John Alan Luginbill (born November 13, 1946) is a former American football coach. He served as the head football coach at San Diego State University from 1989 to 1993, compiling a record of 31–25–3. Luginibull was also the head football coach at Pasadena City College in Pasadena, California for one season, in 1977, leading his team a record of 11–1 and a victory in the Junior Rose Bowl. At the end of his career, Luginbill was the head coach for three professional teams: the Amsterdam Admirals of NFL Europe from 1995 to 2000, the Los Angeles Xtreme of the XFL in 2001, and the Detroit Fury of the Arena Football League (AFL) in 2003. His Los Angeles Xtreme team won the XFL championship, the Million Dollar Game.
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 13, 1946 Pomona, California, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1965–1967 | Cal Poly Pomona |
| Position(s) | Halfback |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1968–1971 | Pasadena (assistant) |
| 1972–1973 | Arizona State (assistant) |
| 1974–1976 | Pasadena (assistant) |
| 1977 | Pasadena |
| 1978 | Wyoming (DB) |
| 1979–1981 | Arizona State (LB) |
| 1982–1984 | Arizona State (DC) |
| 1989–1993 | San Diego State |
| 1995–2000 | Amsterdam Admirals |
| 2001 | Los Angeles Xtreme |
| 2003 | Detroit Fury |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 1985–1988 | San Diego State (associate AD) |
| 2003 | Detroit Fury (GM) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 31–25–3 (college) 11–1 (junior college) 52–39 (professional) |
| Bowls | 0–1 (college) 2–0 (junior college) |
| Tournaments | 3–2 (professional playoffs) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 1 Metropolitan Conference (1977) 1 Million Dollar Game (2001) | |
College coaching career
editLuginbill began his college coaching career at Pasadena City College, where he served as an assistant from 1968 to 1971 and returned from 1974 to 1976. In 1977 Luginbill was promoted to head coach and guided PCC to a Jr. Rose Bowl Championship, National Championship and finished the regular season with a record of 11–1.
Luginbill got his Division I college break with the Arizona State Sun Devils. He worked at ASU for two years as assistant coach. After a one-year stint with the University of Wyoming, he returned to Arizona State. Luginbill remained as a coach at ASU until 1984, when he left to enter the athletic administration at San Diego State University.[1]
After spending three years on the administrative side, Luginbill was given control of a slumping Aztec program. Three years later, Luginbill's Aztecs went 8–4–1, including a 52-all tie with BYU before 56,737 at Jack Murphy Stadium. While at SDSU, Luginbill recruited running back Marshall Faulk. Luginbill served as head coach of the Aztecs for five years, where he earned an overall record of 31–25–3. In those five years, he never suffered a losing season.
Luginbill is currently Director of Player Personnel at Arizona State University.[2]
Professional coaching career
editLuginbill served as the inaugural head coach for the Amsterdam Admirals of NFL Europe from 1995 to 2000. He led the Admirals to a 34–26 record. Amsterdam went 9–1 in 1995 and played in the World Bowl.[3]
After coaching in Europe, Luginbill returned to the States to serve as the head coach and director of football operations for the XFL’s Los Angeles Xtreme. In the league’s first and only year, he guided the Xtreme to a championship.
Luginbill served as head coach and general manager for the Detroit Fury of the Arena Football League in 2003.
Personal life
editLuginbill and his wife, Susan, are the parents of twins, a daughter, Kerry, and a son, Tom, who is a college football analyst for ESPN.
Head coaching record
editJunior college football
edit| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pasadena Lancers (Metropolitan Conference) (1977) | |||||||||
| 1977 | Pasadena | 11–1 | 5–1 | 1st | W Potato Bowl, W Junior Rose Bowl | ||||
| Pasadena: | 11–1 | 5–1 | |||||||
| Total: | 11–1 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
College
edit| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego State Aztecs (Western Athletic Conference) (1989–1993) | |||||||||
| 1989 | San Diego State | 6–5–1 | 4–3 | T–5th | |||||
| 1990 | San Diego State | 6–5 | 5–2 | 3rd | |||||
| 1991 | San Diego State | 8–4–1 | 6–1–1 | 2nd | L Freedom | ||||
| 1992 | San Diego State | 8–4–1 | 6–1–1 | 2nd | |||||
| 1993 | San Diego State | 6–6 | 4–4 | T–3rd | |||||
| San Diego State: | 31–25–3 | 25–11–2 | |||||||
| Total: | 31–25–3 | ||||||||
NFL Europe
edit| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Ties | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| AMS | 1995 | 9 | 1 | 0 | .900 | 1st (League) | 0 | 1 | .000 | Lost to Frankfurt Galaxy in World Bowl '95 |
| AMS | 1996 | 5 | 5 | 0 | .500 | 3rd (League) | – | – | — | — |
| AMS | 1997 | 5 | 5 | 0 | .500 | 4th (League) | – | – | — | — |
| AMS | 1998 | 7 | 3 | 0 | .700 | 3rd (League) | – | – | — | — |
| AMS | 1999 | 4 | 6 | 0 | .400 | 4th (League) | – | – | — | — |
| AMS | 2000 | 4 | 6 | 0 | .400 | 4th (League) | – | – | — | — |
| Total | 34 | 26 | 0 | .567 | 0 | 1 | .000 | |||
XFL
edit| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Ties | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| LAX | 2001 | 7 | 3 | 0 | .700 | 1st (Western) | 2 | 0 | 1.000 | Million Dollar Game champions |
| Total | 7 | 3 | 0 | .700 | 2 | 0 | 1.000 | |||
Arena Football League
edit| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Ties | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| DTF | 2003 | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 2nd (National Eastern) | 1 | 1 | .500 | Lost to Tampa Bay Storm in quarterfinals |
| Total | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 1 | 1 | .500 | |||