Introduction
Rodney Douglas Dowhower (born April 15, 1943) is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Stanford University in 1979 and at Vanderbilt University from 1995 to 1996, compiling a career college football record of 9–23–1. Dowhower was also the coach of the National Football League's Indianapolis Colts in 1985 and 1986, where he tallied a record of 5–24. He was fired after losing 13 straight games to begin the 1986 season.
Dowhower attended San Diego State University where he played football. He served as an assistant coach at San Diego State, the University of California, Los Angeles, and Boise State University. Dowhower was also an assistant coach for a number of NFL teams: the St. Louis Cardinals, Denver Broncos, Atlanta Falcons, Washington Redskins, Cleveland Browns, and Philadelphia Eagles.
Head coaching record
College
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stanford Cardinals (Pacific-10 Conference) (1979) | |||||||||
| 1979 | Stanford | 5–5–1 | 3–3–1 | 6th | |||||
| Stanford: | 5–5–1 | 3–3–1 | |||||||
| Vanderbilt Commodores (Southeastern Conference) (1995–1996) | |||||||||
| 1995 | Vanderbilt | 2–9 | 1–7 | 6th (Eastern) | |||||
| 1996 | Vanderbilt | 2–9 | 0–8 | 6th (Eastern) | |||||
| Vanderbilt: | 4–18 | 1–15 | |||||||
| Total: | 9–23–1 | ||||||||
NFL
| Team | Year | Regular Season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Ties | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| IND | 1985 | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | 4th in AFC East | – | – | – | – |
| IND | 1985 | 0 | 13 | 0 | .000 | 5th in AFC East | – | – | – | – |
| IND Total | 5 | 24 | 0 | .172 | – | – | – | |||
| Total | 5 | 24 | 0 | .172 | ||||||
Coaching tree
Assistant coaches under Rod Dowhower who became NCAA or NFL head coaches:
- Ken Whisenhunt: Arizona Cardinals (2007–2012), Tennessee Titans (2014–2015)
- Woody Widenhofer: Vanderbilt (1997–2001)