Former Patriots head coach Ron Erhardt has died at the age of 81.
After spending nearly 17 years coaching high school and college football, Erhardt joined the New England Patriots in 1973.
He was the running backs coach, as well as the offensive coordinator, until he was eventually hired as the head coach in 1979 after former head coach Chuck Fairbanks left for a job at the University of Colorado.
The team never made the playoffs under Erhardt's command, but the 1980 squad set the then-franchise record for points in a single season for New England with 441 — a record that stood until 2007.
