Ray Perkins Walter Ray Perkins ( born December 6 , 1941 ) is an American football coach and former player . He most recently was the head football coach at Jones County Junior College in Ellisville , Mississippi from 2011 to 2013 . He played as a wide receiver for the University of Alabama and Baltimore Colts . He later worked as a football coach for 28 years , including stints as the head coach for the New York Giants , The University of Alabama , Tampa Bay Buccaneers , and Arkansas State University . Early life and playing career . Perkins was born in Petal , Mississippi . He attended The University of Alabama , playing football 1964 – 1966 . He played for the legendary coach Bear Bryant and was a teammate of Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Namath . The Crimson Tide won national championships in both 1964 and 1965 , and Southeastern Conference championships in 1964 , 1965 , and 1966 . During his senior year , he was named team captain . He was also selected as an All - American in 1966 . He played for the National Football League ' s Baltimore Colts as a wide receiver from 1967 – 1971 , under coach Don Shula . Perkins caught a 68 - yard touchdown pass from Johnny Unitas in the 1970 AFC Championship Game to lead the Colts to a 27 – 17 victory over the Oakland Raiders and a berth in Super Bowl V . Coaching career . He coached in the NFL as an assistant for the New England Patriots ( 1974 – 1977 ) and San Diego Chargers ( 1978 ) before becoming head coach of the New York Giants from 1979 – 1982 , helping to build the team that his successor , Bill Parcells , won two Super Bowls in 1986 and 1990 . Perkins hired future NFL head coaches Parcells , Bill Belichick and Romeo Crennel as young assistants . Perkins accepted the immeasurable task of succeeding Bear Bryant as the head coach at his alma mater , the University of Alabama , when Bryant retired . He coached the Crimson Tide for four years from 1983 – 1986 , compiling a record of 32 – 15 – 1 and winning three bowl game s , but went 5 - 6 in 1984 , the school ' s first losing season since 1957 , the year before Bryant ' s tenure began . He held the distinction of being the only head coach to lead Alabama to a victory over the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame for nearly thirty years . There was controversy from unsatisfied boosters and alumni at Alabama , and a lucrative contract offer from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers led Perkins to leave Alabama for a second chance in the NFL after the 1986 Alabama season . Perkins served as head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1987 to 1990 . Some of his former college players got a chance to play for him in the NFL : QB Mike Shula , Kurt Jarvis , and linebacker Keith McCants . His career coaching record in the NFL was 42 – 75 . He was fired mid - way through the 1990 season , and replaced by Richard Williamson . Williamson , like Perkins , was an Alabama alumnus . Perkins returned to college coaching at Arkansas State University in 1992 . After just one year , Perkins became the offensive coordinator of the New England Patriots , serving under Bill Parcells from 1993 – 1996 . He also spent 1997 with the Oakland Raiders as an offensive coordinator . On December 20 , 2011 , he was introduced as the new head football coach at Jones County Junior College ( JCJC ) in Ellisville , Mississippi . Perkins resigned from JCJC on December 24 , 2013 . He currently resides in Hattiesburg , Mississippi . Controversy . In 1992 , former Alabama player Gene Jelks , who had been recruited by Perkins , publicly accused Alabama coaches and boosters of providing him with illegal cash payments and other inducements during his recruitment and years at Alabama ( Jelks played from 1985 – 1989 ) . Jelks ' s charges resulted in an National Collegiate Athletic Association ( NCAA ) investigation of the Alabama football program . Perkins ' s former assistant coach Jerry Pullen sued Jelks for slander , but he lost that case and two subsequent appeals , including an appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court . Trivia . Ray Perkins ' s teammate on the 1970 Colts team was Bill Curry , who played center . Curry would replace Perkins as the head coach at Alabama . Perkins coached Mike Shula at Alabama , and also for one season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers . Shula was later hired as an assistant coach of the Buccaneers ( 1996 – 1999 ) . Shula became a successor of Perkins ' s at Alabama as the head football coach there in 2003 – 2006 . Perkins was the first offensive coordinator for Don Coryell during Coryell ' s tenure with the San Diego Chargers . His replacement was Joe Gibbs . Coaching tree . Perkins has worked under six head coaches :