The STUPIDEST Contract Extension in Atlanta Falcons HISTORY | 1976 Falcons | Marion Campbell

In August of the 1976 NFL season, Atlanta Falcons owner Rankin Smith decided to give head coach Marion Campbell a contract extension, even though Campbell had only won 25% of his games as the head coach of the team. Not even two months later, the Atlanta Falcons fired Marion Campbell. This is the story of the 1976 Falcons and what might just be the stupidest contract extension, especially for a head coach, in the history of the Atlanta Falcons
#nfl #falcons #nflthrowback #football #dorktown
Atlanta Falcons Dorktown
Atlanta Falcons Secret Base
Atlanta Falcons Jon Bois
Atlanta Falcons Dorktown Part 1
Atlanta Falcons Dorktown Part 2
Atlanta Falcons Dorktown Part 3
Atlanta Falcons Dorktown Part 4
Atlanta Falcons Dorktown Part 5
Atlanta Falcons Dorktown Part 6
Atlanta Falcons Dorktown Part 7
History of the Atlanta Falcons
History of the Falcons
Members of the 1976 Falcons:
John James
Steve Bartkowski
Kim McQuilken
Nick Mike-Mayer
Scott Hunter
Rolland Lawrence
Haskel Stanback
Mike Esposito
Frank Reed
Ron Mabra
Ray Easterling
Ray Brown
Rick Byas
Billy Pritchett
Bob Jones
Sonny Collins
John Gilliam
Dave Hampton
Bubba Bean
Brad Davis
Woody Thompson
Greg Brezina
Jim Cope
Dewey McClain
Paul Ryczek
Fulton Kuykendall
Ralph Ortega
Guy Roberts
Jeff Van Note
Jim Weatherly
Tommy Nobis
Brent Adams
Greg Kindle
Royce Smith
Len Gotshalk
Larron Jackson
Mike Lewis
Dave Scott
Wally Pesuit
Greg Marderian
Steve George
Jim Bailey
Phil McKinnely
Mike Tilleman
Jeff Merrow
Ron East
Bill Wundauer
Jeff Yeates
Karl Farmer
Bob Adams
Scott Piper
Alfred Jenkins
Jim Mitchell
Claude Humphrey
Wallace Francis
Rankin Smith (owner)
Marion Campbell (head coach)
Patt Peppler (head coach)

[@Kid-Pink_88.]

Campbell extension = Bill O'Brien getting promoted to GM.

[@markbrian7179]

And then the Falcons hired Him as head coach AGAIN in 1987, where He was just as successful as his 70's stint.

[@classicsports5057]

The coach that replaced him the next year was the defensive coordinator of the Grits Blitz.

[@chriswoodsports]

Jerry Glanville

[@chriswoodsports]

Jerry Glanville

[@tohaz]

What's funny as HELL is that in 1987... they finished with 3 wins. They beat the Redskins--coached by Joe Gibbs and won the Super Bowl that yard... and the cowboys, coached by Tom Landry. Two of his 3 wins came against 2 Hall of Famers!

[@Rusty3659]

@@classicsports5057 Which was yet another horrid choice! All the idiot was to proceed to ruin Steve Bartkowski and a really good Falcons. Not content with 100% destroying Atlanta, he was then hired by Houston and proceeded to absolutely decimate Warren Moon and the Houston Oilers as well.

[@davester1970]

Marion Campbell: One of history's worst coaches ever not only was hired and fired by the Falcons once, but twice. Not to mention that he was employed by the Eagles after Dick Vermeil left. The man must have had blackmail information against Rankin Smith.

[@jewsco]

this channel deserves sooo many more subs

[@richardadams4928]

I remember vividly how awful Campbell was as HC for the Falcons, then continued that pattern with the Eagles, and how utterly SHOCKED I was when the Falcons made him HC AGAIN. Absolutely inexplicable.

[@mhlaw229]

I'm a Falcons fan since I was a kid. I like how most of your Falcons vids show how incompetent the ownership was under the Smith family

[@fishflake1209]

A pre-emptive “hello” to everyone who will be discovering this channel once Secret Base’s Falcons series launches. The algorithm works!

[@coryshannon3815]

With all of the crazy stories JG9 has done about the Falcons, I get why SB Nation has a video set about them coming up. They're a fascinating mess.😂

[@HeathNation2465]

SB Nation is boring and overrated though? Unlike this guy of course 😉

[@coryshannon3815]

@@HeathNation2465 with SB Nation, it depends on the video. Rewinders and the stuff made by Jon Bois are great. Luckily, the Falcons SB stuff will be produced by Bois.

