1978 Profile: John McVay

Head Coach

"Do you know this man? At his own roast prior to last season, the audience paid more attention to Frank Perdue (the tough man who makes tender chicken) and Willis Reed. He has a delightful disposition, which is needed when rolling up your sleeves to take a calm, collected dive into the league's most stagnant and dangerous waters (i.e. the Giants' situation).

'Anybody who's coaching football is on the spot,' McVay says happily. 'That's part of the excitement of the game.'

Born In Bellaire, Ohio, McVay played his college ball at Miami of Ohio, alongside future coaches Bo Schembechler, Bill Arnsparger, Johnny Pont and Clive Rush. He coached at the University of Dayton and Memphis of the World Football League before the Giants hired him, originally as a pseudo-scout, then elevated him to head coach when they fired Arnsparger midway through 1976."

-John Jeansonne, The Complete Handbook of Pro Football (1978 Edition)

"We feel our defense has made good progress the past two seasons. Our immediate priority is to get similar progress from our offensive unit."

John McVay, from News, Quotes & Comments (Football Digest, October 1978)

"Every guy in that locker room got a locker in there that someone else had before him. It's the nature of the business. It's cruel but true. The locker belongs to a guy and then he's gone because someone else came along just as he came along  a few years before."

-John McVay, from Notes, Quotes & Comments, Football Digest (December 1978)

"The games are over-officiated in this league and I don't know why. There were never the incessant penalties in college like there are in this league. When I went to a college game, I never thought about the officials. But in this league the players, the coaches, the fans, the writers, everybody thinks about the officials. One of the first things we do is look what officiating crew is assigned to us. The officials are on everybody's mind and it shouldn't be that way."

-John McVay, from Notes, Quotes and Comments, Football Digest (January 1979)