A tribute to Jon Madden.
By Larry Plachno, Editor and Publisher, National Bus Trader
April 2022
During his years as an NFL broadcaster, the late John Madden traveled on endless treks from city to city aboard a series of customized “Madden Cruiser” bus conversions. Several FMCA commercial members were involved in these conversion efforts, including Custom Coach Corporation and MCI. Below, his life as a “bus guy” is told via excerpts from this article published in the February 2022 issue of National Bus Trader magazine.
We were saddened to hear of the passing of John Madden on December 28, 2021. Those who knew him and worked with him remember him fondly as being a good guy who often helped others. While most people connect John with football, he really had four careers. These included playing football, coaching football, announcing football, and as an unofficial spokesman for the bus industry. It is this fourth vocation of his that interests us bus people.
College, Coaching, And Commentator
John Madden was born in Austin, Minnesota, a community of about 20,000. Later, his family moved to Daly City, California. John’s education included both a B.S. and an M.S. from California Polytechnic College in San Luis Obispo, California.
John was involved with football at Cal Poly where he played both offensive and defensive lines in 1957-58 while earning his degrees. He was chosen for the all-conference team and was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles. His hopes of going on to a pro career in football were frustrated by a knee injury. Hence, he made the decision to turn to football coaching. He started coaching at Hancock Junior College at Santa Maria, California, and then moved up to defensive coordinator at San Diego State and remained there for three years until 1967.
Behind the scenes, John was a family man. He married Virginia Fields on December 26, 1959, in Santa Maria, California. They made their home in Pleasanton, California, and raised two boys, Joseph and Michael. Virginia later became involved in helping to design the Madden coach interiors. She occasionally did ride on the buses, but she often traveled by plane. At the time of John’s death, they had been married for 62 years.
Following San Diego State, John’s coaching record was set with the Oakland Raiders.
In 1967 the owner of the Raiders, Al Davis, brought John Madden in as a linebacker’s coach. Oakland went to the Super Bowl that year. In 1969, John took over as head coach at the age of 32, one of the youngest head coaches in history, and began an outstanding 10-year run.
He retired from the Raiders at age 42 after coaching a 9-7 season in 1978. His all-time record was 103-32-7 for the regular season and 9-7 in post-season play. While John was head coach, the Raiders never had a losing season. They did earn seven division titles and eight playoff appearances.
While John retired from coaching the Raiders, he did not retire from football. His expertise in the game prompted a transition from a coach on the sidelines to an announcer up in the press box. He soon became just as successful at announcing as he had been at coaching. One of the reasons why John left coaching was because he was increasingly uncomfortable with flying.
The combination of a tight announcer’s schedule and his lack of interest in flying began to create some interesting transportation problems for John. For a while he tried riding trains between his various announcer locations. This did work to some extent since he felt less confined and could walk around, although there were two major problems. One of these problems was the lack of point-to-point convenience since the trains frequently did not go to where John wanted to go. A second problem was privacy. Being so well known, he could not walk through the train without people recognizing and stopping him.
Finally, the broadcasting company John worked with began looking for better alternatives. In 1986 they leased Dolly Parton’s private coach to see if this alternative worked better. It turned out to be a touchdown for John. This led to the ongoing series of Madden Cruiser Coaches that would provide transportation for him for more than two decades. All five of his coaches were built by MCI and the first three were converted by Custom Coach Corporation.
Madden Cruiser One
The first Madden Cruiser came about when the chairman of Greyhound offered John Madden a three-year bus contract. Greyhound would provide a suitable converted coach, professional drivers, and fuel for three years in exchange for some internal promotion for Greyhound employees. As a result, a new 40-foot 1987 MCI 102A3 coach was sent to Custom Coach in Columbus, Ohio, for conversion. Initially, the coach had a fairly typical Greyhound red, white, and blue paint scheme. Since none of the windows were blocked out, you could pass it on the road and not know it was special.
John poses proudly with Madden Cruiser number one.
There were only three external differences from a standard Greyhound coach. Being a conversion, there was no destination sign, something people not involved with buses might not notice. The fleet number on the coach was 0001, which suggested something special or unusual. The most obvious difference was the name Madden Cruiser painted behind the entrance door. Most likely, most people passed this coach on the road without knowing that it was carrying John Madden.
