FANTASY NASCAR Racin

Born October 14, 1941 in Detroit, Michigan, Jerry Glanville grew up in Perrysburg, Ohio. Glanville played football in high school wearing the number 73, graduating from Perrysburg High School, and then attending and playing linebacker on the football team at Northern Michigan University. Upon graduation from Northern Michigan, Glanville later received a Masters Degree from Western Kentucky University. His NFL career began in 1974, when he accepted the position of special teams coach and defensive assistant coach with the Detroit Lions. He remained with Detroit thru 1976. He then joined the staff of the Atlanta Falcons in 1977 as defensive back coach. Under new head coach Leeman Bennett, the Falcons struggled offensively and finished the year at 7-7. However, Glanville and his fellow defensive coaches were having a ball. Nicknamed the “Grits Blitz,” the Falcons defense allowed only 129 total points for the season. That set an NFL record for fewest points allowed during a 14 game season. Furthermore, their 9.2 average points surrendered per game remains an NFL record. The unit also gave up only 3,242 total yards, which was the second fewest in the league. In

1979, the Falcons promoted him to defensive coordinator; a position he would hold thru 1982. Glanville left Atlanta to join the Buffalo Bills in 1983. In 1984, he joined the staff of the Houston Oilers as the defensive coordinator. In 1986, the Oilers named him head coach where he remained thru 1989. His success in Houston brought him back to Atlanta in 1990, this time as head coach. After a disappointing first-year record of 5-11, Glanville turned the team around with a career-high record of 11-5 in 1991. He continued to coach the Atlanta Falcons through 1993. Glanville then began a career as a sportscaster with FOX, CBS, and HBO. In 1992, Glanville was inducted into the Northern Michigan University Hall of Fame and was a recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award. That same year, an avid Motorsports fan, Glanville launched his debut in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at the age of 50. Glanville made three starts in the Xfinity Series campaigning his #56 Atlanta Falcons Buick. Glanville's race career was always abbreviated, since he was still coaching football, and when football season started, he had to concentrate on that. In his three starts, it showed that he was still a "rookie" and had to gain some experience. His first race was at Orange County Speedway in Rougemont, NC. He qualified 26th, but would crash out after 211 laps, finishing 22nd. His next start was at Myrtle Beach, SC; and it too

would prove disappointing. He and Jason Keller tangled just five laps into the event, eliminating both of them. His final start came at Volusia County Speedway in Barberville, FL. Glanville started 23rd, ran the whole race and finished 20th. Completing all but ten laps. He attempted to make the field at his home track of Lanier Speedway in Gainesville, GA., but did not qualify. In 1993, Glanville returned to the Xfinity Series campaigning his #81 Computer Transport / Harley Davidson Ford in three events. He made his first start at Rockingham starting 35th, but had an engine expire

after only 24 laps, and finished 40th. He again raced at Myrtle Beach, where he started 30th. He spun about lap 165, spent some time in the garage, and came back out to complete the race and finished 27th. His final start in the Xfinity series was in 1993, and was at Milwaukee where he again started 30th. He was involved in an accident on lap 45, but was able to continue. Then he spun out on lap 81, and was in another accident on lap 189. Still, he labored on and was able to finish the event, coming home 26th. Not bad for all the issues he encountered. In 1994 he bought a car and made 10 starts in the ARCA Series. He had better luck in this series, not having to compete with some of the best drivers in NASCAR. His first ARCA start came at Talladega, but was caught up in a crash and finished 29th. His next race came at a track he was more familiar with when the ARCA cars raced at the fast 1/2 mile banked track of Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, FL. Five Flag was much like the high banked 1/2 mile speed plant he raced on weekly

of Peach State Speedway in Jefferson GA. Glanville started 23rd, but kept his car clean, ran a smooth race, and brought his car home to his first top 15 finish at the end. HIs next race was at another 1/2 mile track at Louisville Motor Speedway. This time he started 16th, ran a smooth race and finished 14th. He struggled at Kil-Kare Speedway and eventually parked his car because of bad handling, but when he went to Toledo he ran a good race, starting 17th, and improving to 11th by the time the checkers flew. The next two races saw him post top 15 finishes. His first top ten finish came at Des Moines on a 1.6 mile street course,

where he finished ninth. His best run came at I-70 Speedway in Odessa, MO. He started 17th, and when the checkered flag flew he was running in eighth place. He would not run in the ARCA Series again until 1998. When not racing on the major series, he was a regular at Peach State Speedway, racing in the Super Late Model Division. He was always competitive, and well liked by the fans and his fellow competitors. Glanville then focused his attention on the NASCAR Truck Series for 1995 making 14 starts in his #81 Glanville Motorsports Ford recording two 14th place finishes during the season, and finishing 18th in the series points. He only failed to finish two events, once with a crash, and the other time he had motor issues. He made five starts in the Truck Series in 1996 when he again had a best finish of 14th, coming at Milwaukee. He made just

two starts in each year of 1997 and in 1998, all with poor showings. Also, during 1998 Glanville made three ARCA starts. He finished seventh at Pikes Peak, and had an impressive third place run at Las Vegas. In 1999, Glanville made four starts in the Truck Series with sponsorship from Unifirst Uniforms, and had a best finish of 23rd. His final Truck Series start would come at Loudon, NH. He started 29th and would finish 23rd, in a race won by Dennis Setzer. During his stint in the NASCAR ranks, Glanville was most notably remembered for his dressing in all black and was noted for a number of eccentric habits — including regularly leaving tickets at will call for late rock and roll legend Elvis Presley. That quirk helped name Glanville's '90 autobiography, Elvis Don't Like Football: The Life and

Raucous Times of the NFL's Most Outspoken Coach. In July 2001, Perrysburg High School honored Glanville by retiring his football jersey. Also that year, he made five ARCA starts. He performed well in those starts as he produced three top ten finishes, and a season's best finish of fourth at Michigan. He won at Montgomery, AL in the NHRA In 2002, Glanville competed in the NHRA and the NMCA and in seven ARCA RE/Max Series events. He ran in the "Super Comp" class in the NHRA. He had a best finish of fourth (Nashville) in the ARCA Series, and had three top tens. In 2003, he competed with the ARCA RE/Max Series and the Slim Jim Late Models. In May 2003, Glanville was

seriously injured while qualifying for the ARCA event at Sparta, Kentucky requiring skin graft surgery. He recovered from his injuries and by July was back competing with the Slim Jim Late Models and in NHRA drag racing. In 2004, he competed in the Nostalgia Muscle Cars drag racing and made one start in the ARCA RE/Max Series. In 2005, Glanville accepted the position of Defensive Coordinator at the University of Hawaii. Glanville then coached in the collegiate ranks at Portland State, serving as the Vikings' head coach from 2007-09. After Portland State, Glanville took some time away from coaching until 2018, when he began bouncing around roles in both the CFL and several spring leagues, including a stint with the Tampa Bay Vipers of the XFL in 2019. Then in 2024, the 82-year-old former NFL coach known for his quirky personality was hired by Division II Northwestern Oklahoma State as its defensive coordinator, in Alva, Okla.

Fantasy NASCAR Racing

JERRY MICHAEL GLANVILLE - 10/14/1941