Lou Saban

Lou Saban

Saban as Buffalo Bills coach in 1963
Date of birth	October 13, 1921(1921-10-13)
Place of birth	Brookfield, Illinois
Date of death	March 29, 2009(2009-03-29) (aged 87)
Career record	94–99–7 (NFL) 94–99–4 (college)
Championships won	1965 AFL Championship 1964 AFL Championship
Stats
Playing stats	DatabaseFootball
Coaching stats	DatabaseFootball
Team(s) as a player
1941–1942 1946–1949	Indiana Cleveland Browns
Team(s) as a coach/administrator
1950–1952 1953–1954 1955 1957–1959 1960–1961 1962–1965 1966 1967–1971 1972–1976 1977–1978 1979 1983–1984 1991 1995–2000 2001–2002	Case Tech Washington (asst.) Northwestern Western Illinois Boston Patriots Buffalo Bills Maryland Denver Broncos Buffalo Bills Miami Army Central Florida Peru State SUNY Canton Chowan

Louis Henry Saban (October 13, 1921 – March 29, 2009) was an American football player and coach. Saban played for Indiana University in college and as a pro for the Cleveland Browns of the All-America Football Conference. He was the head coach of the Boston Patriots (1960–1961), Buffalo Bills (1962–1965, 1972–1976), and Denver Broncos (1967–1971) of the American Football League and later the National Football League's American Football Conference, compiling a career AFL/NFL record of 95–99–7. At the time of his death, Saban was the last survivor of the eight coaches of the Original Eight American Football League franchises, the others being Eddie Erdelatz, Frank Filchock, Buster Ramsey, Lou Rymkus, Sammy Baugh, and Hall of Fame coaches Hank Stram and Sid Gillman. Saban was also the head coach at a number of colleges: Case Institute of Technology (1950–1952), Northwestern University (1955), Western Illinois University (1957–1959), the University of Maryland, College Park (1966), the University of Miami (1977–1978), the United States Military Academy (1979), the University of Central Florida (1983–1984), Peru State College (1991), the State University of New York at Canton (1995–2000), and Chowan University (2001–2002), tallying a career college football mark of 94–99–4.

Playing career

Saban played college football at Indiana University where he was named All-Big Ten as a quarterback one year and All-Big Ten as a fullback in another. A 10th round selection in the 1944 NFL Draft, he began his pro career with the Cleveland Browns of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC). He was the team captain as the Browns dominated the AAFC in all four years of the league's existence. Saban was twice voted to the league's All-Star team as a linebacker.

Coaching career

College coaching

He went on to be the head coach at Case Institute, where he compiled a 10–14–1 record from 1950–1952. He then was an assistant coach at the University of Washington, before becoming an assistant coach at Northwestern University in 1954. In 1955, Saban was named as the head coach at Northwestern. Two years later, he moved on to Western Illinois University, where he would remain as head coach until he entered the professional football ranks to guide the Boston Patriots of the newly formed American Football League (AFL). In his last season at Western Illinois, his 1959 team had an undefeated 9–0 record.

Professional coaching

In the early 1960s the Buffalo Bills enjoyed an era of glory. The driving force behind it was Lou Saban, whose style of coaching won him the respect, love, and loyalty of his players. "Trader Lou" came to the Buffalo Bills as head coach in 1962, from the Patriots. He set to work building the Bills into a formidable defensive team, with a strong offense as well. His record at Buffalo during the AFL years was 36–17–3, with winning seasons in each of his four years.

In 1964 and 1965, the Bills went 12–2 and 10–3–1, en route to consecutive AFL championships. Saban was the only man ever to accomplish that feat, and the only one to coach his team into the post-season three straight years (1963–1965). His volatile style nevertheless endeared him to his players. He is shown in a famous clip bemoning to an assistant coach: "They're killin' me out there, Whitey, they're killin' me!" He once suspended Cookie Gilchrist for taking himself out of a game in which Gilchrist claimed the Bills were "passing too much", but Cookie's teammates pleaded with Saban until he reinstated the big fullback. In the 1965 AFL championship game against the San Diego Chargers, when offensive linemen Billy Shaw and Dave Behrman were injured, Saban inserted veteran Ernie Warlick opposite rookie Paul Costa in a double tight end formation, which helped the Bills win the game.

