College Bicknell was the head football coach at the
University of Maine from 1976 to 1980, earning an 18–35–1 record. After that, he went to coach at
Boston College, where he stayed for ten years. At Boston College, he was 59–55–1, and was head coach in 1984 when
Heisman Trophy-winner
Doug Flutie completed his famous
Hail Flutie pass to
Gerard Phelan to beat the
Miami Hurricanes as time expired. Bicknell's son,
Jack Jr., was the
center for BC at the time of Flutie's miracle pass.
NFL Europe Bicknell was named the head coach of the
Barcelona Dragons from their inception in 1991 to their demise after the
2003 season. In October 2003 he was named head coach of the
Scottish Claymores, a franchise which in 2005 was relocated to Germany as
Hamburg Sea Devils, as rival to the local semi-pro
Hamburg Blue Devils which had won several German and European titles. "Cowboy Jack" Bicknell has an overall record of 59–55 in his
NFL Europe career. He made four World Bowl appearances, and had been to three title games in six years. In 1991,
El Caballero led the
Barcelona Dragons to an 8–2 mark and a berth in the playoffs for the first World Bowl after surprisingly defeating the unbeaten London Monarchs in Wembley, but got shut out by them two weeks later in World Bowl '91 itself. In 1997, his Dragons won the first half of the season and went on to win World Bowl '97 in Barcelona. In 1999, the Dragons posted a league-best 7–3 mark before losing to Frankfurt in the
World Bowl. His team posted a league-best 8–2 record in 2001 before losing World Bowl IX to the
Berlin Thunder in Amsterdam. On 28 March 2007, at age 69, Bicknell stepped down as head coach of the Hamburg Sea Devils, citing health issues as the reason for his resignation. ==Personal life==