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John Arlen Patera (August 1, 1933 – October 31, 2018) was an American professional football player and coach in the National Football League (NFL). for the and and was an assistant coach for the and Patera was the first head coach of the with a career head coaching record of all with the Seahawks.
In 1982, Patera was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame. In 2000, he was inducted into the University of Oregon Athletics Hall of Fame.
Patera played linebacker for three seasons under head coach Weeb Ewbank. After choosing not to switch back to offense, he was released on September 15, 1958.
Patera returned in 1961, but played in only two games and retired at the end of the season after not being fully recovered from his previous injury.
In 1968, Patera became an assistant coach for the New York Giants, but left after one year to take an assistant coaching position with the Minnesota Vikings under head coach Bud Grant. As defensive line coach with the Vikings from 1969 through 1975, Patera worked with another very talented and dominant defensive line, nicknamed the Purple People Eaters. During this period, the Vikings went to three (IV, VIII, IX).
Since he would not have the player talent to compete with other NFL teams possessing superior power, speed and finesse, Patera resorted to a wide-open gambling style offense that was centered around a passing game using many creative gadget plays. "I had a team that could move the ball like hell, but couldn't stop anybody." Patera said, "So I figured that to win more ballgames we'd simply have to gamble more often. I would much rather have beaten teams on muscle and execution, but we just didn't have the talent."
Even with the lack of talent, Patera still found a way to win games, but in 1976, the Seahawks had a typical for a first year expansion team. showed promise for the future with quarterback Jim Zorn and wide receiver Steve Largent beginning to develop into a potent offensive combination and behind them, Seattle posted a in 1977. Seahawks improved in their third season, Patera was voted the NFL Coach of the Year in 1978 by the Associated Press and Sporting News. The Seahawks were again in 1979, but had disappointing losing seasons in and .
As a head coach, Patera was considered to be a stern disciplinarian with strict rules of conduct. For example, he required players to hold their helmets a certain way on the sidelines during the playing of the national anthem. His players were required to wear coats and ties when traveling on the road. One of his most controversial rules was that he wouldn't allow players to have water breaks during practices at training camp in Cheney in eastern Washington, where temperatures frequently reached above in July and August, a common practice by many teams back then.
Patera's relationship with the local press in Seattle was stormy at times. He did not enjoy the constant questions about his coaching decisions and the dissection of his team's performance by the sports reporters. He once held a seven-second press conference after a particularly difficult loss in Seattle. After asking, "Any questions?", he left the room when reporters started giggling when none of them spoke up.
In , the players' association (NFLPA) was threatening to strike over deadlocked negotiations with NFL team owners to give a percentage of the gross revenues for player salaries. Patera's relationship with his players rapidly deteriorated when he first threatened and then fined players for participating in a union solidarity handshake with the opposing team at midfield during pre-season games (actually it was team management that made the decision; GM John Thompson was a former head of the NFL bargaining committee). When Sam McCullum, a popular player and union representative, was cut by Patera one week before the season started, it was speculated the release was done as retaliation for McCullum's union The release was eventually ruled an illegal termination in an "Unfair Labor Practice" lawsuit brought against the team by the NFLPA and McCullum.
After losing the first two games of the 1982 season, Patera was fired by the Seahawks on October 13, along with general manager The announcement was made by representing the Nordstrom family as majority owners. The firing occurred during the 57-day NFL players strike which had started on September 21. He was replaced by the Seahawks director of football operations, as the interim head coach for the remainder of the
Patera was the older brother of Olympic weightlifter and professional wrestler Ken Patera and San Francisco 49ers player Dennis Patera.
On a morning deer hunt east of Eugene in 1954, Patera accidentally shot and killed former Oregon teammate Ken Sweitzer, a graduate assistant with the team. It was ruled accidental and he was cleared of negligence.
Patera died at the age of 85 from pancreatic cancer on October 31, 2018.
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