Saban was named Coach of the Year twice, but one week after winning his second title, he quit to become head coach at the University of Maryland, and then the Denver Broncos. He returned to the Buffalo Bills (by then in the NFL) from 1972 through 1976, and was credited with coaching Bills running back O. J. Simpson to his full potential.

Return to college ranks

Saban served as head coach at the University of Miami from 1977 to 1978, and is credited with helping lay the foundation for the Hurricanes' future success, in particular recruiting quarterback Jim Kelly to the university. However, despite a winning record in 1978, Saban departed Miami amid controversy. That April, three freshmen Miami players taunted and then attacked a twenty-two-year-old Jewish man wearing a yarmulke who was walking to religious services on campus. They threw the man, who worked at a campus gathering place for UM's Jewish community, into Lake Osceola at the center of campus. When Saban returned to campus a few days later, he was unaware the man was Jewish and reportedly said "Getting thrown in the lake? Sounds like fun to me." Miami's Jewish community complained, and despite numerous apologies, Saban could not stem the protests and Saban offered to resign mid-season. At the request of Athletic Director John Green, Saban remained through the end of the season, and he left to coach at Army.

After coaching at Army, Saban worked for his former assistant coach, George Steinbrenner as President of the New York Yankees in 1981–1982.

Saban spent the 1983 and 1984 seasons as the head coach at the University of Central Florida (UCF), which was a Division II school at the time. He took over a team that had gone 0–10 in 1982 and led the Knights to a 5–6 record in 1983. He was replaced by his assistant, Jerry Anderson, midway through the 1984 season with UCF's record standing at 1–6.

Saban retired in 1985 to Hendersonville, North Carolina. However, he came out of retirement to coach high school football in Stuart, Florida as the Defensive Coordinator for the Martin County High School Fighting Tigers (He and the team were featured in Sports Illustrated after leading them to the State Semifinals in 1988). Saben then went on to spend the 1989 season as head coach of the Georgetown High School Bulldogs in Georgetown, South Carolina. Though only winning one game in 89, he was credited with ending a 21 game losing streak, improving the overall operations of the athletic staff and gaining attention for his players, several of whom ended up with college scholarships. In 1990, Saban coached four games for the Middle Georgia Heat Wave, a semipro team in Macon, Georgia, before leaving the job in a manner that the team said was "not a firing" and Saban said was "not a resignation." He then spent a year as head coach at Nebraska's Peru State College in 1991, compiling a 7–4 record. In 1994, Saban coached the expansion Milwaukee Mustangs of the Arena Football League but was fired after only four games. After that, he helped to start the Alfred State College football program, though he never coached a game there. Saban then served as the first head coach at SUNY Canton from 1995 until retiring in 2000. His record at this two-year college was 34–16. He retired to coastal South Carolina, but shortly thereafter returned to coaching in 2001–2002 as head coach at Chowan University in Murfreesboro, North Carolina, compiling a 2–13 record. He is a member of the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame.

Legacy

Including his stops at both two- and four-year schools, Saban's overall collegiate coaching record was 94–99–4. Including playoffs, his professional football record stands at 97–101–7.

Marty Schottenheimer, who played for Saban from 1965 to 1968 with the AFL's Bills, was greatly influenced by Saban's coaching philosophy. Schottenheimer and other coaches influenced by Saban are considered to be in Lou Saban's coaching tree. They include:

• Marty Schottenheimer
• Joe Collier
• Cam Cameron
• Bill Cowher
• Herm Edwards
• Tony Dungy
• Marvin Lewis
• Ken Whisenhunt
• Lovie Smith
• Rod Marinelli
• Mike Tomlin
• Sam Rutigliano

Professional football coaching tree

Numbers indicate Super Bowls won by Saban's "descendants", a total of three.

