Coach Of The Year (1980)

aka’s: Fourth Down Behind Bars/The Coach

Former Chicago Bears football star Jim Branden (Robert Conrad) returns home paralyzed from combat in Vietnam. Jim hopes for a coaching job with his old team but is turned down because of his disability. Disgusted and angered Jim withdraws into self-pity. In the meantime Jim’s nephew Andy (Ricky Paull Goldin) has been arrested for armed robbery and is sent to a juvenile reformatory. While visiting Andy, Jim learns that there is no athletic director at the reform school. The position is offered to Jim and reluctantly he accepts the job. His challenge is to mold these troubled kids into a winning football team. Jim faces a problem however… the kids are violent, temperamental and want no part of him or his team. Also with Erin Gray, Red West, Daphne Reid and David Raynr. Produced by John Ashley.