Great Levy Article

[Don't Panic]

http://www.buffalobills.com/news/news.jsp?news_id=3834

The year was 1957 and a young assistant coach at the University of New Mexico, named Marv Levy had a voracious appetite for football knowledge. With aspirations of becoming a head coach, Levy traveled across the country attending countless coaching clinics to obtain every ounce of wisdom any proven college or professional coach was willing to offer.
"The first few summers I was in coaching I followed around three coaching icons at the time," said Levy. "Bud Wilkinson (Oklahoma), Woody Hayes (Ohio State) and Paul "Bear" Bryant (Alabama). I spent my whole summer following them around the country going to their clinics."
One of the more publicized clinics was being held in Santa Barbara, California that year the first week in July and Wilkinson and Bryant were both scheduled to lecture.
"Dave E. Nelson from the University of Delaware spoke too," recalled Levy. "He was running the great new offense at the time, the Wing-T which we had adopted. Dan Devine, who at that time was the coach at Arizona State, and then later at Missouri and Notre Dame was also there."
The star-studded lineup drew close to 2,000 coaches.
"Most were from California," said Levy. "But there were coaches from all over."
At that time most clinics dealt with the 'x's' and 'o's' of coaching, and coaches like Wilkinson and Bryant who were wildly successful often espoused the virtues of their respective offenses and defenses.

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Edited by Mr. Miyagi - due to copyright issue, the entire article cannot be displayed.

[Gunzlingr]

Re: Great Levy Article

Great read!

[The_Philster]

Re: Great Levy Article

Great read!

Yeah...too bad it's a copyright/TOS violation

You can't post full articles...only a blurb and a link

[Gunzlingr]

Re: Great Levy Article

Yeah...too bad it's a copyright/TOS violation

You can't post full articles...only a blurb and a link

so, what do you want me to do about it?

[The_Philster]

Re: Great Levy Article

so, what do you want me to do about it?

nothing just saying...a mod should fix it if bwbrenton doesn't

[Gunzlingr]

Re: Great Levy Article

oh, I thought you wanted me to do it. Somebody will fix it.

[Mr. Miyagi]

Re: Great Levy Article

Happy, Phil?

[LifetimeBillsFan]

Re: Great Levy Article

There were two things that I really liked about this article:

1.) It shows what separates the good and great coaches from the great number of coaches who just have decent careers. That Bryant came to the clinic anyway and was willing to talk to just 5 guys instead of the audience he was expecting and that he was willing to take them to his room for lunch and keep talking with them. That the five of them were willing to change their schedules and stick around for the extra day just to hear and learn from him....

2.) It also gives some insight into the kinds of things that go on behind the scenes between coaches, etc. that can influence who a coach or GM may choose to hire or pass over as an assistant later on. When Levy hired Bill Walsh as an assistant at Cal, he was not THE Bill Walsh that everyone knows was a great coach and football mind now, he was just Bill Walsh, another one of hundreds of California high school football coaches. But, because of this encounter, Levy knew that he wasn't just another California high school football coach like all of the rest. But, anyone on the outside who didn't know about this incident could easily have wondered, "Why the heck is he hiring THAT guy?" You can call it favoritism or nepotism if you want, but it happens all of the time and there are some coaches who just seem to have an ability to spot others who have what it takes to be good coaches: Paul Brown did, so did Chuck Noll, Walsh, Parcells, Belichick, etc.--although not every good coach is cut out to be a great head coach, some can be just great assistants or coordinators.

The other thing that I like about the article, although a lot of this is in Marv's book, is that it gives Bills fans some idea of the kinds of great football coaches and minds that Levy has been influenced by and learned from. We're talking legends of the game here! Levy has probably forgotten more about football than I--or the vast majority of fans--can ever hope to know. Yet, he's not a "know-it-all"--as evidenced by the fact that he admitted that he allowed the others in the Bills' "warroom" on draft day to talk him into trading up to take McCargo before the NY Giants could. While I don't agree with every move that Levy has made (as a HC or as Bills' GM) and I have some questions and doubts about whether some of the things that he has done will work out, it is this knowledge, experience and flexibility (and his ability to spot football people and his willingness to hire them, as detailed in the article) that causes me to give Levy the benefit of the doubt and makes me willing to be patient enough to see how the moves that he has made will work out. IMHO he has earned that much and the fact that he may be 80 doesn't influence that at all.

[Don't Panic]

Re: Great Levy Article

Sorry... didn't know the rule. Won't let it happen again. I agree with a lot of what you said, LBF... in a nutshell, it shows that Levy has great influences and that if he still has his edge, the wisdom he has attained through 50 years of following the game is priceless.

[The_Philster]

Re: Great Levy Article

Happy, Phil?

I'd be happier if I had a few million dollars