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Weeb Ewbank
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Weeb Ewbank | |
|---|---|
 Weeb Ewbank |
|
| Date of birth | May 6, 1907 |
| Place of birth |  Richmond, Indiana |
| Date of death | November 17, 1998 |
| Position(s) | Head Coach |
| College | Miami University (Ohio) |
| Career Record | 130-129-7 |
| Super Bowl Wins |
1968 Super Bowl III |
| Championships Won |
1968 AFL Championship 1959 NFL Championship 1958 NFL Championship |
| Coaching Stats | DatabaseFootball |
| Team(s) as a coach/administrator | |
| 1954-1962 1963-1973 |
Baltimore Colts New York Jets |
| Pro Football Hall of Fame, 1978 | |
Wilbur "Weeb" Ewbank (May 6, 1907 - November 17, 1998) was an American professional football coach.
Contents |
He was born in Richmond, Indiana and lived there through high school. He then attended Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where he played quarterback under head coach Chester Pittser. Miami is sometimes called the "Cradle of Coaches," as eight recipients of the Paul "Bear" Bryant Award for college football coach of the year have worked with school's program, including Woody Hayes, Ara Parseghian, and Bo Schembechler.[1]
Ewbank's first football coaching job was in 1928 at Van Wert High School in Van Wert, Ohio. He soon moved back to Oxford, Ohio and took a position to coach all sports at McGuffey High School. McGuffey was a school run by Miami University, separate from Oxford's public high school. In 1939, Ewbank agreed to coach both the McGuffey High School and the Miami University basketball team when Miami’s basketball coach left for another job.[2]
During World War II Ewbank joined the Navy and was assigned to Naval Station Great Lakes where he was reunited with his Miami teammate Paul Brown who was the base football coach. At Great Lakes, he assisted Brown with the football team and coach the basketball team[3]
From 1947 through 1948 Ewbank was head coach of Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri where he compiled a 14–4 record. Ewbank started the 1947 team from scratch since the Bears did not have a football team from 1943 though 1946 due to World War II. His first team started off with 2 loses but rebounded with 5 straight wins before losing the final game to the University of Louisville. The 1948 squad won a school-record nine games while allowing just 77 points while posting a record of 9-1.[4]
| School | Year | Overall | (Conf./place) | Bowl game |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington University | 1947 | 5-3 | None | |
| Washington University | 1948 | 9-1 | None |
As coach of the Baltimore Colts, Ewbank won the 1958 and 1959 NFL championships. The 1958 game is often referred to as "The Greatest Game Ever Played". By the end of the 1962 NFL season, Colts owner Carroll Rosenbloom thought that the Colts had slipped enough and Ewbank was fired. Rosenbloom hired in his place the then-youngest head coach in NFL history, Don Shula.
When Sonny Werblin bought the New York Titans franchise of the American Football League in 1963, he changed both the team's name (to the New York Jets) and its coach. Ewbank took over a team that had not had a winning record in its first three years, and made them into a force to be reckoned with.
In 1965, the Jets' signing of Joe Namath added to the arsenal he would eventually pit Ewbank against his former team in the third AFL-NFL World Championship game, Super Bowl III.
His Jets won the American Football League Championship in 1968 with a victory over the defending AFL champions, the Oakland Raiders. In the third World Championship Game, the Colts (proclaimed by some to be "the greatest pro football team of all time") were heavily favored over the AFL's "overmatched" Jets. But with Ewbank's confident planning the Jets ran a game plan that mystified the Colts and came out with a 16-7 victory.
Ewbank is the only man ever to coach two different teams to victory in a Championship Game (two NFL Championships in 1958 and 1959 with the Colts, an AFL Championship in 1968 with the Jets, and a World Championship in Super Bowl III in 1969 with the Jets]. Weeb's record in the AFL was 50-42-6 (71-77-6 all-time with the Jets) and his career regular season record in the NFL and AFL was 130-129-7 and his play-off record was 4-1. He coached the Colts and Jets to three world championships. Ewbank was selected as the Head Coach of the All-Time All-AFL team.
He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1978.
Weeb Ewbank died 30 years to the day that his Jets lost to the Raiders 43-32, in what would come to be known as the Heidi Game.
- ^ Redhawk Traditions: Cradle of Coaches, http://muredhawks.cstv.com/trads/mioh-cradle-of-coaches.html, URL accessed June 5, 2006
- ^ Kurz, Bob (1983) "Miami of Ohio, the Cradle of Coaches" p. 37 Library of Congress Catalog Card number 83-50645
- ^ Kurz, Bob (1983) "Miami of Ohio, the Cradle of Coaches" p. 37 Library of Congress Catalog Card number 83-50645
- ^ Washington University Football 2006 media guide p. 86
- Pro Football Hall of Fame: Member profile
- Most updated Baltimore Colts site
- Wilbur "Weeb" Ewbank, May 6, 1907 to November 17, 1998
| Preceded by Keith Molesworth |
Baltimore Colts Head Coaches 1954–1962 |
Succeeded by Don Shula |
| Preceded by Bulldog Turner |
New York Jets Head Coaches 1963–1973 |
Succeeded by Charley Winner |
| Preceded by Vince Lombardi |
Super Bowl winning Head Coaches Super Bowl III, 1969 |
Succeeded by Hank Stram |
| New York Titans/Jets Head Coaches |
|---|
| Baugh • Turner • Ewbank • Winner • Shipp • Holtz • Michaels • Walton • Coslet • Carroll • Kotite • Parcells • Groh • Edwards • Mangini |
| Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts Head Coaches |
|---|
| Molesworth • Ewbank • Shula • McCafferty • Sandusky • Schnellenberger • Thomas • Marchibroda • McCormack • Kush • Dowhower • Meyer • Venturi • Marchibroda • Infante • J.E. Mora • Dungy |