Jim Owens

For the baseball player, see Jim Owens (baseball). For the former CEO, see James W. Owens.

Jim Owens

Owens from 1960 UW yearbook
Sport(s)	Football
Biographical details
Born	(1927-03-06)March 6, 1927 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Died	Bigfork, Montana
Playing career
1946–1949	Oklahoma
1950	Baltimore Colts
Position(s)	End
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1951–1953	Kentucky (assistant)
1954–1956	Texas A&M (assistant)
1957–1974	Washington
Head coaching record
Overall	99–82–6
Bowls	2–1
Statistics College Football Data Warehouse
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
3 AAWU (1959, 1960, 1963)
College Football Hall of Fame Inducted in 1982 (profile)

James Donald "Jim" Owens (March 6, 1927 – June 6, 2009) was an American football player and coach. He was the head coach at the University of Washington from 1957 to 1974, compiling a record of 99–82–6 (.545) in 18 seasons.

Owens played college football at the University of Oklahoma from 1946 to 1949, under head coach Bud Wilkinson. He played a year of pro football in 1950 and then was a college assistant coach for six years under the legendary Bear Bryant at the University of Kentucky and Texas A&M University. According to legend, after the 1956 season, when the Washington Huskies were looking for a head coach, Bryant indicated to reporters that Owens "will make a great coach for somebody some day."

In 1959 and 1960, he led Washington to back-to-back ten-win seasons and consecutive Rose Bowl wins. He also coached the Huskies to the 1964 Rose Bowl. Owens concurrently served as the athletic director at Washington from 1960 to 1969. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1982.

Owens resigned as head coach of the Huskies following the 1974 season at the end of his last contract, a three-year deal at $33,000 per year. He was succeeded by Don James, who would also coach the Huskies for 18 seasons.

Head coaching record

Year	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Bowl/playoffs	Coaches#	AP°
Washington Huskies (PCC/AAWU/Pac-8) (1957–1974)
1957	Washington	3–6–1	3–4	7th
1958	Washington	3–7	1–6	8th
1959	Washington	10–1	6–1	T–1st	W Rose	7	8
1960	Washington	10–1	7–0	1st	W Rose	5	6
1961	Washington	5–4–1	2–1–1	T–2nd
1962	Washington	7–1–2	4–1	2nd		14
1963	Washington	6–5	4–1	1st	L Rose	15
1964	Washington	6–4	5–2	3rd
1965	Washington	5–5	4–3	4th
1966	Washington	6–4	4–3	4th
1967	Washington	5–5	3–4	T–3rd
1968	Washington	3–5–2	1–5–1	8th
1969	Washington	1–9	1–7	7th
1970	Washington	6–4	4–3	T–2nd
1971	Washington	8–3	4–3	T–3rd			19
1972	Washington	8–3	4–3	T–3rd
1973	Washington	2–9	0–7	8th
1974	Washington	5–6	3–4	T–5th
Washington:		99–82–6	60–58–2
Total:		99–82–6
National championship         Conference title         Conference division title
#Rankings from final Coaches Poll. °Rankings from final AP Poll.

External links

• Jim Owens at the College Football Hall of Fame
• Jim Owens at the College Football Data Warehouse
• Jim Owens at Pro-Football-Reference.com