Recently, Marv Levy – a legend in both Canadian and American football – celebrated his 100th birthday. He was born on August 3, 1925 in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
After several college and professional coaching gigs in the United States, Marv Levy headed north in 1973 to become the new head coach of the CFL’s Montreal Alouettes.
In 1974, his second season at the helm in Montreal, Levy guided the Alouettes to a 9-5-2 regular season record to finish first in the Eastern Division. After knocking off Ottawa in the Eastern Final, Levy’s Alouettes defeated Edmonton 20-7 to win the Grey Cup.
Levy’s quick success in the CFL earned him the 1974 Coach of the Year. He was presented with the Annis Stukus Trophy (the trophy awarded to the CFL’s top coach) by Mr. Annis Stukus himself on January 15, 1975 at league meetings in Edmonton.
(Jones, Terry. “No surprises, Levy coach of the year.” The Edmonton Journal, 16 January 1975, p. 53.)
Montreal and Edmonton met again in the Grey Cup in 1975. This time Edmonton came out on top. But in the 1977 Grey Cup, the Alouettes crushed Edmonton 41-6 on an icy turf at the Olympic Stadium.
In his five years as head coach of the Montreal Alouettes, Marv Levy led the team to three Grey Cups, winning two of them. Not bad.
In 1978, he returned to the United States to coach in the National Football League. His most successful run in the NFL was with the Buffalo Bills. Unfortunately, Levy’s regular season success in Buffalo didn’t translate into championships. His Bills failed to win a Super Bowl despite four straight appearances from 1990 to 1993.
Marv Levy was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2001 and into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2021. He is one of only two head coaches to have coached in both a Grey Cup and a Super Bowl, the other being Bud Grant.
Here’s to Marv Levy, the Canadian Football League’s Coach of the Year in 1974, who can now add Centenarian to his long list of titles and accomplishments.
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