Professional Football Player, Coach, College Football Coach. He will be remembered for his unsuccessful tenure as head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles (1964 to 1968), which resulted in a massive campaign for his firing. Born Joseph Lawrence Kuharich, he attended James Whitcomb Riley High School in Indiana and played collegiate football at the University of Notre Dame. Selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates (later renamed the Steelers) during the 12th round of the 1938 NFL Draft, he served as an assistant coach at Notre Dame (1938) and at Vincentian Institute in New York (1939), before playing professionally with the Chicago Cardinals for three seasons (1940, 1941 and 1945) at the guard position. He distinguished himself when he achieved both Pro-Bowl and All-Pro honors in 1941. His career was interrupted while he served with the United States Navy during World War II (1942 To 1944). He totaled 27 career regular season games. After retiring as a player, he served as a line coach with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1946 and served as head coach at the University of San Francisco (1947 to 1951) and guided the Dons to a 9-0 regular season record in 1951. He served as head coach of the Chicago Cardinals (1952) and was an NFL scout in 1953, prior to serving as the head coach of the Washington Redskins (1954 to 1958). He received NFL Coach of the Year honors when he guided the Redskins to an 8-4 record in 1955. He returned to Notre Dame in 1959 and served as head coach until 1962 and failed to achieve an above .500 record for the Fighting Irish. In 1963, he served as supervisor of officials for the NFL. In 1964, he was hired as head coach and general manager of the Philadelphia Eagles and immediately was scorned by the Philadelphia fan base when he traded future Hall of Fame players Sonny Jurgensen and Tommy McDonald. What ensued was a revolving door of starting quarterbacks, which included Norm Snead, King Hill and Jack Concannon. Following two sub .500 finishes (1964 and 1965), he led the Eagles to a 9-5 record and a second-place finish within their division (1966). This sudden success prompted Eagles'€™ owner Jerry Wolman to award Kuharich with an unprecedented contract extension of fifteen-years. As a result of this action, minority team owner Ed Snider (who went on to own the Philadelphia Flyers) sold his percentage and an already angered fan base became further outraged. In 1967, they fell back to a 6-7-1 record and the following season (1968, Kuharich's final year), they endured an eleven-game losing streak to start the year. A movement supporting Kuharich's firing took place during this period and buttons reading "Joe Must Go!"€ were worn by droves of fans at Franklin Field. The season came to a merciful end on December 15, 1968 at Franklin Field with a loss to the Minnesota Vikings. The game became noteworthy when a group of fans pelted someone dressed as Santa Claus with snow. Over the years, the episode has been rehashed during Eagles'€™ nationally televised games. In 1976, he returned to the Eagles' organization and served as a scout and team film coordinator. Diagnosed with cancer during the early 1970s, he battled the disease for ten years before succumbing on January 25, 1981 at the age of sixty-three. In a bid of irony, on that day the Eagles were playing the Oakland Raiders in their first Super Bowl appearance.