John Fox (born February 8, 1955) is the third and
current head coach of the Carolina Panthers of the
NFL.
Fox was born in Virginia Beach, Virginia and raised
in San Diego, California after moving there at age
15. Fox played football at Castle Park High School
and Southwestern College (California) in Chula Vista
from 1974-1975 before going to San Diego State,
where he played defensive back with future NFL
player & head coach Herman Edwards. Fox received a
bachelor’s degree in physical education and earned
teaching credentials from San Diego State.
In 1983, John Fox was a member of Mike Gottfried's
University of Kansas staff, as the secondary coach.
While there he roamed the sidelines of the oldest
standing stadium west of the Mississippi River. He
coached at the school that produced such legends as
John Hadl, John Riggins, and Gale Sayers.
Fox began his first professional football coaching
stint in the short-lived United States Football
League with the Los Angeles Express. He entered the
NFL in 1989 as the secondary coach of the Pittsburgh
Steelers, later also holding this job with the San
Diego Chargers. Fox was the defensive coordinator
for the Los Angeles Raiders and later that of the
New York Giants during Super Bowl XXXV, which they
lost.
In 2002 Fox was signed as the third head coach of
the Panthers, whose previous coach George Seifert
had led the team to a disastrous 1-15 record in
2001. Fox's first regular season game was a 10-7
victory over the Baltimore Ravens which ended the
Panthers' 15-game losing streak dating to the
previous season. Fox and the Panthers posted a 7-9
record for the 2002 season (his first with the
team), demonstrating a drastic improvement over the
previous season.
In the 2003 season Fox led the Panthers to Super
Bowl XXXVIII, losing 32-29 to the New England
Patriots on a last-minute field goal by Adam
Vinatieri (which was also the margin of victory for
the Patriots in their Super Bowl victories in Super
Bowl XXXVI and Super Bowl XXXIX). In taking the
Panthers to the Super Bowl, Fox joined Vince
Lombardi as the only coaches to inherit a team that
had won only one game in the season immediately
prior to their hiring, and then took that team to
the Super Bowl. John Fox took the Carolina Panthers
to the NFC Championship game in the 2005 season, but
they were defeated by the Seattle Seahawks.
The 2006 season was disappointing for Fox and the
Panthers, as a team that had Super Bowl aspirations
fell out of the playoffs.