[@Gutbomber]

Haha and the video after is more Falcons drama .

[@HeathNation2465]

@@coryshannon3815 I'll take your word for that. Everything else is just...meh.

[@johnmanier7968]

Rankin Smith was still the owner when Campbell was rehired as Atlanta head coach in 1987. He gave way to his son in 1990, after Campbell was fired again.

[@derekcabanaw1789]

Marion Campbell is essentially Wade Philips, only that he had a worse record. Both great defensive coordinators, apparently they were not capable enough when it comes to running the entire show.

[@chevleclair493]

Recommend for you, JG9. The Cowboy Chicken Club, and the 1940 NFL Championship.

[@jeffpearljam1976]

Get blown out by The Saints, get fired that Monday. Atlanta tradition

[@alanpeel1981]

5:20 - The obligatory "which is worse than if he did nothing but spike the ball into the ground on every single play" comment. It's required in every video.

[@hiramlewis3873]

I love when you you say Spiked the ball into the ground on every single play!!

[@JoeBobTarheel]

JG9 has a few videos on the 1976 Falcons!

[@charliewartelle6720]

The spike the ball into the ground on every play comment gets old.

[@stantonthezag1109]

I was born and grew up in Atlanta and my curse has been that the Falcons are my team. While there have certainly been some mind boggling lows (mixed in with some gratifying highs) for Falcons fans during the 20 years of Arthur Blank’s ownership, the franchise was straight-up dysfunctional during the Smith family’s reign from the beginning. This story-and the fact that Marion Campbell was hired as HC *again* in the ‘80s (also a debacle, of course)-was pretty much par for the course during the Smith years, which is why JG9 keeps making Falcons videos.

[@johnholtz4056]

“When he gets an extension without doing anything, it looks stupid.” Me, as a Nebraska fan looking at Scott Frost

[@alec1115]

I am noticing a bunch of 70s Falcons thanks to the dorktown documentary.

[@nasetvideos]

That was a mind blowing contract extension that never made sense from the start. Will never understand that one. Great context laying this one out

[@BlackFlagsMatter]

Sounds like when the Rams gave Jeff Fisher an extension in 2016 but it was never made public until his firing.

[@patbrooks9823]

Campbell was a good defensive coordinator. One of the worst HCs though. One of the all time worst winning percentages. NO winning seasons in 3 different head coaching tenures.

[@davefairburn3298]

Rankin Smith wasn't the smartest owner around in ANY league.

[@tygrkhat4087]

"It runs in the family." That was mean. Accurate, but mean.

[@chrisrifkin3670]

Let's see.. Falcons 70s Marion Campbell You have to know there would be a point where a qb played so bad that he would have been better off spiking the ball into the ground on every play God Bless you 1970s Falcons...every time I think back to my childhood and think about my Giants ineptitude this team and the Saints make me feel better about my team

[@jayblake682]

Rankin Smith was undoubtedly one of the worst owners ever. He is the father of Falconing it up.

[@catholic200747]

You're absolutely right. Rankin Smith Sr. made a lot of decisions that made no sense whatsoever. Those were the days when you went to a Falcons game to see the other team. When I see what the Detroit Lions are going through, what the Cleveland Browns appear to be coming out of, I can't help but to feel a little sad for their fans, given we went through this from the Mid 60's to the late 90's. I feel their pain.

[@LordTeaboBaggins]

Kim McQuilken is the GOAT. Send that man to Canton now!

[@brandoncole5939]

JG9 is my go to channel for Old school NFL. You do a great job researching and presenting topics that aren't covered a lot. Keep it up. You'll have 50k subs before you know it.

[@scottconner7930]

45 Years Ago

[@Pineemonkeys2ndchannel]

RG William Andrews WR Alfred Jenkins Big TE Jim Mitchell WB Bartkowski RB Art Malone had bow legged brother Benny Malone that’s about it

[@chadwickwhite6107]

The Atlanta Falcons would be SO MUCH BETTER OFF SPIKING the football into the ground on EVERY single OFFENSIVE play!!!!

[@bubbafug00gle51]

The dude in the front at 3:37 looks like a character from some terrible sci-fi flick.

[@RebelTXWrestling]

Rams did the same thing with Jeff Fisher. Gave him an extension then fired him after the regular season

[@chevleclair493]

Marion Campbell, drafter of Randall Cunningham, makes Buddy Ryan look like a genius, and reversed everything Dick Vermeil did. All Cowboys fans love him.

[@joeylawn36111]

The problem back then for the Falcons was obviously the ownership. Arthur Blank is light years better.

