Lombardi and Landry
How Two of Pro Football's Greatest Coaches Launched Their Legends and Changed the Game Forever
-
- $10.99
-
- $10.99
Publisher Description
Vince Lombardi and Tom Landry could not have had two more divergent personalities. Yet, while working for the New York Giants in the mid-1950s under head coach Jim Lee Howell, the pair formed what still stands as the greatest set of coordinators on one team. Given their personalities, one might have likened Howell’s job to that of Dwight Eisenhower’s as the general struggled to control the egos and politics of his allied subordinates during WWII. But for some reason, Lombardi and Landry worked almost seamlessly, leading the Giants to the top of the NFL. In the five seasons the two men coached together between 1956 and 1959, the Giants appeared in three championship games, winning the NFL title in ‘56.
Both coaches would go on to NFL stardom, Lombardi with the Green Bay Packers and Landry with the Dallas Cowboys. But it was during their years as Giants coordinators that they developed the coaching philosophies they would employ later in their careers. For Lombardi, it was the reliance on the running game that started with Frank Gifford and would continue in the “Packers Sweep” days of Paul Hornung. For Landry, it was his own invention of the 4-3 defense that led to the “Flex” defense of his Super Bowl winners in Dallas. How they developed their ideas, and how they were allowed to implement them, was a testament not only to their genius, but Howell’s willingness to let them handle the strategic matters while he looked after the big picture.
In Lombardi and Landry, veteran sportswriter Ernie Palladino takes an in-depth look at these two legends’ formative years in New York, offering up a vivid, revealing portrait of two brilliant coaches just coming into an understanding of their formidable powers.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In accessible, exciting prose, sportswriter and Giants beat reporter Palladino highlights the achievements of legends Vince Lombardi and Tom Landry, who both worked as assistant coaches under the New York Giants' Jim Lee Howell. Lombardi coordinated offense from 1954 to 1958 before becoming head coach of the Green Bay Packers. Landry strategized defense from 1954 to 1959 before signing with the Dallas Cowboys, an expansion team that would eventually dominate the league in the 1970s and early '80s. Palladino offers generous praise for both. In Landry, for example, "the Giants had a man who would change the entire language of defense." He also compares and contrasts the coaches' styles and personalities. People could hear Lombardi "from five blocks away" but would not be able to hear Landry "from the next chair." Though the men differed in temperament, character, and even spirituality, they worked extraordinarily well together. That each of them would find great individual success in the NFL in subsequent years is a testament to their talent and dedication. Photos.