Lombardi and Landry: How Two of Pro Football's Greatest Coaches Launched Their Legends and Changed the Game Forever - Hardcover

Palladino, Ernie

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1616084413 ISBN 13: 9781616084417

Publisher: Skyhorse, 2011

Synopsis

Vince Lombardi and Tom Landry could not have had two more divergent personalities. Yet, while working for the New York Giants in the mid-1950s under head coach Jim Lee Howell, the pair formed what still stands as the greatest set of coordinators on one team. Given their personalities, one might have likened Howell’s job to that of Dwight Eisenhower’s as the general struggled to control the egos and politics of his allied subordinates during WWII. But for some reason, Lombardi and Landry worked almost seamlessly, leading the Giants to the top of the NFL. In the five seasons the two men coached together between 1956 and 1959, the Giants appeared in three championship games, winning the NFL title in 56.

Both coaches would go on to NFL stardom, Lombardi with the Green Bay Packers and Landry with the Dallas Cowboys. But it was during their years as Giants coordinators that they developed the coaching philosophies they would employ later in their careers. For Lombardi, it was the reliance on the running game that started with Frank Gifford and would continue in the Packers Sweep” days of Paul Hornung. For Landry, it was his own invention of the 4-3 defense that led to the Flex” defense of his Super Bowl winners in Dallas. How they developed their ideas, and how they were allowed to implement them, was a testament not only to their genius, but Howell’s willingness to let them handle the strategic matters while he looked after the big picture.

In Lombardi and Landry, veteran sportswriter Ernie Palladino takes an in-depth look at these two legends’ formative years in New York, offering up a vivid, revealing portrait of two brilliant coaches just coming into an understanding of their formidable powers.

About this title

About the Author:

Ernie Palladino is a sportswriter with nearly fifty years of experience. He spent thirty-three of those years at the Journal News (Westchester, N.Y.), including twenty covering the New York Giants as a beat reporter. Presently, he writes Ernie Palladino’s Giants Beat for Scout.com, part of the Fox Sports Blog Network. He lives in Staten Island, New York.

Review:

A riveting look back at two Hall of Fame coaches who were instrumental in making pro football the great game it is today. It's one of the best books I've ever read about this momentous era in Giants history. --Frank Gifford, New York Giants Hall of Famer

About this edition

• Publisher: Skyhorse
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1616084413
• ISBN 13: 9781616084417
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320