The New England Patriots and the entire football world received some bad news on Tuesday. Former Patriots head coach Rod Rust died at the age of 90, his wife confirmed to the Denton Record-Chronicle.
Having spent the vast majority of his adult life on the football field, Rust coached the Patriots for just one season back in 1990. The team posted a 1-15 record. Prior to that, he served as the head coach at North Texas, mentoring future Hall of Famer Joe Greene.
Rust’s career also included stints as a position coach for multiple NFL teams, the Philadelphia Eagles, Atlanta Falcons and San Francisco 49ers included. In addition to this, he served as the defensive coordinator in New England, Kansas City and Pittsburgh as well as in New York with the Giants.
Rust’s career spanned five different decades.
“He was a tremendously honest man,” Hall of Fame broadcaster and close friend Bill Mercer said in a statement. “That is one of the things I remember about him. He was also a fine writer, very intelligent and literary kind of guy. Whenever the team went on the road, Rod would take his players out to see all the historical things in the community.”
Our thoughts go out to the entire Patriots orgniazaiton, the football world and Rust’s wife, Jean, during these most difficult of times.