Topic: John McKay

John Harvey McKay (July 5, 1923 – June 10, 2001) was an American football player and coach. He was served as the head coach at the University of Southern California from 1960 to 1975 and of the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1976 to 1984. In 16 seasons with the USC Trojans, McKay compiled a record of 127–40–8 and won nine AAWU/Pacific-8 Conference titles. His teams made eight appearances in the Rose Bowl, winning five times. Four of his squads captured national titles (1962, 1967, 1972, 1974).

McKay moved to the NFL in 1976 to become the first head coach of the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In 1976 and 1977, Tampa Bay lost the first 26 games they played. McKay's team improved by the end of the 1970s, making the playoffs three times 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.

McKay was born in the now-defunct town of Everettville in Monongalia County, West Virginia. He was the third of five children born to Scots-Irish parents John and Gertrude McKay. John was the son of a coal mine superintendent who died when John was only 13 years old. He grew up in Shinnston, West Virginia, and after graduating from Shinnston High School in 1941, he was offered a football scholarship by Wake Forest. He was there enrolling when his mother became ill. He returned home and worked as a coal mine electrician's assistant for a year before he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force, in 1942. McKay served as a tailgunner aboard B-29's and saw action in the Pacific Theatre during World War II. After the war he entered college at the age of 23, and attended Purdue University but then transferred to University of Oregon in 1947. He played football at both schools. At Oregon, he was a running back behind quarterback Norm Van Brocklin. When Van Brocklin graduated, McKay took over running the offense and called the audibles from his two-point stance as a running back.