Ron Meyer Ron Meyer ( born February 17 , 1941 ) is a former college and professional football coach . He is best known for being the head coach of Southern Methodist University , the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts . Biography . Meyer ' s head coaching career began at UNLV , where he coached from 1973 through 1975 . In 1974 , he had an undefeated season at UNLV at 11 – 0 ; leading the Rebels to the NCAA Division II playoffs . In 1976 , Meyer was the head coach of Southern Methodist University where he coached until 1981 . This tenure included winning the Southwest Conference championship in 1981 with running backs Eric Dickerson and Craig James . While at SMU , Meyer was the losing coach in the famous " Miracle Bowl " in the 1980 Holiday Bowl , where SMU held a 45 – 25 lead against BYU with less than four minutes to play in the fourth quarter , only to lose 46 – 45 thanks to three touchdown passes from Jim McMahon . Meyer moved to the pros in 1982 , where he would coach the New England Patriots for 3 seasons . He was named the AFC Coach of the Year in his first season where he led the New England Patriots to the playoffs in the strike - shortened 1982 NFL season after the team had finished with the league ' s worst record the prior season . He is perhaps best remembered by New England fans for coaching during the infamous Snowplow Game against the Miami Dolphins on December 12 , 1982 . Under heavy snow at Foxboro Stadium with 4 : 45 remaining in the game , the Patriots lined up for a go - ahead field goal . Meyer called for a stadium worker named Mark Henderson ( who was on a prison work release ) to drive his snowplow on the field in order to clear an area for holder Matt Cavanaugh to spot the ball and to give kicker John Smith better footing . The Patriots went on to win the game , 3 – 0 , on their way to their first playoff appearance since the 1979 season . In 1984 , Meyer was fired in midseason despite having a 5 – 3 record and was replaced by Raymond Berry . The move was prompted by team - wide alienation of players on Meyer ' s part , to where Patriots GM Patrick Sullivan was forced to hold player - only meetings . Meyer responded by firing assistant coach Rod Rust , though he did not have authority to do so . He was fired soon after . Rust was rehired by Berry , and the Patriots reached Super Bowl XX in 1985 and won the AFC East Division Title in 1986 . Rust became head coach upon Berry ' s resignation after the 1989 season , but was fired after a disastrous 1 – 15 campaign in 1990 . Meyer spent over a year out of coaching after being dismissed by the Patriots . Late in the 1986 season , he was hired to coach the Indianapolis Colts , who were 0 – 13 at the time . Meyer promptly lead the Colts to 3 straight victories to finish 3 – 13 . A year later , he won the AFC East Division title with the Colts where he once again won the AFC Coach of the Year . Meyer was helped in large part by being reunited with his former college standout , Eric Dickerson , who was acquired by the Colts in a three - team , 10 - player trade involving the Los Angeles Rams and Buffalo Bills . The Colts did not return to the playoffs under Meyer , slipping by one game in each of the next three seasons , from 9 - 7 in 1988 , to 8 – 8 in 1989 and 7 – 9 in 1990 , despite the selection of quarterback Jeff George with the first overall pick in the 1990 draft . He was widely criticized in trading up in the draft to obtain George , which included sending star players , receiver Andre Rison , lineman Chris Hinton , and the Colts ' first round pick in 1991 to the Atlanta Falcons . George ' s short - lived stint in Indianapolis did not make matters better . In 1991 , when the Colts started off 0 – 5 , he was let go . The year after his dismissal from Indianapolis , Meyer became an analyst for CNN ' s Pro Football show . He would remain in that role for 2 seasons . In 1994 , Meyer returned to coaching again . This time Meyer became the head coach of the Canadian Football League ' s Las Vegas Posse franchise . The Posse finished the season 5 – 13 . In addition to the poor record , the team suffered from poor attendance and eventually folded . Meyer would return to his role at CNN the following season . In 2001 , Meyer would return to coaching yet again , this time as part of the XFL ' s Chicago Enforcers franchise . The team would finish 5 – 5 and would lose to the eventual champion , the Los Angeles Xtreme . After the season , the XFL folded . He is currently an NFL analyst for the show " The Score on the NFL " on the Canadian sports channel The Score .