Marvin Daniel Levy (; born August 3, 1925) is an American former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and executive who was a head coach in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) for seventeen seasons. He spent most of his head coaching career with the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

, leading them from 1986 to 1997. After spending ten years as head coach in college, Levy was hired to coach the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: ''Les Alouettes de Montréal'') are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has disbanded twice and been re-established thrice. The Alouettes compe ...

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL) in 1973. From 1973 to 1977, he won two

Grey Cup The Grey Cup () is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested between the winners ...

titles with Montreal. After five seasons coaching the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

, Levy helped the Bills become one of the most dominant

American Football Conference The American Football Conference (AFC) is one of the two conferences of the National Football League (NFL), the highest level of professional American football in the United States. The AFC and its counterpart, the National Football Conference ...

(AFC) teams during the 1990s. His greatest success occurred between 1990 and 1993 when he led Buffalo to a record four consecutive

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

s, although each game ended in defeat. Levy concluded his head coaching career with 11 playoff victories and four Super Bowl appearances, both of which are the most of head coaches to not win an NFL championship. After retiring from coaching in 1997, Levy served as the general manager of the Bills from 2006 to 2007. He was inducted to the

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional football (gridiron), professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, 1963, the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of profes ...

in 2001 and the

Canadian Football Hall of Fame The Canadian Football Hall of Fame (CFHOF) is a not-for-profit corporation, located in Hamilton, Ontario, that celebrates achievements in Canadian football. It is maintained by the Canadian Football League (CFL). It includes displays about the CFL, ...

in 2021.

Early life

Levy was born to a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

on August 3, 1925. In 1943, the day after graduation from South Shore High School in Chicago, Levy enlisted in the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

. He served as a

meteorologist A meteorologist is a scientist who studies and works in the field of meteorology aiming to understand or predict Earth's atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric phenomena including the weather. Those who study meteorological phenomena are meteorologists ...

at Apalachicola Army Airfield in

Franklin County, Florida Franklin County is a County (United States), county along the Gulf of Mexico in the Florida Panhandle, panhandle of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 12,451, making it the third-leas ...

, but the war ended before his unit deployed to the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

. Though he was known to use historical examples to inspire his teams, Levy corrected those who used war and combat metaphors to describe football games by telling them that he actually fought in a war (despite not being deployed) and that football, and war were in no way comparable. Referring to the Super Bowl, he said "This is not a must-win;

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

was a must-win".

Steve Tasker Steven Jay Tasker (born April 10, 1962) is an American sports reporter and former professional football wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He spent the majority of his career with the Buffalo Bills but began his career with th ...

, who played for Levy on the Bills, said In later years, Levy became a supporter of the World War II Memorial and pushed for World War II veterans to be honored at

Super Bowl LIV Super Bowl LIV was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2019 NFL season, 2019 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2019 Kansas City Chiefs season, Kansas City ...

to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Allied victory in the war, noting that fewer than 3% of those who served in the war were still alive in 2020.

Playing career

Levy was initially recruited to the Wyoming Cowboys football team as a defensive back. The coach who recruited Levy left Wyoming, and Levy was displeased and exhausted by the following coach's round-the-clock training regimen. He transferred to Coe College in

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Cedar Rapids is a city in Linn County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. The population was 137,710 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Iowa, second-most populous city in Iowa. The city lies o ...

following a single semester. At Coe College, Levy earned varsity letters in

, track, and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

. He obtained a degree in

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

, was granted membership in

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

society, and was twice voted student council president. He was also a member of the

Tau Kappa Epsilon Tau Kappa Epsilon (), commonly known as or Teke, is a social college fraternities and sororities, fraternity founded on January 10, 1899, at Illinois Wesleyan University. The organization has chapters throughout the United States and Canada, maki ...

fraternity. He was admitted to

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

for graduate studies in 1951, where he earned a Masters of Arts in English history.

Coaching career

Levy's first coaching job was at St. Louis Country Day School, coaching football and basketball; he coached the school's basketball team to a championship.

College

Two years later, Levy returned to Coe College as an assistant football coach (1953–1954). In his second stint as a head coach, he also won a championship in basketball; future

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

Coach Bill Fitch was one of his players. In 1954, he joined the coaching staff at the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; ) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1889 by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature, it is the state's second oldest university, a flagship university in th ...

and was named head coach in 1958. In two seasons as head coach, he guided the Lobos to a 14–6 record and earned

Skyline Conference The Skyline Conference is an List of NCAA conferences, intercollegiate athletic conference based in the New York City area that competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division III, Division III. The league was orig ...

Coach of the Year honors in 1958. He interviewed with the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

on February 2, 1960, and was announced as the new head coach of the Cal Bears on February 5, 1960. Despite selecting a young Bill Walsh as a coaching assistant, Levy's best record during his four-season tenure as head coach at Cal from 1960 to 1963 was 4–5–1. He finished his college coaching career with a five-year stint as head coach at the

College of William & Mary The College of William & Mary (abbreviated as W&M) is a public university, public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1693 under a royal charter issued by King William III of England, William III and Queen ...

where he twice earned Southern Conference Coach of the Year honors. In 1965 his team had the school's first winning record in 12 years.

