1978 Houston Oilers Roster
National Football League (NFL)
Team Record: 10-6
Finishing 2nd in the NFL's Central Division of the American Football Conference
Postseason: 2-1 Lost Conference Championship
Coach: Bum Phillips (10-6)
Location: Houston, Texas
1978 Houston Oilers StatisticsTeam Record: 10-6
Finishing 2nd in the NFL's Central Division of the American Football Conference
Postseason: 2-1 Lost Conference Championship
Coach: Bum Phillips (10-6)
Location: Houston, Texas
1978 Houston Oilers Results
The Houston Oilers of the National Football League ended the 1978 season with a record of 10 wins and 6 losses, finishing second in the NFL's Central Division of the American Football Conference. The team compiled a postseason mark of 2-1.
The Oilers scored 283 points, but the defense conceded 298. Earl Campbell ran for a team-leading 1,450 yards for Houston.
Dan Pastorini passed for 2,473 yards. Ken Burrough topped the receiving corps, hauling in 47 passes for 624 yards, while Mike Barber provided receiving help, too.
Willie Alexander snatched 5 errant tosses from the opposition.
Bum Phillips coached the team. The 1978 Houston Oilers lost in the Conference Championship.
Click on column headings to sort.
| # | Player | Pos. | Birth Date | Height | Weight | College | Hometown | GP | GS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 | Willie Alexander | LCB | September 21, 1949 | 6'2" | 194 | Alcorn St. | Montgomery, LA USA | 16 | 16 |
| 86 | Mike Barber | TE | June 4, 1953 | 6'3" | 235 | Louisiana Tech | Marshall, TX USA | 16 | 16 |
| 63 | Steve Baumgartner | DE-LB | March 26, 1951 | 6'7" | 256 | Purdue | Chicago, IL USA | 16 | 0 |
| 65 | Elvin Bethea | RDE | March 1, 1946 | 6'2" | 260 | North Carolina A&T | Trenton, NJ USA | 16 | 16 |
| 54 | Gregg Bingham | RILB | March 13, 1951 | 6'1" | 227 | Purdue | Evanston, IL USA | 16 | 16 |
| 52 | Robert Brazile | ROLB | February 7, 1953 | 6'4" | 241 | Jackson St. | Mobile, AL USA | 16 | 16 |
| 00 | Ken Burrough | WR | July 14, 1948 | 6'3" | 215 | Texas Southern | Jacksonville, FL USA | 16 | 0 |
| 34 | Earl Campbell | RB | March 29, 1955 | 5'11" | 232 | Texas | Tyler, TX USA | 15 | 14 |
| 26 | Rob Carpenter | RB | April 20, 1955 | 6'1" | 224 | Miami (OH) | Lancaster, OH USA | 11 | 0 |
| 58 | David Carter | C-G | November 27, 1953 | 6'2" | 250 | West. Kentucky | Vincennes, IN USA | 16 | 0 |
| 88 | Rich Caster | TE-WR | October 16, 1948 | 6'5" | 228 | Jackson St. | Mobile, AL USA | 14 | 0 |
| 47 | Ronnie Coleman | PR | July 9, 1951 | 5'10" | 195 | Alabama A&M | Jasper, AL USA | 15 | 0 |
| 78 | Curley Culp | NT | March 10, 1946 | 6'2" | 265 | Arizona St. | Yuma, AZ USA | 16 | 0 |
| 20 | Bill Currier | SS | January 5, 1955 | 6'0" | 196 | South Carolina | Glen Burnie, MD USA | 14 | 11 |
| 28 | Anthony Davis | RB | September 8, 1952 | 5'10" | 190 | USC | Huntsville, TX USA | 2 | 0 |
| 67 | Jimmy Dean | DE | January 8, 1955 | 6'4" | 252 | Texas A&M | Bryan, TX USA | 3 | 0 |
| 81 | Johnnie Dirden | KR | March 14, 1952 | 6'0" | 188 | Sam Houston St. | Houston, TX USA | 16 | 0 |
| 69 | Andy Dorris | DE | August 11, 1951 | 6'4" | 238 | New Mexico St. | Bellaire, OH USA | 16 | 0 |
| 31 | Brian Duncan | RB | March 31, 1952 | 6'0" | 201 | SMU | Olney, TX USA | 5 | 0 |
