DePaul University Athletics
Four-Time Super Bowl Coach Levy Delights DePaul Audience
5/27/2016 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Doug Bruno, Bart Brooks, Jill M. Pizzotti, Chanise Jenkins join Super Bowl coach Marv Levy
May 27, 2016
CHICAGO -- Even at the age of 92, four-time Super Bowl coach Marv Levy can command a room like few others.
Listening to one of the finest coaches in NFL history and a lifelong Chicagoan addressing students from the Theories and Techniques of Coaching class along with a good number of DePaul coaches and staff members made it clear why Levy has been such a big-time winner all his life.
There is an intriguing blend of cerebral thinking from the Harvard graduate combined with a blue-collar tenacity and the unmistakable presence of an abiding compassion that kept the McGrath-Phillips Arena audience hanging on his every word.
Any of the students in the class taught by St. Patrick's basketball coach Mike Bailey and DePaul coach Doug Bruno who enter the coaching profession would do well to emulate the Levy template.
"I don't believe in `my way or the highway,'" Levy said. "You have to work in conjunction with your general manager, coaching staff and player personnel director.
"Every Super Bowl we went to, Buffalo Bills owner Ralph Wilson took everyone there from the receptionists to the maintenance workers and everyone else. He paid for their plane fare, hotel, meals and tickets to the game. It's because they all contributed as a total organization."
Levy's keys for a successful career: the ability to teach, be a straight-shooter, and if you're going to be a coach, do you love it?
He would never tell a player there was a chance to start when the guy had little chance of seeing the field. Levy always valued character over ability, casting his lot with guys who would not blame teammates when things went wrong.
Early on when his undergraduate alma mater Coe College offered him a position on the football staff, he was elated. When his wife said: "What are they going to pay you," Levy replied: "I didn't ask about that." After Coe College, he headed up the programs at Country Day School in St. Louis, New Mexico (1958-59), California (1960-63) and William and Mary (1964-68).
His first NFL position was special teams coach for the Philadelphia Eagles in 1969. He would proceed as a special teams coach for the Los Angeles Rams and the Washington Redskins. He also coached the Montreal Alouettes in the Canadian Football League for five years and led them to two Grey Cup championships.
Levy was the Kansas City Chiefs head coach from 1978-82 and was a TV color analyst after that. He was hired by the Bills in 1986 and became the most successful coach in franchise history with a record of 123-78. Buffalo had gone 4-28 the two years prior to his arrival.
Behind all-pros like Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Bruce Smith and Andre Reed, it took Levy only two years to lead the Bills to the AFC title game, losing to the Cincinnati Bengals. The Bills won the AFC East six of the next eight seasons and made the playoffs in eight out of the next nine. During that run, Levy and the Bills would become the only team in NFL history to go to four straight Super Bowls (1991-94). He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2001.
"My first day of work in the team meeting, remember, I was over 60 years old," Levy said. "I told the players: `We don't have a generation gap---we have a two-generation gap.' I told them what it takes to succeed is simple, but it won't be easy.
"I had two rules---be a good citizen and be on time. When we traveled, we always left on time. One time, I left the owner behind. Thank goodness he forgave me.
Levy was a model of decorum with a steadfast belief to honor the game, and the Bills followed his lead. The ebullient, Thomas with a flashy, outgoing personality would score 88 touchdowns and simply hand the ball over to the official after every trip to seven heaven.
You imagine Levy's consternation and anger while coaching the Chiefs when a third-string tight end and special teams player returned an interception for a touchdown and immediately launched into a gaudy end-zone dance.
As the player joyously came to the sideline, Levy charged up to him and screamed: "What the (blank) were you thinking about?"
The player responded: "Coach, I ain't never been there before and I'll never be there again."
Levy served his country in battle during World War II and his father had been a Marine who fought in World War I. At the start of training camp on an extremely hot and muggy day in 1990, the coach opened with an inspiring talk.
"My father was in the famous Battle of Belleau Wood," Levy said. "He had a commanding officer, a major named John Hughes who used to say: `When it's too tough for them, it's just right for us.' I told them that story and didn't mention it after that.
"The 1991 AFC title game against the Oakland Raiders in Buffalo was an unbearably cold, windy and miserable day. Right before kickoff with the team gathered on the sideline, linebacker Shane Conlan said: `Coach, can I say something?' And he said: `When it's too tough for them, it's just right for us."
The Bills went on to win the first of four consecutive AFC titles with a 51-3 thrashing of the Raiders in which 18 AFC championship game records were set.
Buffalo had fallen behind the Houston Oilers 28-3 at halftime of its 1993 playoff game when Levy had an inspiration. He walked up to backup quarterback Frank Reich and said: "Didn't you pull off the greatest comeback in college football as a backup at Maryland?" Reich nodded his head.
With that, Levy replaced his all-pro passer Kelly with the seldom-used second-stringer who promptly had an interception returned for a touchdown and a 35-3 deficit. It didn't exactly look like a genius move.
But then lightning struck not once, not twice, but four times in seven minutes as the four-touchdown outburst led to a 41-38 overtime win and the greatest comeback in NFL history.
Much of this was made possible by a leader who has written a fictional novel and a book of poems while helping others ascend to withering heights.
"I remember the first meeting I was in with the Bills," said former linebacker John Holecek who coached Loyola Academy to the Class 8A state title last fall. "There were six eventual Hall of Famers in that room and outstanding players everywhere.
"But when Marv walked in, it got quiet and everyone sat up a little straighter. We were all aware he was one of a kind. He had a love and respect for his players and the intelligence to help them achieve their happiness.
"He is a unique individual from the Greatest Generation, and you didn't want to disappoint him and yourself. He made the people around him better and elevates the room."
Somehow, Levy generated the kind of leadership and inspiration to lead the Bills to four consecutive Super Bowls. It's one thing to have prevailed in one or two of them and keep coming back for more. But to lose each one and still have the courage to fight your way back might be Levy's greatest testimonial.
"It was the character of the players on those teams," he said. "We were bloodied, but not slain---only to rise and fight again. It was a unique thing.
"That first Super Bowl, we were driving down the field for the winning points. With four seconds left, our kicker Scott Norwood missed the game-winning field goal wide right. You can imagine our crushing disappointment.
"The next day, were supposed to bus back to our practice field after the flight home. Instead, the bus takes us downtown where Lafayette Square is overflowing with Bills fans who are chanting: `We want Scott.' I told them: `You have just given us the motivation to go back to the Super Bowl.'"
It was Bruno who first thought about bringing in Levy as a guest speaker after watching him jog through Lincoln Park. Bruno reached out to Holecek who helped make the connection.
"John told me to e-mail Marv with my request," Bruno said. "This is a guy who commands big-time fees for his motivational speeches. I said in my e-mail: `Throughout the years, we have been able to attract, coerce and con some of the more special coaching talent in the Chicago area to speak at our class. I say coerce and con because we are working with a speakers' budget of $0.00.'"
To which Levy responded: "I am complimented and honored to be asked to participate, and I will look forward to joining you all on May 26. And, oh yeah, one last thing that I feel compelled to point out relative to that budget of $0.00 that you mentioned. I will make that appearance only if you can arrange to triple that amount."
That anecdote brought a roar of laughter from the McGrath-Phillips Arena audience. And as they slowly departed with many going up to greet Levy, they went home with Levy's all-time favorite saying: "Where else would you rather be than right here---right now."
