Former New York Jets and RMU coach Joe Walton – Dead at 85

It has been reported that former New York Jets coach Joe Walton has passed away on Sunday. Walton is credited for building Robert Morris University’s football program from the ground up. No cause of death was provided. The former football coach was 85 years old.

Joe Walton has a native of Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. He coached the Jets for seven years and went 53-57-1 while leading New York to the playoffs twice.

“He was a good man who cared for his players and loved the game of football.”

A former NFL tight end for Washington and the New York Giants, Walton caught 178 passes for 2,628 yards and 28 touchdowns in seven seasons. He retired from playing after the 1963 season and joined the Giants as a scout two years later. Walton was promoted to wide receivers coach in 1969, a role he would serve for five years before going to Washington as the running backs coach.

“Joe Walton poured his heart into this franchise for nine seasons,” the Jets said in a statement. “Joining us as an offensive coordinator before taking over as the head coach, Joe fielded some of the franchise’s most productive offenses and helped the teams to four playoff appearances during his tenure.

Walton closed out his NFL coaching career in Pittsburgh, where he served as the Steelers’ offensive coordinator for two years.

“Coach Walton took our football program from nothing to something special,” Robert Morris senior associate athletic director Marty Galosi said in a statement. “The fact that he built it from scratch and won early on was a bonus. He was a great coach, but he was a better man as well as a role model for all of the student-athletes and coaches that were under his tutelage. His legacy at RMU will last a long time.”

The son of former Washington guard Frank “Tiger” Walton, Joe Walton was an All-America selection at tight end twice at the University of Pittsburgh before being drafted by Washington in the second round in 1957.

Joe Walton was married for 47 years before his wife Ginger passed away in 2007. They are survived by their three children, daughters Jodi and Stacy, and son Joe. long with six grandchildren. Walton also is survived by his second wife, Patty Sheehan Walton.

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