Athletes - Vince Lombardi

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	Athletes - Vince Lombardi

Vincent Thomas Lombardi (June 11, 1913 – September 3, 1970) was one of the most successful coaches in the history of football. He was the driving force of the Green Bay Packers from 1959 to 1968, helping the team capture five NFL championships during his 10-year tenure. Following a one-year retirement, he returned to coach the Washington Redskins during the 1969 season. His 9-1 record in the playoffs ranks at the top, percentage-wise, in NFL history.

Early life

Vincent Lombardi was born on June 11, 1913 in Brooklyn to Neopolitan-born father Enrico "Harry" Lombardi (emigrated at age two), a butcher, and Brooklyn-born Matilda Izzo, the daughter of a barber, whose parents had immigrated as teenagers from just east of Salerno in southern Italy. Vince Lombardi was raised in the Sheepshead Bay area of southern Brooklyn, and attended its public schools through the eighth grade.

In 1928, at age 15, he entered a preparatory seminary, a six year secondary program to become a Catholic priest. After four years, Lombardi decided not to pursue this path, and transferred to the St. Francis Preparatory High School, where he was a standout on the football team (an activity that was discouraged at the seminary). Lombardi remained a devout Catholic throughout his lifetime.

In 1933 Lombardi accepted a football scholarship to Fordham University in the Bronx, to play for new head coach Sleepy Jim Crowley, one of the Four Horsemen of Notre Dame in the 1920s. Lombardi was an undersized guard (5'8" 185 lb.) on Fordham's imposing front line, which became known as the Seven Blocks of Granite. It held Fordham's opponents scoreless several times during a string of 25 consecutive victories. Frank Leahy, future head coach at Notre Dame, was Lombardi's position coach. In the classroom Lombardi was, at best, a slightly above average student. He was awarded his bachelor's degree from Fordham in June 1937, five days after his 24th birthday.

In 1939, after two years of unfulfilling jobs, semi-professional football with the Brooklyn Eagles (bulking up to 205 lb.) and Wilmington Clippers, and a semester of Fordham's law school at night, Lombardi gladly accepted an assistant coaching job at St. Cecilia, a Catholic high school in Englewood, New Jersey. He was hired by its new head coach, a Fordham teammate, former quarterback "Handy" Andy Palau. Palau had also struggled for two years, failing to make it in baseball as a catcher in the Yankee farm system. Palau had just taken over the head coaching position from another Fordham teammate, Nat Pierce (left guard), who had accepted an assistant coach's job back at Fordham. In addition to coaching, Lombardi, age 26, also taught Latin, chemistry, and physics for an annual salary of under $1800 at the high school. He and Palau shared a boarding house room across the street for $1.50 each per week. In 1940, Lombardi married Marie Planitz, a cousin of another Fordham teammate, Jim Lawlor. Andy Palau left for Fordham in 1942 and Lombardi became the head coach at St. Cecilia. Lombardi stayed a total of eight years (five as head coach), leaving for Fordham in 1947 to coach the freshman teams in football and basketball. The following year he served as an assistant coach for Fordham's varsity football team.

Following the 1948 football season, Lombardi accepted another assistant's job, at the United States Military Academy, a position that would greatly influence his future coaching style. As offensive line coach under legendary head coach Colonel Red Blaik, Lombardi worked long hours and refined his leadership skills. Blaik's emphasis on execution would become a hallmark of Lombardi's NFL teams. Lombardi coached at West Point for five seasons, with varying results. The 1949, 1950, & 1953 seasons were successful, but the 1951 and 1952 seasons were poor and mediocre, respectively, due to the aftermath the cadet cribbing scandal in the spring of 1951, which severely depleted the talent on the football team. Following these five seasons at Army, Lombardi accepted an assistant coaching position with the NFL's New York Giants.

Professional coaching career

Lombardi, age 41, began his career as a professional football coach in 1954. He accepted what would later become known as the Offensive Coordinator position for the NFL's New York Giants, under new head coach Jim Lee Howell. The Giants had finished the previous season, under 23-year coach Steve Owen, with a woeful 3-9 record. Lombardi and Defensive Coordinator Tom Landry needed only three seasons to turn the team into a championship team, defeating the Chicago Bears for the title in 1956. Lombardi relied on the talents of the great Frank Gifford, whom Lombardi switched from defense to offense as a pass-option player.

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Athletes - Vince Lombardi

Early life

Professional coaching career

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