Marv Levy 

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"I called up (Kansas City Chiefs owner) Lamar Hunt because I know Marv had coached there (from 1978-1982)," Bills owner Ralph Wilson said. "I asked, 'What about this Marv Levy, is he a pretty good coach?' and Lamar said, "I think I made a mistake when I let him go.' Right there I knew he was a good coach. Lamar is a very straight shooter, he'd tell me the truth. We've been friends for years."

"It was so exiting to get Hank out of there, people were partying," said Bills nose tackle Fred Smerlas. "It was like getting harmony with Russia. They brought in Marv and one thing about Marv is he knows how to prepare you for a game. He never burned you out, always gave you time to rest and be mentally prepared. We were so used to being so tired. After two weeks, we'd go into games not feeling so tired and we began to play well. It was an unbelievable lift to have a guy come in like that."

"He's not a rah-rah kind of guy." Kelly would state after the Bills beat Pittsburgh 16-12, in Levy's debut. "It's a new atmosphere around here now. We're not in meetings 10 hours a day. We were physically and mentally drained before. Football is fun around here again."

It was never Levy's style to berate players for a poor performance. His approach was to find players who were self-motivated and then teach them, over and over, when they made mistakes.

"Leadership is the ability to get other people to get the very best from themselves," Levy often stated. "Accomplishing this depends not upon persuading others to follow you but in succeeding in getting them to join you."

That was Levy's approach from day one. In his comments after his first game as Bills coach, Levy said, "You try to promote philosophical ideas. The goal is to get them to be unselfish and rely on the other players. Winning didn't need to be the goal. Winning will come if you do all the other things."

The Bills finished the '86 season under Levy at 2-5 but were competetive in every game and season ticket sales grew, as fans expectations began to rise. In 1987, the Levy led Bills started off the season 1-1, losing the opener to the Jets, 31-28, on a Jim Kelly interception late in the game but beating the Houston Oilers 34-30, the following week, coming from 10 points behind in the fourth quarter. Levy was teaching the Bills how to stay together, not to give up and most importantly, the character it takes to win. In 1987, the Buffalo Bills under Marv Levy would take a step closer to reaching their goal, missing the AFC Eastern Division title by one win, finishing 7-8. In 1988 Levy would lead the Bills to that division title, as the Bills would finish 12-4. The Bills would win the eastern division six out of the next eight seasons and make the playoffs in eight out of the next nine, under Levy. It would be the longest and most unprecedented run of success in Buffalo Bills history. It was during this run, Levy and the Bills would become the only team in NFL history to go to four straight Super Bowls (from 1991-1994).

Upon his retirement on December 31, 1997, Marv Levy would be remembered not only as the winningest coach in Buffalo Bills history but also as one of the NFL's most classiest individuals, ever. Marv Levy not only molded football players but he also molded men. Men with character and pride. It sounds a bit corny but it's true. Before Levy's arrival, the Bills as an organization was the laughing stock of the National Football League. Players throughout the league feared an "exile" to the Buffalo gulag. Under Marv Levy, that all changed. That is the reason free agent, all-pro players such as Bryce Paup, Ted Washington and Chris Spielman, opted to sign with the Bills.

"It's a sad day, not only for the Buffalo Bills players but for everybody in the city of Buffalo," said former quarterback Jim Kelly, who attended Levy's retirement press conference. "You're not going to find a more classier, down-to-Earth person away from the field than Marv Levy. He's a guy who's pretty much made me what I am today as far as a professional player and a person."

"In my opinion, Marv is a representative of all that's good in sports in America," said former Bills and now Colts GM Bill Polian. "I feel bad for the game, for the NFL and for the fans of Western New York, because they're losing their greatest asset.

"But I also feel happy for Marv," Polian added, "because he's earned the right to walk away on his own terms and he had already tied the longevity record."

Levy and former Chicago Bears coach George Halas both coached at 72, the oldest men to ever serve as head coaches in the NFL.

Under Levy, the Bills will be remembered for their resiliency, their ability to bounce back and rise again. A poster of Levy's personal hero, Winston Churchill, hung in his office with the words; "Never, never , never, never, never surrender!" Marv Levy left the NFL as the 10th winningest coach, all-time. His record with the Bills is 123-78, with a .634 winning percentage. In August of 2001, Marv Levy was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, in Canton, Ohio. He became the 3rd Buffalo Bill following O. J. Simpson and Billy Shaw.

• Where would you rather be than right here, right now?
• Systems don't win, players do.
• Adversity is an opportunity for heroism.
• The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender.
• What it takes to win is simple, it's not easy.
• Plan your work and work your plan. If you have everything prepared, the rest will take care of itself.
• What you do should speak so loudly that no one will hear what you say.
• Expect rejection, but expect even more strongly to overcome it. There will be many failures sprinkled among the successes you enjoy. A failure becomes just one time at bat if you refuse to let it defeat you.