NFL PLAYOFFS : Buffalo's Success in Recent Years Clearly Shows That Coach Marv Levy Is. . . : Fitting the Bills

By STEVE SPRINGER

Jan. 21, 1994 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

It was Christmas Day, 1993.

The Buffalo Bills, hoping to clinch the AFC East title the next day in Rich Stadium against the New York Jets, had gone through a light workout before hurriedly departing to celebrate the holiday with family and friends.

With a wind-chill factor the equivalent of minus-28 degrees predicted for game day, Coach Marv Levy figured he would check on the condition of the field before leaving.

Most coaches have their heads so full of X’s and O’s the day before a game, they couldn’t tell you what temperature it was.

But Levy is not like most coaches.

He not only noticed the bitter cold, but also the workers spread out across Rich Stadium, clearing snow off the 80,290 seats.

Levy learned that most of them were otherwise unemployed, many of them homeless. He found out they were making only $5 an hour. He was told that they would put in 10-12 hours that day, working to make conditions somewhat bearable for a game they couldn’t afford to attend.

And Levy was touched.

He went into the stands, gathered the workers around him and gave them the kind of pep talk coaches normally reserve for their team.

In Levy’s eyes, the workers were part of the Bills.

“I hope our team shows as much spunk tomorrow as you are showing right now,” he told the workers.

Then he went to the team equipment room, found as many ski caps as he could and handed them out to the workers.

No, Levy is not like any other coach.

How many coaches count Charles Dickens among their favorite authors?

How many coaches consider Winston Churchill their greatest hero?

How many coaches claim no credit for designing offenses or inspiring their players?

Levy is all of the above. And he has paid the price for it in terms of personal glory.

Here’s a guy who will send his team into Rich Stadium on Sunday to try to beat the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC championship game and win a fourth consecutive Super Bowl berth.

Don Shula never got into four in a row. Nor Tom Landry. Nor Bill Walsh. Nor anyone else.

Yet you never hear Levy’s name mentioned with theirs.

Nor is it mentioned when coaching honors are being considered. Levy didn’t receive a vote this season for coach of the year.

Don’t try to blame that on his working in Buffalo, far from the media centers. That hasn’t stopped quarterback Jim Kelly or running back Thurman Thomas from becoming nationally known. It hasn’t stopped defensive lineman Bruce Smith from starring in a national potato-chip commercial.

No, Levy seems to be overlooked because he sells himself short so often. Ask him his greatest strength and he’ll tell you, “Picking assistant coaches.”

Listen to Levy and you would think his only job was to pass information from the assistants in the press box to the players. Just a high-priced messenger.

The Bills have become an innovative and potent force in the NFL over the last five years with a high-powered, no-huddle offense. Buffalo led the AFC in points in each of the four seasons before this one.

Credit to Levy?

Not according to him. He’ll be quick to give it to Ted Marchibroda, his offensive coordinator before Marchibroda took the head coaching job with the Indianapolis Colts two years ago.

And the defense? That area is tightly run by Walt Corey.

The only times Levy takes a hands-on approach are short-yardage and goal-line plays.

When the Bills rallied from a 35-3 third-quarter deficit to beat the Houston Oilers in last year’s playoffs, 41-38, in overtime in the greatest comeback in NFL history, was it Levy’s Knute Rockne-type halftime speech full of fire and brimstone? Did Levy believe the day wasn’t yet lost and pass that faith on to his players?

No way.

The only halftime speech was a blistering address by Corey.

“What did I feel our chances were?” said Levy after the game. “The same as our chances of winning the New York lottery.”

Players acknowledge that they motivate themselves, that they don’t depend on Levy.

Indeed, the 65-year-old coach sometimes seems out of touch with them.

After the Bills had lost to the Raiders in early December, their third defeat in four games, they could see their season sliding away as they headed to Philadelphia to play the Eagles.

Linebacker Cornelius Bennett gave an emotional speech to his teammates and later told reporters, “all hell would have broken loose” had the Bills lost.

And the next week, Buffalo won a crucial game at Miami.

Levy’s reaction was to sing a decades-old song recorded by Bing Crosby’s brother, Bob. It was Bob and the Bobcats’ “It Ain’t What You Do, It’s the Way What You Do It.”

Levy’s players had never heard of Bob Crosby. Many had never even heard of Bing Crosby.

No matter. Nor does Levy worry if his references to Churchill and other historical figures sometimes go over the heads of his players.

After coaching at every level in a career that began at the St. Louis Country Day School in 1951, extended through college and the pros, including both the Canadian Football League and the NFL, and has climaxed with his incredibly successful run in Buffalo beginning in 1986, the man has developed a style.

And whatever one thinks of it, it works.

Yes, he may be a master at delegating authority. And yes, he may not always relate to the younger generation that he coaches.

But a man who is 60 minutes away from his fourth consecutive trip to the Super Bowl must be contributing something to his team.

SUNDAY’S GAMES

* AFC CHAMPIONSHIP

Kansas City at Buffalo

Time: 9:30 a.m.

TV: Channel 4

* NFC CHAMPIONSHIP

San Francisco at Dallas

Time: 1 p.m.

TV: Channel 2.