Professional

Philadelphia Eagles, Los Angeles Rams, and Washington Redskins

Levy began his professional football coaching career in 1969 as kicking teams coach for the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

before joining George Allen's staff as a

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their position. Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

coach for the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West ...

in 1970. He followed Allen to

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, in 1971, where he served as the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

' special teams coach for two seasons.

Canadian Football League

Levy then served as the head coach of the

of the

for five seasons. He coached Montreal to three CFL

appearances and two championships, and won the Annis Stukus Trophy (Coach of the Year) in 1974.

Kansas City Chiefs

Levy returned to the NFL in 1978 as head coach of the

. He coached the Chiefs for five seasons with steady improvement each year, but was fired at the end of the strike-shortened 1982 season with a 3–6 record.

Buffalo Bills

Midway through the 1986 season, following a two-year hiatus from coaching and one season as the head coach of the Chicago Blitz of the

USFL The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

, Levy returned to the NFL with the

. Initially hired as a television analyst, Levy replaced Hank Bullough seven games into the regular season as head coach. He finished the season with a 2–5 record. In

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

, his first full season with the Bills, the team returned to respectability with a 7–8 record and were in the playoff hunt throughout most of the season. The following season the team posted a 12–4 record and won the first of six AFC Eastern Division titles. With his high-powered "no-huddle" offense, Levy's Bills went on to make four consecutive

appearances from 1990 to 1993, the most in league history. Each game ended in defeat, however, tying Levy with

Bud Grant Harry Peter "Bud" Grant Jr. (May 20, 1927 – March 11, 2023) was an American professional football player and coach in the National Football League (NFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL). Grant was head coach of the NFL's Minnesota Viki ...

and Dan Reeves for the most Super Bowl appearances without a victory. Nonetheless, he is credited with changing the franchise's culture. When the Bills won the 1988 AFC East title, it was only the Bills' fourth playoff appearance since the AFL-NFL merger and their fifth winning season since winning two consecutive AFL titles in 1964 and 1965. From 1988 through 1997, the Bills were first in the AFC in winning percentage and second only to the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

in the NFL. Levy, the winningest coach in Bills' history, recorded a 112–70 regular season record and was 11–8 in the playoffs during his eleven seasons with the Bills. He was named

NFL Coach of the Year The NFL Coach of the Year Award is presented annually by various news and sports organizations to the National Football League (NFL) head coach who has done the most outstanding job of working with the talent he has at his disposal. Currently, the ...

in 1988 and AFC Coach of the Year in 1988,

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

, and

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

. Levy retired after the 1997 season, when he felt that it was time to rest, doing so despite the pleas of Wilson to stay. He later stated that he regretted the decision. He later became an analyst for NFL.com. In 2001, Levy was elected to the

Canton, Ohio Canton () is a city in Stark County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, eighth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 70,872 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Canton–Massillo ...

. Along with former Bills' special-teamer

, Levy did local broadcasts for the Bills' pre-season games from 1998 until being appointed the Bills' general manager in 2006. During the regular season he was a part of the Chicago Bears pregame show on ESPN Radio 1000 (WMVP-AM), as well as a Bears postgame show on Comcast SportsNet. Early in his tenure with the Bills, an emotional Levy gathered the team around him and exclaimed, "Where else would you rather be than right here, right now?" The question became a standard part of Levy's pregame routine, and was adopted as a battle cry by the Bills during their resurgence under Sean McDermott. Before each game, a Bills legend leads the crowd at Highmark Stadium in the chant.

General manager

On January 5, 2006, Bills owner Ralph Wilson enlisted Levy, at the age of 80, to act as

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

and

vice president A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

of football operations for the Buffalo Bills. Following the resignation of

Mike Mularkey Michael Rene Mularkey (born November 19, 1961) is an American former professional football coach and tight end in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Florida, and was selected by the San Francisc ...

, there was initial speculation (created by Levy's own comments at a team press conference) that Levy would resume a coaching role with the team. To eliminate this speculation, and to minimize any future tension between Levy and the Bills' new head coach, team owner Wilson said: "He was hired to be the GM and would never coach the team." Levy's first order of business was to hire a new coach as a replacement for Mularkey, who resigned within days of Levy's appointment. After a strenuous interview process Levy and team owner Wilson hired

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

interim head coach

Dick Jauron Richard Manual Jauron (; October 7, 1950February 8, 2025) was an American professional football player and coach in the National Football League (NFL). He played eight seasons in the NFL as a safety, five with the Detroit Lions and three with t ...

as coach. Jauron had been head coach of the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

Post-coaching career

Following the Bills' last game of the 2007 season, Levy decided to step down as general manager of the Bills following the expiration of his two-year contract. He returned to live in his native

