Tom Dimitroff Sr. Explained

Tom Dimitroff
Birth Date:6 June 1935
Birth Place:Barberton, Ohio, U.S.
Death Place:Strongsville, Ohio, U.S.
Number:15
Import:yes
Position1:Quarterback
Height Ft:5
Height In:11
Weight Lb:200
College:Miami (OH)
Nfldraftedyear:1957
Nfldraftedround:25
Nfldraftedpick:294
Administrating Years1:1984–86
Administrating Team1:Ottawa Rough Riders (director of player personnel)
Administrating Years2:1987–96
Administrating Team2:Cleveland Browns (scout)
Coaching Years1:1969–72
Coaching Team1:Miami (OH) (assistant)
Coaching Years2:1973
Coaching Team2:Kansas State (assistant)
Coaching Years3:1974–77
Coaching Team3:Ottawa Rough Riders (QB/OC)
Coaching Years4:1978
Coaching Team4:Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Coaching Years5:1979–83
Coaching Team5:Guelph
Coaching Years6:1986
Coaching Team6:Ottawa Rough Riders
Playing Years1:1957–58
Playing Team1:Ottawa Rough Riders
Playing Years2:1960
Playing Team2:New York Titans
Playing Years3:1960
Playing Team3:Boston Patriots
Career Highlights:
  • Grey Cup champion (1976)

Thomas George Dimitroff Sr. (June 6, 1935 – January 20, 1996) was an American gridiron football player and coach.

Playing career

Dimitroff was a two-time All-Mid-American Conference quarterback and defensive back at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He passed for 1,096 yards and 11 touchdowns, and ran for 542 yards. As a kicker, he converted on 22 extra-point attempts and had a punting average of 36.2 yards. He played on two MAC championship football teams under Ara Parseghian and John Pont.[1] He was selected by the Cleveland Browns in the 25th round of the 1957 Draft, but instead signed with the Ottawa Rough Riders Interprovincial Rugby Football Union. On August 23, 1958, Dimitroff started for Ottawa in the first regular-season game in Canadian Football League history. In May 1959, Dimitroff was traded along with Larry Hayes, Jim Marshall, Frank Fraser, and Karl Hilzinger to the Saskatchewan Roughriders for quarterback Frank Tripucka. Dimitroff retired shortly after the trade, never playing a game for Saskatchewan.

In 1960, Dimitroff came out of retirement to play for the newly formed American Football League (AFL). He signed with the New York Titans,[2] but did not appear in any games for them. He later signed with the Boston Patriots and appeared in three games, throwing two incomplete passes.[3]

Coaching career

After serving as an assistant coach at Barberton High School and Wadsworth High School, Dimitroff returned to Miami, where he was an assistant from 1969 to 1972. After one season at Kansas State, Dimitroff joined former Rough Rider teammate George Brancato in Ottawa. From 1974 to 1977, he served as the Ottawa Rough Riders quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator, helping coach Ottawa to victory in the 1976 Grey Cup, the final Grey Cup victory in Rough Riders history.

In 1978, he became the head coach of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He was fired after five games and replaced by John Payne.[4] Following his departure from Hamilton, Dimitroff coached the Guelph Gryphons football team, where his son Randy was quarterback from 1982 to 1985.[5]

Dimitroff left coaching in 1984 to serve as Director of Player Personnel for the Ottawa Rough Riders. In 1986, he was named the team's interim head coach after the firing of Joe Moss.[6] The Rough Riders were 0–4–1 under Dimitroff and in 1987 he joined the Cleveland Browns as a college scout.[7]

Family and death

He was the father of former Atlanta Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff.[8] Dimitroff died on January 20, 1996, in Strongsville, Ohio.[9]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Die Uni für Finanzen und mehr – muredhawks.com. September 19, 2016.
  2. News: Tom Dimitroff Signs With New York Titans. May 13, 1960. The Hartford Courant. June 23, 2009. October 21, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20121021051538/https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courant/access/910571832.html?dids=910571832:910571832&FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:AI&date=May+13%2C+1960&author=&pub=The+Hartford+Courant&desc=Tom+Dimitroff+Signs+With+New+York+Titans&pqatl=google. dead.
  3. Web site: Tom Dimitroff NFL & AFL Football Statistics - Pro-Football-Reference.com. . September 19, 2016.
  4. Web site: Tiger Cats Fire Head Coach. August 11, 1978. Toledo Blade. 2009-06-23. https://web.archive.org/web/20151117033919/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=LnYUAAAAIBAJ&sjid=gAIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1260,4861238&dq. November 17, 2015. dead.
  5. Web site: Archived copy . 2009-06-23 . 2009-03-20 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090320045800/http://www.gryphons.ca/static/Football_History.pdf . dead .
  6. Web site: Elsewhere.... June 30, 1986. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. June 23, 2009.
  7. News: Transactions. https://archive.today/20130130113341/http://www.nytimes.com/1987/02/18/sports/transactions-715187.htmldq. dead. January 30, 2013. February 18, 1987. New York Times. June 23, 2009.
  8. Web site: Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff has risen from a humble football beginning to potential Super Bowl winner - Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times. 31 January 2017.
  9. News: Thomas G. Dimitroff, 60, Football Player, Coach, Scout. January 22, 1996. Akron Beacon Journal. June 23, 2009.