| 60 | Ed Fisher | RG | May 31, 1949 | 6'3" | 249 | Arizona St. | Stockton, CA USA | 16 | 16 |
| 16 | Toni Fritsch | K | July 10, 1945 | 5'7" | 190 | none | Petronell, Austria | 16 | 0 |
| 70 | Conway Hayman | LG | January 9, 1949 | 6'3" | 264 | Delaware | Wilmington, DE USA | 16 | 16 |
| 15 | Al Johnson | DB-RB | June 17, 1950 | 6'0" | 200 | Cincinnati | Baltimore, MD USA | 7 | 0 |
| 84 | Billy Johnson | WR | January 21, 1952 | 5'9" | 170 | Widener | Boothwyn, PA USA | 5 | 0 |
| 71 | Ken Kennard | NT-DE | October 4, 1954 | 6'2" | 248 | Angelo State (TX) | Fort Worth, TX USA | 16 | 0 |
| 57 | Steve Kiner | LILB | June 12, 1947 | 6'1" | 220 | Tennessee | Sandstone, MN USA | 16 | 16 |
| 25 | Kurt Knoff | DB | April 6, 1954 | 6'2" | 191 | Kansas | East Grand Forks, MN USA | 16 | 0 |
| 55 | Carl Mauck | C | July 7, 1947 | 6'4" | 243 | Southern Illinois | McLeansboro, IL USA | 16 | 16 |
| 24 | Alvin Maxson | RB | November 12, 1951 | 5'11" | 205 | SMU | Beaumont, TX USA | 1 | 0 |
| 29 | Guido Merkens | WR-QB-DB | August 14, 1955 | 6'1" | 200 | Sam Houston St. | San Antonio, TX USA | 12 | 0 |
| 14 | Gifford Nielsen | QB | October 25, 1954 | 6'4" | 205 | BYU | Provo, UT USA | 2 | 0 |
| 18 | Cliff Parsley | P | December 26, 1954 | 6'1" | 211 | Oklahoma St. | Kansas City, MO USA | 16 | 0 |
| 7 | Dan Pastorini | QB | May 26, 1949 | 6'2" | 208 | Santa Clara | Sonora, CA USA | 16 | 16 |
| 39 | Larry Poole | RB | July 31, 1952 | 6'1" | 195 | Kent St. | Akron, OH USA | 9 | 0 |
| 64 | George Reihner | LG | April 27, 1955 | 6'4" | 263 | Penn St. | Pittsburgh, PA USA | 9 | 0 |
| 37 | Mike Reinfeldt | FS | May 6, 1953 | 6'2" | 192 | Wisc-Milwaukee | Baraboo, WI USA | 16 | 16 |
| 82 | Mike Renfro | WR | June 19, 1955 | 6'0" | 184 | TCU | Fort Worth, TX USA | 14 | 10 |
| 87 | Conrad Rucker | TE | November 15, 1954 | 6'3" | 255 | Southern | Cincinnati, OH USA | 13 | 0 |
| 73 | Greg Sampson | LT | October 25, 1950 | 6'6" | 265 | Stanford | Bellingham, WA USA | 16 | 0 |
| 62 | John Schuhmacher | G-T | September 23, 1955 | 6'3" | 271 | USC | Salem, OR USA | 11 | 0 |
| 27 | Greg Stemrick | RCB | October 25, 1951 | 5'11" | 185 | Colorado St. | Cincinnati, OH USA | 16 | 16 |
| 53 | Art Stringer | LB | January 30, 1954 | 6'1" | 223 | Ball St. | Troy, AL USA | 7 | 0 |
| 51 | Ted Thompson | LB | January 17, 1953 | 6'1" | 220 | SMU | Atlanta, TX USA | 16 | 0 |
| 76 | Morris Towns | RT | January 10, 1954 | 6'4" | 270 | Missouri | St. Louis, MO USA | 16 | 12 |
| 46 | Robert Turner | RB | March 6, 1954 | 5'11" | 200 | Oklahoma St. | Wynnewood, OK USA | 4 | 0 |
| 59 | Ted Washington | LOLB | February 16, 1948 | 6'1" | 244 | Miss. Valley St. | Tampa, FL USA | 16 | 0 |
| 38 | C.L. Whittington | DB | August 1, 1952 | 6'1" | 200 | Prairie View | Beaumont, TX USA | 12 | 0 |
| 33 | J.C. Wilson | DB | March 11, 1956 | 6'0" | 178 | Tampa | Cleveland, OH USA | 16 | 2 |
| 45 | Tim Wilson | FB | January 14, 1954 | 6'3" | 226 | Maryland | New Castle, DE USA | 16 | 13 |
| 42 | Robert Woods | WR | July 3, 1955 | 5'7" | 170 | Grambling St. | New Orleans, LA USA | 3 | 0 |
| 77 | Jim Young | LDE | July 8, 1950 | 6'2" | 260 | Texas Southern | Houston, TX USA | 16 | 16 |