, although he also spent some time in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

mentoring then-Alouettes head coach Marc Trestman. Levy stated he would be open to returning to coaching if asked. In 2000, Levy appeared as a studio analyst at Fox NFL Sunday. In 2002, he was color commentator for the NFL on FOX with Ron Pitts for select games. In 2009, Levy collaborated with Buffalo football historian Jeffrey J. Miller to write a book entitled ''Game Changers: The Greatest Plays in Buffalo Bills Football History''. In August 2011, Levy published a second book, ''Between the Lies'', featuring a team based loosely on the Bills and including a quarterback named "Kelly James" progressing to the

against a

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

-based team and its take-no-prisoners head coach, while a scandal erupts, placing the integrity of the game at risk. A lifelong

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

fan, Levy was among a select few people in attendance at both the 1945 World Series, which he attended while on furlough from the Army Air Forces, and the Cubs' next appearance, the 2016 World Series. Levy's fourth book, the children's book ''Go Cubs Go'', is about the 2016 series. In 2017, he said that he has not paid much attention to professional football in the past several years as of 2017. In 2020, Levy assisted The Friends of the National

Memorial to convince NFL teams—and the league itself—to recognize the 75th anniversary of the war, honoring veterans at

in Miami. In 2021, he was inducted into the

. In 2022, Levy appeared at the Bills' home opener along with Jim Kelly, his former quarterback. Kelly passed the mic to Levy, who led the crowd in the "right here, right now" chant. On January 19, 2025, he delivered a pre-recorded message of well-wishes to the Bills squad ahead of its playoff game with the Baltimore Ravens.

Personal life

Levy and his first wife Mary have a daughter, Kim, and two grandchildren Angela (oldest) and George (youngest). He has been married to his second wife,Fran, since 1999. Following the death of Art McNally on January 1, 2023, Levy became the oldest living

member. Levy is a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

Head coaching record

College

Professional

Career highlights

* Won two of three CFL

championship games in five seasons while head coach of the Montreal Alouettes * Guided the Bills to six division championships (including four consecutive from 1988 to 1991) * Compiled a 17–6 record (14–6 in the regular season and 3–0 in the post-season) against the winningest coach in NFL history,

Don Shula Donald Francis Shula ( ; January 4, 1930 – May 4, 2020) was an American professional American football, football player, coach and executive who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) from 1963 to 1995. He played seven s ...

. He is one of only two coaches to have a winning record against Shula, the other being Tom Flores of the Raiders, who went 6–1 against him. * Compiled 209 CFL-NFL-USFL coaching victories (T12th in Pro Football History) * One of only 15 coaches to win 100 games with one NFL team * The only coach to compete in four Super Bowls in a row * Retired at the age of 72; tied with

George Halas George Stanley Halas Sr. (February 2, 1895 – October 31, 1983), nicknamed "Papa Bear", was an American professional football end, coach, and executive. He was the founder and owner of the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL), ...

as the oldest non-interim head coach in NFL history. * First USFL alumnus to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame * One of only two coaches to appear in both a Grey Cup Championship Game and the Super Bowl. The other is

. * Oldest coach ever to win 12 games (age 68) and 10 games (age 71) * One of only three people to be enshrined in both the Pro Football Hall of Fame (NFL), and the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.

Books

* ''Marv Levy: Where Else Would You Rather Be?'', Sports Publishing, 2004. . * ''Game Changers: The Greatest Plays in Buffalo Bills History'' (with Jeffrey Miller), Triumph Books, 2009. . * ''Between the Lies'' (fiction), Ascend Books, 2011. . * ''Go Cubs Go! Baseball's Never Give Up Story'' (children's, with George Castle, illustrated by Rob Peters), Ascend Books 2017. .

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Levy, Marv 1925 births Living people American football running backs Buffalo Bills announcers Buffalo Bills coaches Buffalo Bills executives Buffalo Bills head coaches California Golden Bears football coaches Coe Kohawks football coaches Coe Kohawks football players Coe Kohawks men's basketball coaches Coe Kohawks men's basketball players Coe Kohawks men's track and field athletes Harvard University alumni High school basketball coaches in Missouri High school football coaches in Missouri Jewish American coaches of American football Jewish American players of American football Jewish American basketball coaches Jewish American basketball players Jewish American sports executives and administrators Jews from Illinois Kansas City Chiefs head coaches Los Angeles Rams coaches NFL general managers New Mexico Lobos football coaches Philadelphia Eagles coaches Players of American football from Chicago Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees Sports coaches from Chicago Washington Redskins coaches William & Mary Tribe football coaches United States Football League announcers Chicago Blitz coaches United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II NFL announcers Coaches of American football from Illinois NFL Coach of the Year winners

Early life

Playing career

Coaching career

College

Professional

Philadelphia Eagles, Los Angeles Rams, and Washington Redskins

Canadian Football League

Kansas City Chiefs

Buffalo Bills

General manager

Post-coaching career

Personal life

Head coaching record

College

Professional

Career highlights

Books

See also

Notes

References

External links