Former Seahawks assistant Tom Catlin dies

The Associated Press | • Published June 10, 2008

TULSA, Okla. — Tom Catlin, a standout football player at the University of Oklahoma in the 1950s and former defensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks, has died. Catlin was 76.

Catlin died Saturday at a hospice in Seattle from complications stemming from a recent surgery, said his brother, Charles Catlin, of Broken Arrow. Catlin played center and linebacker at OU from 1950-1952 after earning All-State accolades in 1949 as a senior at Ponca City High School.

A member of OU’s 1950 squad that won the national championship under head coach Bud Wilkinson, Catlin was named all-conference three times and was co-captain with quarterback Eddie Crowder during his senior year.

“Tom Catlin was one of the very special players,” Crowder told the Tulsa World from his home in Boulder, Colo. “He had such a wide range of talents that were uncommon. As a center, he and I were pretty closely related.

“We were also just close friends and co-captains of the team, so you have additional time you spend together with that. I found him one of the unique people because he was a very quiet personality. Not a rah-rah guy. And very intelligent.”

Catlin was selected in the fourth round of the 1953 draft by the Baltimore Colts. He was traded to Cleveland and played for the Browns in 1953-54, then — following his ROTC commitment at OU — he joined the Air Force as a pilot from 1955-57. Catlin returned to the Browns in 1957-58 before finishing his playing career a year later with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Catlin was assistant head coach and defensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks, where he coached from 1983-1995. He earlier worked as an assistant coach for the Dallas Texans and Kansas City Chiefs in the American Football League, then the Los Angeles Rams and Buffalo Bills in the NFL.

He retired from the NFL in 1996 and recently had been ill with Parkinson’s disease, Charles Catlin said.

Charles Catlin said he’s disappointed his brother never was selected for the College Football Hall of Fame.

“He got nominated a time or two but didn’t get voted in,” Charles Catlin said. “It bothers me, but time marches on. We’ve got new ones every year.”

Tom Catlin is survived by his wife, Betty, daughter Kimberly Ekdahal and son Thomas Jr., four grandchildren and brother Charles.