Tree of Coaching

Over the course of the last ninety years of professional football, there has not been a more storied franchise than that of the Green Bay Packers. Born in 1919, the team was the brainchild of Curly Lambeau. He, along with his partner George Calhoun, had first gotten the idea to form a professional team while they were talking on the corner of a street in Green Bay. After getting Lambeau’s Indian Packing Company employers to agree to pay for the team’s initial uniforms, the Packers began to play. After a false start in acquiring an NFL franchise in 1921, Lambeau finally cemented the team’s membership in the League in 1922 – for a mere $250.

Success did come

Since that time, the team has won an NFL-record 12 championship titles and given their home city the well-earned moniker of “Titletown.” Though they have had many periods of success over the last nine decades, there is little argument with the fact that their strongest period of dynasty was in the 1960s – under the leadership of the legendary Vince Lombardi.

From chumps to champs

Lombardi had little to work with when he took the Green Bay job after leaving his assistant role at New York in the 1959 season. The year before his arrival saw the packers win but one game during the entire season, sparking the inevitable rumors about a team in disarray. Lombardi stopped all that immediately. His first season with the Packers resulted in them winning seven games. In the second season of his tenure, he took them all the way to the western division championship, though they lost that contest to Philadelphia. From that point on, the dynasty was alive as the Green Bay team dominated the 1960s with championships in 1961 and ‘62, as well as three more between ‘65 and ‘67. The 1966 and 1967 titles are perhaps better known as Super Bowl One and Two.

A true dynasty

During Lombardi’s 1960s tenure, the Packers never slipped below second in their division, and became the ultimate prototype of a winning football team. They won titles in five of their seven campaigns, demonstrating the power of the Lombardi system. Moreover, his time with the team – a full nine seasons before his retirement – saw them post a record of 98 wins with 30 losses. For those interested in titles only, his record in the postseason was historic: ten games played with only one loss. That loss was, of course, the 1960 contest against the Eagles.

The real Lombardi

It is easy for many modern fans to view Lombardi through the lens of history and simply dismiss him as a rare example of football genius – one of those historic individuals who have the innate power to rally any team or organization to victory. When he almost offhandedly made his comment about winning and how it was the only thing of relevance, he served only to fuel that perception. Lombardi’s abilities were more than inspirational, however. He was a master of preparation, as is perhaps best evidenced by his team’s use of the Lombardi-created Packer Sweep. He forced his players to run the Sweep drill so repetitiously in practice that they performed it without error. Because of their practiced proficiency, opponents could almost never stop the play, although they almost always knew it was going to be run.

Freddie Brister begin_of_the_skype_highlightingend_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting end_of_the_skype_highlighting is a huge fan of all sports and recommends checking out his Green Bay Packers Watch and Los Angeles Dodgers watch at his shop.