[@patbrooks9823]

Not any more. Since the SB meltdown, Blank has melted down.

[@brianbuster9875]

Another Falcons video thanks

[@hrtvfan2870]

Remember several years ago when NFL Network had an episode of NFL Top 10 devoted to college coaches that didn't work out in the pros? If they ever did a follow-up on coordinators who never should have been promoted to the top job, Marion Campbell would have to be #1 on that list...with multiple examples (his stints in Atlanta and with the Eagles)

[@denisceballos9745]

At 9:57 you can see the play where Steve Bartkowski (10) is injured and lost for the remainder of that season. He grabs his knee which got torn on that sack in the New Orleans game. You also see him walking off the field in an earlier game with his arm in a sling. It was tough sledding for QBs in that era!

[@1USACitizen192]

Norm Vanbrocklin should be hall fame.

[@LordHeadley87]

The date for the Sunday Night Week 1 Trivia is wrong. It should be September 12th, NOT September 13th. September 13th is on a MONDAY.

[@c71score]

Not that I'm complaining, but hasn't there been about two thousand eight hundred and three Falcons videos lately?

[@daleburrer1546]

Marion Campbell, definitely not a Hall of Fame HC for sure as he never finished with a winning record

[@williefaulker]

Didn't the rams do this with Jeff fisher ?

[@Fireyninjadog]

The falcons were stupid enough to hire him in the late 80s

[@EssexAggiegrad2011]

Can't help but think of Urinatingtree's video on the Falcons

[@NWOWCW4Life1]

These videos and UTree’s really emphasize the Falcon’s legacy of nonsensical failure. It’s just..no words

[@EssexAggiegrad2011]

@@NWOWCW4Life1 Yup

[@CTubeMan]

Since you’ve made a lot of videos recently about the Falcons of that era and linked to two of them, this unofficial Official Jaguar Gator 9 historian will not remind everyone of others. However, he will point out that you made a video about the one time Colts Owner Robert Irsay gave Kicker Toni Linhart a bonus after a 3-point loss to Cleveland in which Linhart missed three field goals. Irsay then released Linhart later that week.

[@frankie3987]

Jeff Fisher got a contract extension with the L.A Rams the year he got fired in 2016.

[@Junior_Rocky]

Yes, that would deserve a video as well.

[@coryshannon3815]

When did Jeff Fisher tell the players he was fired? Between 7 & 9...

[@tygrkhat4087]

@@coryshannon3815 Jeff Fisher has more wins, 173, than Bill Parcells, Tom Coughlin, Mike Shanahan and Mike Holmgren. However, he has 165 losses; tied for most with Dan Reeves, and 2 more than Tom Landry and 9 more than Don Shula.

[@bigbigjoel9710]

3:23 Owie!

[@hammerva]

Love these shows but man we need a break on the 73 to 76 Falcons. This has to be the 6th video on them. There has to be awful 76 to 77 Jets stories

[@okolo22000]

You seem to do a lot of Atlanta Falcons videos on this channel, I wonder how many teams you haven’t done videos on? Jaguars, Panthers, Ravens & Texans (2002) don’t count because they didn’t exist until 1995.

[@stantonthezag1109]

I think a big reason why he does so many Falcons videos is that they have a rich history of passer ratings lower than the rating from just spiking the ball on every play.

[@HeathNation2465]

What is this? "Take a massive dump all over the Falcons" month?

[@tohaz]

Yeah, I'm sure that owners and GMs are watching a KZbin channel for hiring advice. Especially from someone that is just ripping off other people's work.

[@maxpuppy96]

The Swamp Fox

[@d0nKsTaH]

It's not stupid, if.... the Falcons were being sneaky and taking out a clause or two in the original contract. I mean.. it could have been a rewrite of the contract *with* an extension that looked attractive for the coach to sign. Which means it was an all new contract based on the old (without some clauses that the Falcons didn't like). For example... if there was a clause in the original that paid Marion a lot of money in the event he got fired during the season... or too soon.. Then the Falcons would want that part gone... they get him to sign this "extension" and it wipes out the clause. I don't know for sure if this happened... but if it did... then Atlanta's owners were being sneaky.

[@karlcooper8460]

The fish always rots from the head on down I know that all to well being from Detroit.

[@karlcooper8460]

I remember him he was pretty sorry as (head coach).

[@karlcooper8460]

Another falcons vid you are a big falcons fan just go on and admit it.

[@tygrkhat4087]

I think JG9 was a Falcons fan until the Jaguars came about.

[@karlcooper8460]

@@tygrkhat4087 I about figured.

[@tookmyjob]

The Swamp Fox