Houston Oilers

As head coach of the Oilers from 1985 to 1989, Glanville was famous for often leaving tickets at will-call for Elvis Presley (who by that point had been dead for over a decade), wearing all black to be easily recognized by his players, and driving replicas of vehicles driven by actor James Dean. Glanville's Oilers were an aggressive, hard-hitting team (to the point of resorting to cheap shots in the eyes of their opponents). During his tenure, the Astrodome was nicknamed "The House of Pain" due to both the Oilers' hard-hitting style and the often painfully high decibel levels which were typical of Oilers home games. Glanville often feuded with the head coaches of Houston's AFC Central rivals, Sam Wyche of the Cincinnati Bengals and Marty Schottenheimer of the Cleveland Browns. He received a highly publicized post-game dressing down from Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Chuck Noll during the customary postgame handshake after the Oilers defeated the Steelers in the Houston Astrodome during the 1987 season.

Glanville turned the Oilers, a team that had struggled through most of the 1980s, into an aggressive, hard-hitting group that preached a "hit the beach" mentality, and he made players such as future Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon into household names (incidentally, Glanville and Moon didn't get along, as evidenced by Glanville's constant reference to Moon as "our quarterback" in his book Elvis Don't Like Football: The Life and Raucous Times of the NFL's Most Outspoken Coach when discussing his tenure as Oilers' coach.^[2]) During Glanville's tenure, the Oilers made three playoff appearances (which happened to be during his last three seasons), twice playing in the AFC divisional round. His final game with the Oilers was the 1989 AFC wild card game, played on December 31, 1989. Glanville's 1989 squad finished its season with consecutive losses against the Bengals in Cincinnati (61–7), at home against the Cleveland Browns in the final seconds in a game that decided the AFC Central title (24–20), and at home in the playoffs against the Steelers (26–23 in overtime). Had the Oilers defeated Pittsburgh, Glanville would have spent January 6, 1990, preparing the team to play at Denver and, possibly, play for its first AFC Championship Game berth in a decade. Instead, Glanville was fired that day.^[3] To replace him, Oilers owner K. S. "Bud" Adams hired University of Houston head coach and former Redskins and Bears head coach Jack Pardee.^[4]

Atlanta Falcons

Roughly one week after his firing by the Oilers, Glanville was hired to become the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons (1990–1993).^[5] He had been a defensive coordinator for the Falcons, best known for developing the famous "Gritz Blitz" defense that featured rushing multiple players on the defensive side of the football against opposing offenses. The brash Glanville, as well as fan favorites such as cornerback/return specialist Deion Sanders, generated a great deal of excitement in Atlanta. A perfect preseason in 1990 raised expectations prior to the first game of the season, against Glanville's former team, the Oilers. The host Falcons withstood a furious rally and scored on a late pick-six by Sanders. Atlanta defeated the Oilers, 47–27.^[6]

Glanville claimed with Atlanta he inherited a "flat-tire," but would take the team to the playoffs in the 1991 season, ending a nine-year playoff drought. Season highlights included a season sweep of the division rival 49ers, which cost San Francisco a playoff spot despite both teams finishing 10–6; and the Falcons' first playoff victory since 1978 and only the second playoff win in the franchise's 26-year history. The season ended with a loss to the eventual Super Bowl champion Washington Redskins in the divisional round. During his time with the Falcons, the team would pitch a "Back in Black" motto with new all-black uniforms and the same aggressive type play on defense, an offensive system known as the "Red Gun" that would implement most of the principles associated with the Run-N-Shoot offense, and an emphasis on special teams as he had done in Houston. The Falcons featured talented players such as future Hall of Fame CB "Prime Time" Deion Sanders and were known for unorthodox antics. Expectations were high after the success of the 1991 season and after the Falcons vacated Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium for the Georgia Dome, but the team's consecutive 6–10 records for 1992 and 1993 led the Falcons to dismiss Glanville in early 1994. He was out of football until he became the University of Hawaii's defensive coordinator over a decade later. His career record as an NFL head coach is 63–73.

Glanville vehemently opposed Falcons general manager Ken Herock's selection of Brett Favre in the second round of the 1991 NFL Draft, citing Favre's personal issues with alcohol and his party lifestyle. He said it would take a plane crash for him to put Favre into a game. Glanville also was known to place $100 bets before games (with Favre and others) on whether Favre could throw a football into the third deck of stadiums or not. Favre only threw four passes during his one season with Atlanta, then was traded to the Green Bay Packers in the 1992 off-season for a first-round draft pick. Glanville claimed the trade was a wake-up call for Favre, who was known for even being late to the team picture during his rookie season with the Falcons.^[7] Favre went on to play 19 seasons in the NFL, starting every game from September 20, 1992 to December 5, 2010 and becoming the first NFL player to win three AP MVP awards, as well as the first player to throw for 70,000 passing yards and 500 touchdowns. He would also appear in two Super Bowls, winning Super Bowl XXXI.

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