Former Raiders assistant coach Jim Fassel, who brought the New York Giants to the Super Bowl and John Elway to Stanford, has died. He was 71.
Fassel’s death was confirmed to the Los Angeles Times Monday night by his son, John, a Dallas Cowboys assistant coach who also spent time coaching the Raiders.
Jim Fassel was taken to a hospital near his Las Vegas home after experiencing chest pains, and died of a heart attack while under sedation, his son told the Times.
Fassel was hired as the Raiders quarterbacks coach when they returned to Oakland in 1995. Two years later, Fassel was hired as the Giants head coach and was the NFL’s coach of the Year in 1997. He led New York to a 58-53-1 record and three playoff berths from 1997-2003, including a Super Bowl appearance in 2001. Fassel’s Giants lost Super Bowl XXXV to the Ravens in 2001.
Hall of Fame defensive lineman Michael Strahan said he was stunned by his former coach’s death.
“Big part of my life. Just a great man, great coach, and he will be missed,” Strahan said on “Good Morning America” “But I was definitely shocked this morning to find out this news. And I just want to send my love and condolences to his family. A great man. I enjoyed every minute with him as my coach and after my career when we used to continue to stay in touch and talk.”
One of Fassel’s biggest coups as a coach came immediately after he was hired as a Stanford assistant in 1979 — he convinced a rocket-armed Granada Hills High quarterback to join him there. With Fassel as his offensive coordinator under head coaches Rod Dowhower and Paul Wiggins, John Elway turned into the nation’s top quarterback during his four years at Stanford.
Years later, Fassel was Elway’s presenter when he was inducted into Stanford’s Hall of Fame.
Fassel coached Elway again as the Broncos offensive coordinator from 1993-94, when the Hall of Famer put up career numbers. In 1993, Elway had career-high marks of 4,030 passing yards and a 63.2 completion percentage. He also had career-low interception totals of 10 in both seasons.
Fassel’s 16-year NFL coaching career included nine years spent as an assistant with the Raiders, Giants, Broncos, Cardinals and Ravens. He last coached from 2009-12 for the Las Vegas Locomotives of the United Football League, where he served as the team’s president and general manager and guided them to two league championships.