John Harvey McKay (July 5, 1923 – June 10, 2001) was an American football coach. He was the head coach at the University of Southern California (USC) from 1960 to 1975 and of the National Football League's Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1976 to 1984. In sixteen seasons at USC, McKay compiled a record of and won nine AAWU/Pac-8 conference titles. His teams made eight appearances in the Rose Bowl, with five wins. Four of his squads captured national titles (1962, 1967, 1972, 1974).
Following a disappointing 1975 season, McKay moved to the NFL as the first head coach of the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In 1976 and 1977, Tampa Bay lost the first 26 games but improved by the end of the 1970s. The Bucs made the playoffs three times under McKay, including an appearance in the NFC Championship Game in 1979. McKay was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1988. On January 1, 2014, McKay was named the All-Century Coach of the Rose Bowl Game during the celebration of the 100th Rose Bowl Game; his son represented him in the 2014 Rose Parade.
Early life, military service, and playing career
McKay was born in West Virginia in the now-defunct town of Everettville in Monongalia County, where he was raised as a Roman Catholic. He was the third of five children born to Scots-Irish parents John and Gertrude McKay. His father was a coal mine superintendent who died when John was 13 years old. He grew up in Shinnston, and graduated from Shinnston High School in 1941. Offered a football scholarship to Wake Forest, McKay was on campus enrolling when his widowed mother became ill. He returned home to West Virginia and worked as an electrician's assistant in a coal mine for a year, then enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force in 1942. McKay served as a tailgunner aboard B-29s and saw action in the Pacific Theatre during World War II.
Oregon
After the war, he entered college at Purdue University in 1946 at the age of 23, then transferred to the University of Oregon in 1947. He played football at both schools. At Purdue, he was a halfback, alongside Bob DeMoss and Ed Cody. He split time with Ed Ehlers. His head coach was former NFL Champion Quarterback Cecil Isbell. At Oregon, he was a halfback for the Ducks, alongside quarterback Norm Van Brocklin. The Ducks went 9–1 in the regular season in 1948, and were 7–0 in the Pacific Coast, co-champions with California. Because the two teams did not meet during the season, the bid to the Rose Bowl was decided by the university presidents, which went to Cal on a split vote that was not disclosed. Breaking with tradition, the PCC allowed the co-champions to also play in a bowl game. The Ducks accepted an invitation to the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, but were defeated 21–13 by hometown SMU.
Van Brocklin graduated and was selected in the 1949 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Rams; McKay took over the Duck offense in 1949 and called the audibles from his two-point stance as a running back. Without the future hall of famer, the Ducks slipped to 4–6 (2–5 in the PCC). Without McKay on the field in 1950, Oregon was 1–9 and winless in conference, including shutouts by UCLA and lowly Idaho. The Ducks scored only 97 points all season and were kept under ten points in half of their games.
Coaching career
Assistant coach
After graduation from Oregon in 1950, McKay decided to become a coach. He was an assistant for the Ducks for nine seasons, one under Jim Aiken and eight with Len Casanova, who arrived from the University of Pittsburgh in 1951. Improving through the 1950s, the Ducks tied for the conference title in 1957 and played in the 1958 Rose Bowl. Following the 1958 season, McKay moved south to USC as an assistant under third-year head coach Don Clark. A notable member of the USC staff at this time was Al Davis, the offensive line coach. The Trojans were coming off two losing seasons, 1–9 in 1957 and 4–5–1 in 1958. They won their first eight games in 1959 but lost to rivals UCLA and Notre Dame to conclude the season. After failing to defeat either of the two rivals in three years, Clark resigned. McKay was hired as the Trojans' head coach for the 1960 season.