Ron Erhardt, former Patriots coach from 1979-1981, died in Boca Raton, Fla., Wednesday morning. He was 80.

Erhardt began his NFL career as the Patriots backfield coach in 1973, a position he held for four seasons before being named offensive coordinator. When Patriots coach Chuck Fairbanks was suspended by then-owner Bill Sullivan in 1978 for making a deal to coach the University of Colorado, Erhardt was named co-head coach, along with Hank Bullough, for the last game of the regular season.

Erhardt officially was named head coach of the Patriots on April 6, 1979. He guided the Patriots to a 9-7 record in 1979 and a 10-6 record in 1980 but missed the playoffs in both seasons. The Patriots fell to 2-14 in 1981 and Erhardt was dismissed at the end of the year. The 1980 Patriots scored 441 points, a record that stood until the 2007 team scored 589.


Bill Parcells was the Patriots linebackers coach in 1980 and retained Erhardt on his staff when he became coach of the Giants. Erhardt was on the Giants’ staff from 1982 to 1991, spending eight seasons under Parcells, and was the Giants’ offensive coordinator when they won Super Bowls XXI and XXV.

“The New England Patriots are deeply saddened to learn of the loss of Ron Erhardt, who served as Patriots head coach for three seasons from 1979 through 1981,” the team said in a statement Wednesday.

“We’re all saddened by the unexpected news of Ron’s death,” said Giants coach Tom Coughlin in the Giants’ statement. “I just sent him a note at the end of the season when he celebrated his 80th birthday (on Feb. 27).”

A native of Mandan, N.D., Erhardt was a successful high school coach after graduating from Jamestown College in 1953. Erhardt also won two college football championships while coaching at North Dakota State, where he had a 67-7-1 record in his seven years.

Former Globe reporter Larry Whiteside wrote about Erhardt in Feb. 1977: