Marv Levy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Marvin Daniel Levy (born August 3, 1925 in Chicago, Illinois) is currently the General Manager and Vice President of Football Operations for the Buffalo Bills. He is a former professional football coach, in the CFL as head coach of the Montreal Alouettes (1973–1977), and in the NFL as head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs (1978–1982) and the Buffalo Bills (1986–1997).
Contents |
[edit] Early life
Levy's family emigrated from England. His father, a decorated WW I veteran, ran a small business on the South Side of Chicago. He graduated from South Shore High School in Chicago. Following graduation in 1943, he enlisted in the Army Air Forces and spent the remainder of World War II in the military; Levy would be discharged from the army shortly afterwards.
[edit] College Years
Levy enrolled at Coe College in Iowa. There he earned varsity letters in football, track, and basketball. He obtained a degree in English literature, was granted membership in the Phi Beta Kappa Society, and was twice voted student council president. He was also a member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity. He was admitted to Harvard University for graduate studies in 1951, earning a masters degree in English history.
[edit] College coaching
His first coaching job was at St. Louis Country Day School, coaching football and basketball. Two years later, Levy returned to Coe College as an assistant football coach (1953–1954). In 1954, he joined the coaching staff at the University of New Mexico and was named head coach in 1958. In two seasons as head coach, he guided the Lobos to a 14–6 record and earned Skyline Conference Coach of the Year honors both years. He interviewed with the University of California, Berkeley chancellor Glenn Seaborg on February 2, 1960, and was announced as the new head coach of the Cal Bears on February 5, 1960. Despite selecting a young Bill Walsh as a coaching assistant, Levy's best record during his four season tenure as head coach at Cal from 1960-1963 was 4-5-1. He finished his college-coaching career with a five-year stint as head coach at the College of William and Mary where he twice earned Southern Conference Coach of the Year honors.
[edit] Professional football
Levy began his professional football coaching career in 1969 as kicking teams coach for the Philadelphia Eagles before joining George Allen's staff as a special teams coach for the Los Angeles Rams in 1970. He followed Allen to Washington DC in 1971, where he served as the Washington Redskins' special teams coach for two seasons. Levy then served as the head coach of the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League for five seasons. He coached Montreal to three CFL Grey Cup appearances and two championships, and won the Annis Stukus Trophy (Coach of the Year) in 1974. Levy returned to the NFL in 1978 as head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs. He coached the Chiefs for five seasons with steady improvement each year.
Midway through the 1986 season, following a two-year hiatus from coaching and one season as the head coach of the Chicago Blitz of the United States Football League, Levy returned to the NFL as head coach of the Buffalo Bills. He finished the season with a 2–5 record. In 1987, his first full season with the Bills, the team returned to respectability with a 7–8 record and were in the playoff hunt throughout most of the season. The following season the team posted a 12–4 record and won the first of six AFC Eastern Division titles. With his high-powered “no-huddle” offense, Levy went on to set a new standard for innovation among NFL coaches as he led his AFC championship team to four consecutive Super Bowl appearances.
From 1988 through 1997, the Bills were first in the AFC in winning percentage and second only to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFL. Levy, the winningest coach in Bills’ history, recorded a 112–70 regular season record and was 11–8 in the playoffs during his eleven seasons with the Bills. He was named NFL Coach of the Year in 1988 and AFC Coach of the Year in 1988, 1993, and 1995.
Levy retired in 1997 and became an analyst for NFL.com. In 2001 Levy was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Along with former Bills' special teamer Steve Tasker, Levy did local broadcasts for the Bills' pre-season games until being appointed the Bills' General Manager in 2006. During the regular season he was a part of the Chicago Bears pregame show on ESPN Radio 1000, as well as Chicago Bears postgame show on Comcast SportsNet.
[edit] General Manager
On January 5, 2006, Bills owner Ralph C. Wilson Jr. enlisted Levy, at the age of 80, to act as General Manager and Vice President of Football Operations for the Buffalo Bills. Following the resignation of Mike Mularkey, there was initial speculation (created by Levy's own comments at a team press conference) that Levy would resume a head coaching role with the team. To eliminate this speculation, and to minimize any future tension between General Manager Levy and the Bills new head coach, team owner Ralph C. Wilson Jr. said: "To say it very, very succinctly, Marv Levy is our General Manager. He will never be the coach."
Levy's first order of business was to hire a new head coach as a replacement for Mularkey, who resigned within days of Levy's appointment. After a strenuous interview process Levy and team owner Wilson hired Detroit Lions interim head coach Dick Jauron as the new head coach. Jauron formerly was head coach of the Chicago Bears and defensive coordinator of the Detroit Lions.
[edit] Career highlights
- The only NFL coach to have coached teams that subsequently won four straight league or conference championships
- Won two CFL championships while head coach of the Montreal Alouettes
- Guided the Bills to six division championships (including four consecutive from 1988–1991)
- Compiled a 17–5 record (14–5 in the regular season and 3–0 in the post-season) against the winningest coach in NFL history, Don Shula. Levy is the only head coach in NFL history to have a winning record against Shula.
- Compiled 143 NFL coaching victories (11th on the all-time list)
- One of only 14 coaches to win 100 games with one NFL team
- The only coach to compete in four Super Bowls in a row
- Retired at the age of 72; tied with George Halas as the oldest head coach in NFL history.
[edit] Bibliography
- Marv Levy: Where Else Would You Rather Be?, Sports Publishing, 2004. ISBN 1-58261-797-X
[edit] External links
- Pro Football Hall of Fame: Member profile
| Preceded by Tom Donahoe |
Buffalo Bills General Managers 2006–present |
Succeeded by incumbent |
| Preceded by Hank Bullough |
Buffalo Bills Head Coaches 1986–1997 |
Succeeded by Wade Phillips |
| Preceded by Tom Bettis |
Kansas City Chiefs Head Coaches 1978–1982 |
Succeeded by John Mackovic |
| Preceded by Milt Drewer |
College of William & Mary Head Coaches 1964–1968 |
Succeeded by Lou Holtz |
| Preceded by Pete Elliott |
University of California Head Coaches 1960–1963 |
Succeeded by Ray Willsey |
| Preceded by Dick Clausen |
University of New Mexico Head Coaches 1958–1959 |
Succeeded by Bill Weeks |
| Buffalo Bills Head Coaches |
|---|
| Ramsey • Saban • Collier • Johnson • Rauch • Johnson • Saban • Ringo • Knox • Stephenson • Bullough • Levy • W. Phillips • Williams • Mularkey • Jauron |
| Dallas Texans/Kansas City Chiefs head coaches |
|---|
| Stram • Wiggin • Bettis • Levy • Mackovic • Gansz • Schottenheimer • Cunningham • Vermeil • Edwards |
Categories: Kansas City Chiefs | Cal Bears football coaches | New Mexico Lobos football coaches | 1925 births | American football executives | American football running backs | Buffalo Bills coaches | Canadian Football League coaches | People from Chicago | American businesspeople | Kansas City Chiefs coaches | Living people | Los Angeles Rams coaches | Philadelphia Eagles coaches | Pro Football Hall of Fame | United States Football League coaches | Washington Redskins coaches | William and Mary Tribe football coaches | NFL 1990s All-Decade Team