Baseball

Saban served a brief stint as President of the New York Yankees in the 1980s, as a personal favor to his close friend, George Steinbrenner.

Later years and death

In his later years, Saban experienced heart problems and a fall in his home that required hospitalization. Saban died at his home in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina at 4 am EST on March 29, 2009.

Head coaching record

College

Year	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Bowl/playoffs
Case Tech Rough Riders () (1950–1952)
Case:		10–14–1
Northwestern Wildcats (Big Ten Conference) (1955)
1955	Northwestern	0–8–1	0–6–1	10th
Northwestern:		0–8–1	0–6–1
Western Illinois Leathernecks (Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) (1957–1959)
1957	Western Illinois	5–4
1958	Western Illinois	6–1–1
1959	Western Illinois	9–0
Western Illinois:		20–5–1
Maryland Terrapins (Atlantic Coast Conference) (1966)
1966	Maryland	4–6	3–3	T–3rd
Maryland:		4–6	3–3
Miami Hurricanes (NCAA Division I/I-A Independent) (1977–1978)
1977	Miami	3–8
1978	Miami	6–5
Miami:		9–13
Army Cadets (NCAA Division I-A Independent) (1979)
1979	Army	2–8–1
Army:		2–8–1
UCF Knights (NCAA Division II Independent) (1983–1984)
1983	UCF	5–6
1983	UCF	1–6*
UCF:		6–12		*Fired after 7 games
Peru State Bobcats () (1991)
Peru State:		7–4
SUNY Canton Northstars () (1995–2000)
SUNY Canton:		34–16
Chowan Hawks () (2001–2002)
Chowan:		2–13
Total:		94–99–4

AFL/NFL

Team	Year	Regular Season					Post Season
		Won	Lost	Ties	Win %	Finish	Won	Lost	Win %	Result
BOS	1960	5	9	0	35.8	4th in AFL East Division	-	-	-
BOS	1961	2	3	-	40.0	fired after game 5	-	-	-
BUF	1962	7	6	1	53.8	3rd in AFL East Division	-	-	-
BUF	1963	7	6	1	53.8	1st-T in AFL East Division	0	1	0.00	Lost to Boston Patriots in AFL division playoff
BUF	1964	12	2	0	85.7	1st in AFL East Division	1	0	1.00	Beat to San Diego Chargers in AFL championship game
BUF	1965	10	3	1	76.9	1st in AFL East Division	1	0	1.00	Beat San Diego Chargers in AFL championship game
DEN	1967	3	11	0	21.4	4th in AFL West Division	-	-	-
DEN	1968	5	9	0	35.7	4th in AFL West Division	-	-	-
DEN	1969	5	8	1	38.1	4th in AFL West Division	-	-	-
AFL Total		56	57	4	49.6		2	1	66.7	2 AFL titles, 2 AFL division championships
DEN	1970	5	8	1	38.1	4th in NFL AFC West	-	-	-
DEN	1971	2	6	1	27.8	fired after game 9	-	-	-
BUF	1972	4	9	1	30.8	4th in NFL AFC East	-	-	-
BUF	1973	9	5	0	64.3	2nd in NFL AFC East	-	-	-
BUF	1974	9	5	0	64.3	2nd in NFL AFC East, AFC Wild Card	0	1	0.00	Lost to Pittsburgh Steelers in AFC division playoff
BUF	1975	8	6	0	57.1	3rd in NFL AFC East	-	-	-
BUF	1976	2	3	0	40.0	fired after game 5	-	-	-
NFL Total		39	42	3	48.2		0	1	0.00
Professional Total		95	99	7	49.0		2	2	50.0	2 AFL titles, 2 AFL division championships

See also

• Other American Football League coaches, players, and contributors

External links

• Lou Saban at the College Football Data Warehouse
• Lou Saban at Pro-Football-Reference.com
• Saban's citation on the AFL Hall of Fame website
• Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame page
• Lou Saban profile at NNDB
• The Lou Saban Story (from the Professional Football Researchers Association

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Sid Gillman	AFL Championship winning Head Coach 1964, 1965	Succeeded by Hank Stram