rather than knocking people off at the line of scrimmage,” he said. “In the 1950s, guys would pile on, because the rules then allowed a runner to get up and run if you didn’t put your arms around him. You can’t do that these days, but there are still some teams--Seattle, the Raiders and Redskins--who still play the game like that. I like their brand of football.”

Austin and his wife, Goodrun, have owned a home in La Mesa since 1979, but they moved here permanently only in 1985, when he was fired as the New York Jets’ offensive line coach. A few months later, Austin bought the 6th Avenue Mail Station in downtown San Diego. Besides being a contract station for the U.S. Postal Service, Austin’s business makes keys, rents videos and sells novelty items.

Disdain for Chargers

Though he has been here for two football seasons, Austin said he has never seen the Chargers play at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium. He says he does not attend local games because he “hates to fight the crowds,” but a dislike for the traditional Chargers offensive game and and their porous defense might also account for his absence from the stadium.

“How often can you see a 48-46 game?” he said. “You can have the most potent passing offense, but you can’t win in professional football without defense. I think that you have to run the ball occasionally. Get a running threat so you can throw the ball . . .

“But I have a lot of respect for (former Chargers coach) Don Coryell. He had a good quarterback who has reached his peak, but is on the downhill.”

One wall in Austin’s store is lined with pictures from his coaching days. Hanging prominently in the middle is a portrait of the Green Bay Packers’ legendary coach Vince Lombardi, who was Austin’s mentor. Austin assumed Lombardi’s job as head coach of the Redskins when Lombardi died before the start of the 1970 season.

Lombardi Loved Winning

“Coach Lombardi was a poor loser. I’ve never known a man who wanted to win and who loved winning more than Lombardi,” Austin said. “He was such an intense person. His desire to excel was such that he didn’t want players playing for him who didn’t want to excel.”

Austin met Lombardi when he was playing tackle for the Giants and Lombardi was an assistant coach. Austin played seven seasons between 1949 and 1957, and Lombardi was a Giants assistant coach during that period. Dallas Cowboys Coach Tom Landry was a young defensive coach for the Giants during those years, and he also played with Austin.

“Tom’s a very emotional man. He just doesn’t show it. He’s very analytical and intelligent and he was that way as a player and assistant coach,” Austin said.

Football players are commonly viewed as not being among the brightest members of society. Austin, however, does not fit that stereotype. He enrolled at Oregon State University at 16 and graduated with a degree in biology at 20. He modestly brushes aside any suggestions about his intelligence, insisting that he graduated from high school at an early age because his mother enrolled him in grade school when he was 4 years old.

Mother Lied About His Age

“I was big and raised so much hell that my mother lied about my age and put me in school when I was 4 just to get me out of the house for part of the day,” he said.

According to Austin, Conrad Dobler, former St. Louis Cardinals offensive guard, has an IQ of about 153 and is one of the smartest players to ever play in the NFL. Many NFL veterans, particularly defensive linemen, would say that Dobler was also the dirtiest player to ever put on an NFL uniform. Dobler, who is now seen in Lite Beer commercials, was known to bite, kick, gouge and punch, usually when the officials were not looking.

“I was Conrad’s first NFL coach, but I’m not the one who taught him all that,” Austin said with a smile.

Austin is an alumnus of a group that could very well go unmatched in the NFL. He is one of 17 former Giants players from the 1950s who went into coaching in professional football.

“It’s a unique record, but the Giants in those days were a unique bunch of guys,” he said.