Art Shell

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Art Shell
Image:Art Shell.jpg
Date of birth	November 26, 1946
Place of birth	Charleston, SC
Position(s)	Left tackle Head Coach
College	Maryland Eastern Shore
AFL Draft	1968 / Round 3/ Pick 80
Career Highlights
Pro Bowls	8
Awards	1990 Pro Football Weekly Coach of Year 1990 Maxwell Football Club Coach of Year 1990 UPI Coach of Year
Honors	NFL 1970s All-Decade Team South Carolina Sports Hall of Fame
Career Record	58-46-0 *(After Week 9 of 2006)
Stats
Playing Stats	DatabaseFootball
Coaching Stats	DatabaseFootball
Team(s) as a player
1968-1981 1982	Oakland Raiders Los Angeles Raiders
Team(s) as a coach/administrator
1983-1994 1995-1996 1997-2000 2006-Present	Los Angeles Raiders Kansas City Chiefs Atlanta Falcons Oakland Raiders
Pro Football Hall of Fame, 1989

Arthur "Art" Shell (born November 26, 1946 in Charleston, South Carolina, USA) is a former American football player in the National Football League (NFL) and current head coach of the Oakland Raiders; this is his second stint coaching the NFL franchise. He also holds the distinction of having been only the second African American head coach (after Fritz Pollard) in the history of the NFL, and the first in the league's modern era.

Shell was drafted by the Oakland Raiders from Maryland State College, which is now known as University of Maryland Eastern Shore. Playing offensive tackle, Shell participated in 24 playoff contests, including Super Bowls XI and XV, and was named to eight Pro Bowls.

Shell was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1989. In 1999, he was ranked number 55 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players.

As coach of the Raiders (at the time located in Los Angeles), Shell compiled a record of 56 wins, 41 losses, and was named AFC Coach of the Year in 1990, when the Raiders won the AFC West division with a 12-4 record, and advanced to the AFC championship game in the playoffs. Al Davis, owner of the Raiders, fired Shell after a 9-7 season in 1994, a move Davis later said he regretted.

After leaving the Raiders, Shell went on to coaching positions with the Kansas City Chiefs and Atlanta Falcons, before serving as a senior vice president for the NFL, in charge of football operations and development.

Shell was officially re-hired by the Raiders as head coach on February 11, 2006. [1]

Shell is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African Americans.

Shell attended Bonds-Wilson High School in North Charleston, SC where he played football as a Viper. The school is no longer in existence.

[edit] Bill Simmons and the "Art Shell face"

Shell has been attacked by ESPN writer Bill Simmons in Simmons's Sports Guy columns.

When Shell was rehired as Raiders head coach in 2006, some members of the media insinuated that Shell's long absence from the NFL was due to racism, as Shell had compiled an excellent win-loss record as a head coach previously.

Simmons attacked this notion in his columns, claiming that Shell was shunned from coaching because of his complete failures in the playoffs, and his teams succeed "in spite of" Shell. Simmons also points out to his readers the "Art Shell face", which for Simmons is the silent, unmoving image of Shell during games, especially towards the end of a game when losing (the Raiders are currently 2-9). Simmons also claimed that Shell was only rehired as a last resort, because Raiders owner Al Davis could find no competent coach willing to lead the team.

[edit] External link

Pro Football Hall of Fame

Preceded by: Mike Shanahan	Los Angeles Raiders Head Coaches 1989–1994	Succeeded by: Mike White
Preceded by: Norv Turner	Oakland Raiders Head Coaches 2006–present	Succeeded by: Current Head Coach

L.A./Oakland Raiders Head Coaches
Erdelatz • Feldman • Conkright • Davis • Rauch • Madden • Flores • Shanahan • Shell • White • Bugel • Gruden • Callahan • Turner • Shell

Current National Football League head coaches
Belichick • Billick • Childress • Coughlin • Cowher • Crennel • Del Rio • Dungy • Edwards • Fisher • Fox • Gibbs • Green • Gruden • Holmgren • Jauron • Kubiak • Lewis • Linehan • Mangini • McCarthy • Marinelli • Mora • Nolan • Parcells • Payton • Reid • Saban • Schottenheimer • Shanahan • Shell • Smith