Lou Saban

Infobox NFL PlayerCoach


Name=Lou Saban
|DateOfBirth=Birth date and age|1921|10|13|mf=y
Birthplace= Brookfield, Illinois
DateOfDeath=
College=Indiana University
Position=Head Coach
Guard
DraftedYear=
DraftedRound=
Awards=
Honors=American Football League
Champion, 1964 and 1965
Records=
Retired #s=
player=yes
years=1946-1949
teams=AAFC Cleveland Browns
coach=yes
coachingyears=1960-1961
1962-1965
1967-1969
1970-1971
1972-1976
1977-1978
1983-1984
coachingteams=AFL Boston Patriots
AFL Buffalo Bills
AFL Denver Broncos
NFL Denver Broncos
NFL Buffalo Bills
NCAA Miami
NCAA UCF
Record=95-99-7
Championships=1965 AFL Championship
1964 AFL Championship
DatabaseFootball=SABANLOU01
DatabaseFootballCoach=SABANLOU01

Louis Henry Saban (born October 13, 1921), is a retired football player and coach. Saban played for Indiana University in college and as a pro for the Cleveland Browns of the All-America Football Conference. Saban was the head coach of the Boston Patriots, Buffalo Bills and Denver Broncos of the American Football League (later, American Football Conference). He was also the head coach of a number of colleges, including Northwestern, Maryland, Miami, and Army.

Playing Years

Saban played college football at Indiana University where he was named All-Big Ten as a quarterback one year and All-Big Ten as a fullback in another. He began his pro career with the Cleveland Browns of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC). He was the team captain as the Browns dominated the AAFC in all four years of the league's existence. Saban was twice voted to the league's All-Star team as a linebacker. [http://www.wnypfra.org/pdf/RA_Lou_Saban.pdf]

College Coaching

He went on to be head coach at Case Institute, and assistant coach at Northwestern University. In 1955, Saban was named as the head coach at Northwestern. Two years later, he moved on to Western Illinois University, where he would remain as head coach until he entered the professional football ranks to guide the Boston Patriots of the newly formed American Football League (AFL). In his last season at Western Illinois, his team had a perfect 9-0 record. [http://www.wnypfra.org/pdf/RA_Lou_Saban.pdf]

Pro Coaching

In the early 1960s the Buffalo Bills enjoyed an era of glory. The driving force behind it was Lou Saban, whose style of coaching won him the respect, love, and loyalty of his players. "Trader Lou" came to the Buffalo Bills as head coach in 1962, from the Patriots. He set to work building the Bills into a formidable defensive team, with a strong offense as well. His record at Buffalo during the AFL years was 36-17-3, with winning seasons in each of his four years.

In 1964 and 1965, the Bills went 12-2 and 10-3-1, en route to "consecutive" AFL championships. Saban was the only man ever to achieve that honor. He was named Coach of the Year twice, but one week after winning his second title, he quit to become head coach at the University of Maryland, and then the Denver Broncos. He returned to the Buffalo Bills (by then in the NFL) from 1972 through 1976, and was credited with coaching Bills running back O.J. Simpson to his full potential. [http://www.conigliofamily.com/Bills.htm#LOUSABAN]

Back to College

Saban served as head coach at the University of Miami from 1977 to 1978, and is credited with helping lay the foundation for the Hurricanes' future success, in particular recruiting quarterback Jim Kelly to the university. However, despite a winning record in 1978, Saban departed Miami amid controversy. That April, three Miami players threw a twenty-one-year-old Jewish man who worked at a campus gathering place for UM's Jewish community into a lake. When Saban returned to campus a few days later, he was unaware the man was Jewish and reportedly said "Getting thrown in the lake? Sounds like fun to me." Miami's Jewish community complained, and despite numerous apologies, Saban could not stem the protests and at the end of the season he left to coach at Army. [Bruce Feldman, "‘Cane Mutiny" (New American Library)]

Saban had a very short stint coaching an expansion Arena Football franchise known as the Milwaukee Mustangs in 1994. Saban then served as the first Head Coach at SUNY Canton from 1995 until retiring in 2000 and moving to coastal South Carolina. He returned to coaching in 2001 as head coach at Chowan College in North Carolina.

His cousin, Nick Saban, is currently the head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide Football Team. [ [http://kids.imdb.com/name/nm1659186/bio Nick Saban - Biography ] ]

ee also

*Other American Football League coaches, players, and contributors

External links

* [http://www.remembertheafl.com/AFLhistory1960.htm#LouSaban Saban's 1960 Fleer football card]
* [http://www.conigliofamily.com/Bills.htm#LOUSABAN Saban's citation on the AFL Hall of Fame website]
* [http://www.wnypfra.org/pdf/RA_Lou_Saban.pdf The Lou Saban Story (from the Professional Football Researchers Association]
* [http://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/SabaLo0.htm Pro Football Reference Page]
* [http://www.buffalobills.com/news/AlumniSpotlightLouSaban.jsp Buffalo Bills Page]
* [http://www.buffalosportshallfame.com/1994/lou_saban.html Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame page]

References