One of the most noteworthy features of the coach was a dinette on the curb side in front with a couch opposite on the street side. The center aisle then angled to the curb with the galley to the rear and a driver’s bunk opposite. As with most converted coaches, there was a bathroom behind the galley followed by a bedroom in the rear. This initial coach proved that travel by private coach was what John wanted and needed.
When the Greyhound contract ran out, Madden sought another sponsor and went with Walker Advantage Muffler. The same MCI 102A3 was retained, but the Greyhound red, white, and blue was changed to a basic white with blue stripes and the Walker name in red.
At least two modifications were made to the coach. When delivered, the 102A3 was equipped with what was then state-of-the-art FM radios. John, however, preferred to listen to football games on AM. Hence, an AM radio was installed at the rear of the dinette. This dinette located behind the front door was Madden’s favorite sitting place while traveling. An extra CB radio was installed behind the dinette for John, who often spent time talking with truckers and others while going down the road.
The loss of the innocuous Greyhound red, white, and blue livery made the coach considerably more obvious on the road and when parked. Hence another modification was a sliding device that was installed on the exterior of the coach on both sides to cover the “Madden” in the Madden Cruiser name.
It was used for seven years: three under Greyhound and four under Walker Advantage Muffler. The following coaches in the Madden Cruiser series were replaced sooner.
A side note worth mentioning is that John had no control over the location of the football games where he served as announcer and commentator. They could be only a few hours apart or entirely across on the other side of the country. Hence, in a worst-case scenario, John and his drivers would have less than a week to cross the country to arrive and get ready for the next broadcast. You might bear in mind that the football season does not coincide with pleasant weather. In some cases the Madden Cruiser would take a longer route to avoid some of the worst weather.
Soon after deciding to travel by private coach, John started what might be called his fourth career as an unofficial spokesman for the bus industry. In addition to being seen around the country in his coach, John would frequently show up at MCI customer events to meet with bus operators.
Madden Cruiser Two
After Madden Cruiser number two was retired, the repainted coach was exhibited at FMCA’s 1999 Perry, Georgia, convention.
In 1994, John Madden moved up to his second coach. This was a 1994 MCI 102DL3 again converted by Custom Coach. Information received from Custom Coach suggests that three miles of wires and 4,000 feet of lumber were used to build this coach. While this coach was 45 feet long and hence five feet longer than the initial 102A3, much of the interior was similar because it had worked so well with the first Madden Cruiser.
John’s queen-sized bed faced the rear with the headboard up against the rear of the bathroom. It was mounted on sliders to slide up against the street sidewall when not in use to make a larger aisle on the curb side. Most of the additional five feet of space was used at the rear of the coach for a small office and a second bathroom. The office area contained a phone, fax machine, and a video player. The video was there to view game films, and the office area could also be used for simple broadcasts. On the street side at the rear of the coach was a half bath with a toilet and sink.
Madden Cruiser Two originally started out painted for Walker Advantage Muffler. The Walker contract expired while the coach was in use and the Outback Steakhouse elected to sponsor the Madden Cruiser. This resulted in more elaborate exterior graphics featuring the Outback Steakhouse name.
When John moved on to his third Madden Cruiser this coach ended up back at Custom Coach for resale. It was repainted in a simple deep blue and was on display at the FMCA show in Perry, Georgia, in the spring of 1999. It was soon snapped up by a husband-and-wife team who worked on computers for medical facilities. They found that having two bathrooms was ideal since they needed to get started at the same time in the morning, presumably while parked in a hospital parking lot.
Madden Cruiser Three
Madden Cruiser number three, sporting amped-up graphics, was an MCI Renaissance 102EL3.
In 1998, John decided on moving to a third coach. MCI had just introduced their new Renaissance design with sleek styling that impressed him. While he continued using Custom Coach for the interior, John decided on the new Renaissance (102EL3) model for this Madden Cruiser. Outback Steakhouse remained as the sponsor and a custom jungle exterior with the Outback Steakhouse name was applied by Vernon and Sons.
