Rodney A. Rust was born on August 2, 1928, and died on October 23, 2018.
He was an American football player and coach.
Rod Rust was best known in the United States as the head coach of the New England Patriots of the National Football League during the 1990 season, which ended with a 1–15 record.
From the start of his coaching career, Rust was an assistant to one of two coaches: Marv Levy or Dick Vermeil.
He started out as an assistant under Levy at the University of New Mexico between 1960 and 1962, before leaving to serve under Dick Vermeil at Stanford University.
During 1967, Rust became the head coach at North Texas State University (now the University of North Texas), a position he held until 1972.
Additionally, North Texas had a 29–32–1 record during Rust’s tenure.
During 1973, Rust returned to work for Levy as defensive coordinator for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League.
He ha three seasons in Montreal, the Alouettes went to two Grey Cup finals, winning in 1974.
Rust left the Alouettes to become an assistant with Vermeil’s Philadelphia Eagles in 1976.
Rust went on to served as linebackers coach for two seasons before leaving to take the defensive coordinator position with Levy and the Kansas City Chiefs.
In 1982, following his dismissal, Rust became defensive coordinator of the New England Patriots.
Nonetheless, the Head coach Ron Meyer fired Rust midway through the 1984 season, but he was later reinstated (with Meyer himself fired).
With the Patriots Rust went to Super Bowl XX (under head coach Raymond Berry) in 1985, however, Rod left the team after the 1987 season.
Then, Rust returned to the Chiefs for the 1988 season and once again switches to the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1989.
During 1990, the Patriots hired Rust as head coach but fired him after a 1–15 season, the worst showing in team history.
And in 1992, the New York Giants hired Rust as defensive coordinator, and he lasted one season.
For the remainder of the 1990s, Rod Rust stayed as a defensive assistant with the San Francisco 49ers and Atlanta Falcons.
Rust was named the head coach of the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League in 2000 and was fired during the 2001 season after a six-game losing streak.
From 2002, he was the defensive quality control coach of the New York Giants.
Rod Rust returned to the CFL in 2005, taking the coordinator position with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers; he left suddenly halfway through the season.
Rod Rust became defensive coordinator of the Ottawa Renegades in February 2006; however, the team suspended operations before the season began.
Rod Rust passed away at 90 years old.