Coach
Marv Levy led the National Football League’s Buffalo
Bills to four consecutive Super Bowls from 1990 to
1993. Although victory eluded Buffaloat all four Super Bowls,
Levy’s teams
won six Division titles and four Conference
(AFC) championships from
1990 to 1993. UPI named him NFL
Coach of the Year in 1988 and 1995, and
AFC Coach of the Year in 1993.
Levy served 17 years as an NFL head
coach with Kansas City from 1978 to
1982, and with Buffalo from 1986 to 1997.
When he entered his final season in 1997,
his 12-year tenure with the same team
made him the dean of NFL head coaches.
Upon retirement, Levy ranked eleventh
on the list of all-time most winning
coaches 143–112 (117–68 at Buffalo) and
fifth among NFL coaches in post-season
victories with 11 wins in 19 games.
A 30-year coaching veteran, Levy
was color commentator on Buffalo
Bills’ game day telecasts from 1983 to
1986, joining the Buffalo coaching staff
in 1986 directly from the press box. In
1984, he took leave of the broadcast
booth to coach the Chicago Blitz in the
United States Football League.
From 1973 to 1977, Levy coached
the Montreal Alouettes in the Canadian
Football League. The CFL team enjoyed
a 50–34–4 record and made the playoffs
all five seasons, winning Grey Cup
(CFL) Championships in 1974 and
1977. Earlier, Levy was an assistant
coach with the NFL’s Washington Redskins,
Los Angeles Rams, and Philadelphia
Eagles.
Success was synonymous with
Marv Levy as head coach at the College
of William and Mary (1964 to 1968), the
University of California-Berkeley (1960
to 1963), and the University of New
Mexico (1958 to 1959). He was named
Conference Coach of the Year in 1958,
1959, 1964, 1965.
Marvin Daniel Levy was himself a
standout running back and sprinter. A
Phi Beta Kappa at Coe College in 1950,
he earned a master’s degree in English
History at Harvard University in 1951.
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