With this third Madden Cruiser, John’s wife, Virginia, became involved with the interior design, which resulted in some obvious changes from the previous coach. What was noteworthy in this coach was the use of granite, marble, and leather. The galley and both bathroom areas had tiled floors.
One of the major changes on this coach was the movement of the shower to the rear bathroom. The bath just aft of the galley became a half bath with a toilet and sink, while the bathroom in the street-side rear corner now became a full bath.
Reporters interview John aboard bus number three.
This coach again had an office in the rear curbside corner. As with the earlier coaches, the overall design of this coach included lighter colors and open windows. John preferred this to avoid a confined or closed-in feeling.
Madden Cruiser Four
The fourth Madden Cruiser coach came in 2002. John had been so pleased with the performance and reliability of Madden Cruiser Three that he wanted another MCI “E” model. The only difference being that with the change in model designation at MCI, this 2002 coach was officially an E4500 model.
Klein Interior Specialists of Nolensville, Tennessee, converted this coach. Outback Steakhouse continued as the sponsor, and the exterior graphics once again carried the Outback Steakhouse name.
While much of the interior remained similar to the previous two coaches, there were some changes. Once again, Virginia was involved in selecting some of the options, and this coach also had some state-of-the-art electronic equipment. Stained rosewood was used for the interior finish with contemporary soft tones obvious. The traditional dinette had granite tops and accents. Special equipment in the galley area included a three-burner glass-top electric stove and an Amana side-by-side refrigerator. Three Sony flat-screen televisions were strategically placed to give virtually any seat in the coach a good view.
Outback Steakhouse sponsored number four, a 2002 MCI E4500.
The rear bathroom had an extra-large glass steam shower in this coach. John’s office area in the rear received some improvements with this coach. It now contained a built-in desk, a computer, a fax machine, and a cell phone system with three telephone lines. This coach was also equipped with a Datron mobile satellite system, which provided hundreds of stations for the on-board televisions.
Madden Cruiser Five
The fifth Madden Cruiser went into service in late 2006. Due to his excellent past experience with the MCI “E” model, John again selected an E4500 for his shell. This coach came with a Caterpillar C-13 engine and a SmartTire tire monitoring system. This time the conversion company selected was Super Coach of Lebanon, Tennessee. Outback Steakhouse continued as sponsor, but the exterior graphics on this coach were a deeper red in color.
Both Virginia and the MCI staff were involved with the interior and the finishes. Once again, many of the usual design features continued, but there were several changes. The front lounge had two televisions on this coach. The galley area, which included a side-by-side stainless-steel refrigerator, came with both granite flooring as well as granite countertops.
The master bathroom at the rear now had a four-foot-by-four-foot steam shower. John’s office and workspace at the rear of the coach had been expanded and enhanced. In addition to hosting a radio show on board, he often used his coach to prepare for his television broadcasts.
Noteworthy additions on this coach included an in-motion satellite system from KVH Industries, two 32-inch flat-screen HD TVs, and three 15-inch flat-screen TVs. This coach also had a 24-kw generator and Sirius satellite radio.
It might be noted that John often put as much as 80,000 to 100,000 miles on his coach during the football season. Depending on game locations, John could easily find himself crossing the country between games in weather conditions that might be considerably less than ideal. Typically, there were two drivers on board.
Those people who have worked with and for John Madden indicate that he was very considerate of his staff and coworkers. On one noteworthy occasion, one of his drivers became seriously ill and had to be hospitalized. John allowed his other driver to accompany him, thus leaving the Madden Cruiser driverless in spite of a forthcoming engagement and a long drive to the west coast for the holidays. The staff at Custom Coach scrambled and provided emergency drivers to get the Madden Cruiser to its next port of call, and then cross country to get John home for the holidays. John made sure that the drivers knew he appreciated their efforts.
John finally decided to retire in 2009 following his broadcast on Pittsburgh’s impressive 27-23 win over Arizona in the 2009 Super Bowl. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was quoted as saying, “I am not aware of anyone who has made a more meaningful impact on the National Football League than John Madden, and I know of no one who loved the game more.”
From our standpoint, the bus industry was also very appreciative of John’s efforts as an unofficial spokesman for the industry. He let people know that there was an alternative to the automobile, train, and plane that was safe, reliable, and got you where you needed to be.