No. 65, 76, 84 | |||
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Position: | Linebacker | ||
Personal information | |||
Born: | Clarkfield, Minnesota, U.S. | November 15, 1930||
Died: | April 4, 2020 Steamboat Springs, Colorado, U.S. | (aged 89)||
Height: | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||
Weight: | 214 lb (97 kg) | ||
Career information | |||
High school: | North Kitsap (WA) | ||
College: | Washington State | ||
NFL draft: | 1953 / round: 17 / pick: 204 | ||
Career history | |||
As a player: | |||
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As a coach: | |||
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Career highlights and awards | |||
Head coaching record | |||
Regular season: | 21–48 (.304) | ||
Record at Pro Football Reference | |||
Stats at Pro Football Reference |
Harland James Svare (November 25, 1930 – April 4, 2020)[2] was an American professional football player, coach and general manager. Svare was a linebacker who played eight seasons with the Los Angeles Rams and New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL) from 1953 to 1960. He was the Rams head coach from midway the 1962 season through 1965, and the San Diego Chargers head coach from 1971 through 1973. He was general manager of the Chargers from 1971 to 1976.[2]
During the halftime intermission of a November 1972 game, Chargers owner Eugene V. Klein awarded Svare a five-year coaching contract, an unpopular decision; however, Svare voluntarily stepped down from the position during the following season.[3]
Often, though, history's lesson is that Klein has moved too hastily, as he did in November 1972 when he awarded a new five-year coaching contract to Harland Svare at halftime of a game...That decision signaled the most raucous period the Chargers have experienced. Angry cries of "Five more years!" were heard in Mission Valley until Svare stepped down as coach a year later.