Francis Peay Applying Lessons of Lombardi as Northwestern Coach

Francis Peay learned endurance and discipline under Vince Lombardi. As head coach at Northwestern this season, he probably will have to draw often from those lessons.

Peay has taken over one of the most difficult major college coaching jobs in the nation and lacks a long-term commitment to help rebuild--or build, since it’s been so long since Northwestern has been a power--a solid program. Officially, he’s an interim coach.

“A man always learns and benefits from positive associations; certainly I learned discipline from Vince Lombardi,” he said. “The organization of Hank Stram and Dan Devine also had an effect. I’ve interjected my own feelings, too, and the end result is the coaches have had an effect but I’m my own man.”

Still, it was Lombardi’s influence as a leader that helped mold some of Peay’s own leadership qualities.

“I think the fact he was such a great leader had a great impact on everyone’s lives,” he said. “He was a man that brought the best and the most of the individual. He made you want to excel. But most of all, he made you feel good about yourself. He made you feel that your excellence was a great achievement. He demanded it of you. He wouldn’t allow anyone to accept less than that for themselves.”

Peay was named interim coach last spring when Dennis Green resigned after five years to become an assistant with the San Francisco 49ers. Peay’s tenure may be just for one year, depending upon his success with the perennial doormats of the Big Ten. The Wildcats won two of their first five games this year but lost their first two in the Big Ten.

No decision on his status is expected for at least another month.

“From the very beginning when I took over as initial interim coach it wasn’t known whether I’d even go into the season as interim coach,” Peay said. “But I went ahead and made changes.”

Peay scoffs at suggestions he is unhappy with his interim role.

“It’s not for me to decide,” he says. “I’m just here doing my job.”

After a stellar career at the University of Missouri, Peay went to the pros and repeated that success playing for the likes of Lombardi.

“I’m not so sure the pro career brings anything specific to coaching at a university, particularly in light of the many fine head football coaches who never played in the NFL,” he said. “I’m not so sure having played in the pros is that important in terms as much as the lessons learned. Life teaches us many lessons we carry on to his work.”

Peay, a former defensive coordinator, is one of only two blacks currently serving as a head coach on the major college level, yet when the subject of race comes up the former lineman is reluctant to generalize.

“To some degree others have come up to me and asked me about making it as a head coach,” Peay said. “People have asked ever since I was an assistant many, many years ago in terms of black head coaches and I always said a head coach, be he black, white or Hispanic, must take advantage of the right opportunity at the right time.”

Why aren’t there more black coaches in college? Peay doesn’t have any concrete answers.

“I’m not sure but I’m not prone to consider the question. I refuse to do so considering the fact that a head coaching job comes about mostly by opportunity and being in the right place in the right time,” Peay said.

There does seem to be a trend, at least in the Big Ten, of promoting the defensive coordinator to the top job.

“Most head coaches seem to concentrate mostly on the offensive side of things and as a result, they hire and delegate a tremendous amount of authority on their defensive coordinators,” Peay said. “Circumstances created the head coaching jobs here and the defensive coordinators are the logical successors.”

But increasingly in the 1980s, particularly at Northwestern where attracting blue chip players has always been difficult, Peay’s major job if he is retained will be with recruiting.

“The most important thing that we have to develop is that we can win here and convince recruits of that,” Peay said. “Until we do that consistently we have an uphill battle with recruiting at Northwestern University.”