Eels Blogs

I know we've seen plenty of comparative blogs, but that was between players, this is between coaches. For those of you who don't know. Lombardi was the coach of the American Football team the Greenbay Packers in the 60's. He's regarded as the greatest ever professional coach in world sport. Gibson himself said he idolised Lombardi.

We all know about the legendary Jack Gibson. The man who was the opposite in terms of personality to Lombardi. Gibson was a man of few words but when he spoke you listened. Gibson was ahead of his time in Rugby League. He introduced many things we use today like individual tackle counts, weight machines, video sessions, the bomb and specialised coaching areas such as strength and conditioning. Gibson's quiet, yet stern approach meant he commanded the utmost respect from his players and going against Jack meant you were playing reserve grade next week. But Gibson was also a man who was concerned about the guys below him; his assistant coaches and reserve grade team. When John Monie was coaching the reserve grade team, Jack approached him and told him he wanted one of the players to come off the bench in first grade. Back in those days you had to play a full game in reserves to play in firsts. The game was tense in reserve grade and this player had to be pulled off to send on a more attacking player. Parra won the match as a result. Monie was scorned by the coaching staff and told off by club members but Gibson pulled him aside and asked him "Did you win the match?" Monie responded "Yes." and Gibson said to him "Good, you did the right thing." Gibson's no nonsense approach was highlighted at the end of the 1981 Grand Final through his simple quote "Played strong, done good."

Lombardi was also a man before his time. But he was a coach who liked to talk and really pump his players up. Lombardi never had a season where he lost more games than he won. He had a regular season winning percentage of 73.8% and a postseason percentage of 90%. To put that in perspective, Wayne Bennett's percentage is 64%. Lombardi won 8 Premierships with Greenbay and has the NFL trophy named after him. Lombardi not only influenced his players but also the entire community. In pre-season one year, newly recruited quarterback Bart Starr was delayed in an airport due to a problem with his plane. He told the airline he needed a flight to Greenbay because he was trialling for Lombardi's team. They didn't believe him. He phoned Lombardi and put the airline manager on. In 30 minutes he was on a privately chartered flight to Greenbay. Lombardi was a man who could inspire a team that was the worst in the league. The year before he joined Greenbay they won just 1 game. In his first year they won 7 games and he was named coach of the year. Lombardi was also someone who was against racial prejudice. Coaching the 60's meant it was abnormal for a coach to select "coloured" players and racism was rife. Lombardi simply told his players that if they didn't accept the "coloured" players they would have Lombardi's foot up their behind and be kicked out of the Packers.

Gibson inspired his team by preparing them the best way he could and believing in them. Lombardi inspired his team by talking them up and believing they could beat anyone if they worked together and believed in themselves. Both of these coaches knew what it took to win. They were ahead of their times and they proved that any team can win if they believe they can. I'll finish by quoting both Gibson and Lombardi:

Gibson: "To win a championship, you've got to have a nucleus of five or six real tough, hard competitors. To win anything, the team's got to think tough and that infiltrates into the individual. You've got to have a tough leader."

Lombardi: “….I firmly believe that any man’s finest hours – his greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear – is that moment when he has worked his heart out in good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle – victorious.”