Norm Chow
A quiet offensive mastermind whose complex passing schemes revolutionized college football and produced a record-setting string of star quarterbacks.
Born 1946 (age 80)·American football player and coach·Birthday: May 3·Baby Boomers
Biography
Norm Chow’s influence on American football is measured in yards, points, and Heisman Trophies. The son of Chinese immigrants, he played offensive line at Utah but found his calling in the coaching booth. For decades, he was the cerebral architect behind some of the most explosive offenses in history. At Brigham Young University in the early 1980s, his offensive system helped usher in the modern passing era. His true legacy, however, was forged during two dynastic runs at USC and UCLA. Chow’s sophisticated, pro-style schemes were quarterback factories; he tutored Heisman winners Ty Detmer, Carson Palmer, and Matt Leinart, and shaped first-round picks like Philip Rivers and Steve Young. His coaching tree spread across the sport, and his move to the NFL with the Tennessee Titans made him one of the first Asian American offensive coordinators in the league. Though his stint as a head coach at Hawaii was less successful, his reputation as an offensive savant remains untarnished.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Norm was born in 1946, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Norm Was Born
The biggest hits of 1946
#1 Movie
The Best Years of Our Lives
Best Picture
The Best Years of Our Lives
Norm's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1946Born
United Nations holds its first General Assembly
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $5,150Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Prisoner of Love" — Perry ComoBest Picture: The Best Years of Our Lives
1951Started school
First color TV broadcast in the US
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $7,925Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Too Young" — Nat King ColeBest Picture: An American in Paris
1959Became a teenager
Fidel Castro takes power in Cuba
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $12,400Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"The Battle of New Orleans" — Johnny HortonBest Picture: Ben-Hur
1962Could drive
Cuban Missile Crisis brings the world to the brink
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $12,800Min wage: $1.15/hrPresident: John F. Kennedy"Stranger on the Shore" — Acker BilkBest Picture: Lawrence of Arabia
1964Could vote
Civil Rights Act signed; Beatles arrive in America
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $13,450Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"I Want to Hold Your Hand" — The BeatlesBest Picture: My Fair Lady
1967Turned 21
Summer of Love in San Francisco; first Super Bowl
Gas: $0.33/galHome: $14,250Min wage: $1.40/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"To Sir, with Love" — LuluBest Picture: In the Heat of the Night
1976Turned 30
Apple Computer founded; US bicentennial
Gas: $0.59/galHome: $29,300Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Silly Love Songs" — WingsBest Picture: Rocky
1986Turned 40
Challenger disaster; Chernobyl nuclear meltdown
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $66,600Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"That's What Friends Are For" — Dionne & FriendsBest Picture: Platoon
1996Turned 50
Dolly the sheep cloned
Gas: $1.23/galHome: $99,700Min wage: $4.75/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Macarena" — Los del RioBest Picture: The English Patient
2006Turned 60
Twitter launches; Pluto reclassified as dwarf planet
Gas: $2.59/galHome: $174,700Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Bad Day" — Daniel PowterBest Picture: The Departed
2016Turned 70
Donald Trump elected president; Brexit vote
Gas: $2.14/galHome: $181,700Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Love Yourself" — Justin BieberBest Picture: Moonlight
2026Turned 80
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Developed the offensive system for BYU's 1984 National Championship team.
- Served as offensive coordinator for USC's dominant national championship teams in 2003 and 2004.
- Mentored three Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks: Ty Detmer, Carson Palmer, and Matt Leinart.
- Became the first Asian American offensive coordinator in the NFL when hired by the Tennessee Titans in 2005.
Did You Know?
He was the first person of Chinese and Hawaiian descent to become a coordinator in the NFL.
He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, the University of Utah.
He turned down an offer to coach at Stanford to attend the University of Utah on a scholarship.
He speaks fluent Cantonese.
“The best thing about coaching is the relationships you build with the players.”
