Jimmy Raye II

Jimmy Raye

Candid waist-up photograph of Raye from the side standing on a football field, wearing a red and black pullover, a wide-brimmed hat bearing a Reebok logo and sunglasses Raye at 49ers training camp in August 2010
Personal information
Date of birth	(1946-03-26) March 26, 1946
Place of birth	Fayetteville, North Carolina
Career information
Position(s)	Cornerback
College	Michigan State
NFL Draft	1968 / Round 16 / Pick 431
Stats
Playing stats	NFL.com
Team(s) as a player
1968 Los Angeles Rams 1969 Philadelphia Eagles
Team(s) as a coach/administrator
1971–1975 Michigan State (assistant coach) 1976 Wyoming (assistant) 1977 San Francisco 49ers (wide receivers) 1978–1979 Detroit Lions (running backs) 1980–1982 Atlanta Falcons (wide receivers) 1983–1984 Los Angeles Rams (offensive coordinator) 1985–1986 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (off. coord.) 1987–1989 Atlanta Falcons (wide receivers) 1990 New England Patriots (off. coord.) 1991 Los Angeles Rams passing coord./ wide receivers) 1992–2000 Kansas City Chiefs tight ends/ running backs/ off. coord.) 2001 Washington Redskins (off. coord.) 2002–2003 New York Jets (senior off. assistant) 2004–2005 Oakland Raiders (off. coord.) 2006–2008 New York Jets (running backs) 2009–2010 (partial) San Francisco 49ers (off. coord.) 2012–2013 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (senior off. asst.)

James Arthur Raye, Jr. (born March 26, 1946) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently as Senior Advisor to NFL Vice-president Troy Vincent. A book written on his career by award-winning sportswriter Tom Shanahan was published in September 2014 by August Publications. The title is "Raye of Light." The subtitle is Jimmy Raye, Duffy Daugherty, the integration of college football and the 1965-66 Michigan State Spartans. Tony Dungy, who considers Raye a mentor, wrote the Foreword.

Playing career

As a player, he was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams for the position of cornerback but was quickly traded to the Philadelphia Eagles. In college, as a quarterback, he was the backup for the Michigan State Spartan football team that played in the 1966 Rose Bowl and started for the 1966 Spartans in the famous 10-10 tie with Notre Dame, a game often referred to as "The Game of the Century." He was the South's first black quarterback to win a national title on the 1966 Michigan State team out of segregated E.E. Smith High in Fayetteville, N.C. The first black quarterback to win a national title was Minnesota's Sandy Stephens in 1960. He was from Uniontown, Pa. Raye and College Football Hall of Famers Bubba Smith (Texas), George Webster (South Carolina) and Gene Washington (Texas) arrived at Michigan State from the segregated South as part of head coach Duffy Daugherty's Underground Railroad.

Coaching career

Raye previously coached the NY Jets following two seasons as the assistant head coach/offensive coordinator of the Oakland Raiders. He brings 29 years of NFL coaching experience, and previously spent two seasons with the Jets, adding the title of assistant head coach in 2003 after serving as senior offensive assistant in 2002. Raye has served as an NFL offensive coordinator for 11 seasons.

Raye was a standout quarterback for the Michigan State Spartans (1965–67) and led the Spartans to two Big Ten titles and the 1966 Rose Bowl. The Fayetteville, North Carolina native began his coaching career in 1971 at his alma mater, Michigan State, where he stayed for five years (1971–75). He served a brief stint at Wyoming in 1976 before moving to the NFL ranks, beginning with the San Francisco 49ers (1977), Detroit Lions (1977–79), Atlanta Falcons (1980–82, 1987–89), the L.A. Rams (1983–84, 1991), Tampa Bay (1985–86) and New England (1990).

He was hired by the San Francisco 49ers as the official Offensive Coordinator on January 29, 2009. After the 2009 season, he was praised for his ability to adapt the offense after key players were injured and continued as the 49ers' offensive coordinator to start the 2010 season. This was the first time that the 49ers had an offensive coordinator return to the team for consecutive seasons in seven years.

On September 27, 2010, he was fired by the 49ers and quarterbacks coach Mike Johnson was promoted to replace him.

On February 9, 2012, he returned to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, this time in the capacity of Senior Offensive Assistant

Personal

His son, Jimmy Raye III, is currently VP of Football Operations for the Indianapolis Colts.

References

Sporting positions
Preceded by Boyd Dowler	Tampa Bay Buccaneers Offensive Coordinator 1985–1986	Succeeded by Marc Trestman
Preceded by Paul Hackett	Kansas City Chiefs Offensive Coordinator 1998–2000	Succeeded by Al Saunders
Preceded by Marc Trestman	Oakland Raiders Offensive Coordinator 2004–2005	Succeeded by Tom Walsh
Preceded by Mike Martz	San Francisco 49ers Offensive Coordinator 2009–2010	Succeeded by Mike Johnson