By Nick Calabrese
Editor’s Note: In the third Coaches installment, we discover more about the lives of famous coaches and how their coaching philosophies were shaped by thte adversity the face on and off the field. Please let us know what you think about Mr. Sabol’s famous card catalog by leaving a comment below or tweeting @NFLFilms with #MindofSabol.
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UNDERLINED: “Allen was so intense about football that he ordered that no team photo be taken because his team did not make the NFC title game in 1973. ‘If the team doesn’t make it to the NFC championship game, it doesn’t deserve its picture taken,’ Allen wrote in a memo. So there is no team photo of the 1973 Redskins.”
George Allen
“When we leave the field, I want more than an ovation. I want a standing ovation.” – George Allen
“A major influence but never a big winner (champion).”
Don Coryell
UNDERLINED: “Coryell had hit upon a way of cobbling together a passing game that was unique to him – his so-called ‘passing tree.’ Fouts led the league in passing yards four consecutive times from 1979 to 1982. No other quarterback has done that. Winslow redefined his position, giving it dimensions no other tight end had achieved. Joiner was the consummate possession receiver. So many.”
Bert Bell
“While some criticize B for craving attention, the most important source of his persuasive power is, ironically, the attention he pays to others.”
Brian Billick
“He moves people in both senses of the word, by making serenity strong and strength serene.”
Tony Dungy
“Had the kind of muscular personality that seemed to dominate a room – and he clearly believed in his own powers of persuasion.”
Mike Ditka
“As a player he had been intense, but as a coach he was even more so, being in his own mind far more responsible for the outcome.”