Introduction
Rick Venturi (born February 23, 1946) is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at Northwestern University and as longtime National Football League assistant coach known for his defense. As the head coach at Northwestern from 1978 to 1980, Venturi's record was 1–31–1. He coached the beginning segment the Northwestern Wildcats' NCAA Division I record 34-game losing streak. Venturi has served as the defensive coordinator with the Indianapolis Colts, Cleveland Browns, New Orleans Saints, and St. Louis Rams. Venturi also served as an interim head coach, in 1991 with the Colts and 1996 with the Saints. As a head coach in the NFL, his career record stands at 2–17.
Venturi played quarterback at Rockford Auburn High School in Illinois as a sophomore and junior, and then at Pekin High School for his senior year before enrolling at Northwestern. While at Northwestern he joined the Delta Upsilon fraternity. His father, Joe Venturi, was a member of the Illinois High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame. Joe coached at Pekin High School in Illinois. His brother, John is also a member of the Illinois High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame. John coached at Washington High School where he won the 1985 Class 4A State Championship. John's 1983 Washington team was the 4A Runner-Up.
Head coaching record
College
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northwestern Wildcats (Big Ten Conference) (1978–1980) | |||||||||
| 1978 | Northwestern | 0–10–1 | 0–8–1 | 10th | |||||
| 1979 | Northwestern | 1–10 | 0–9 | 10th | |||||
| 1980 | Northwestern | 0–11 | 0–9 | 10th | |||||
| Northwestern: | 1–31–1 | 0–26–1 | |||||||
| Total: | 1–31–1 | ||||||||
NFL
| Team | Year | Regular Season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Ties | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| IND* | 1991 | 1 | 10 | 0 | .091 | 5th in AFC East | – | – | – | – |
| IND Total | 1 | 10 | 0 | .091 | – | – | – | |||
| NO* | 1996 | 1 | 7 | 0 | .125 | 5th in NFC West | – | – | – | – |
| NO Total | 1 | 7 | 0 | .125 | – | – | – | |||
| Total | 2 | 17 | 0 | .105 | ||||||
* Interim head coach.