Dick Nolan

Dick Nolan
Position(s): Safety	Jersey #: N/A
Date of birth: March 26 1932 (1932--) (age 75)
Place of birth: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Career information
NFL Draft: 1954 / Round: 4 / Pick 41
College: Maryland
Teams
1954-1956,1958-1961 1957 1962	New York Giants Chicago Cardinals Dallas Cowboys
Stats at DatabaseFootball.com

Richard Charles Nolan (born March 26, 1932 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is the father of Mike Nolan and a former head coach of the San Francisco 49ers in the 1960s and 1970s.

In his youth, he was quarterback at White Plains High School and later a standout at the University of Maryland. In the NFL, he played for a total of nine seasons (1954-62) in the defensive halfback, safety, and defensive back positions. He was drafted in the 1954 NFL Draft to the New York Giants in the team's fourth-round pick, the 41st overall. He later went on to play for the Chicago Cardinals (now known as the Arizona Cardinals) and the Dallas Cowboys as well. He retired from playing after the 1962 football season.

For six seasons, he was an assistant to Coach Tom Landry in Dallas, and afterwards, he was head coach of the 49ers for eight seasons from 1968 through 1975, noted for developing the defense and taking the team to three straight first-place division finishes (1970-72), twice missing the Super Bowl by only one game (1970-71). Additionally, he was head coach for the New Orleans Saints from 1978-80 going 15-29-0. He was the first Saints head coach to win 6, 7, and 8 games in a single season. Going 7-9-0 in 1978, 8-8-0 in 1979, 0-12-0 in 1980, fired after week 12.

In 2005, his son, Mike, was signed with the 49ers to be head coach, following in his father's footsteps.

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