| No. 75, 79 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Offensive tackle | ||||||
| Personal information | |||||||
| Born: | (1933-10-18)October 18, 1933 Birthright, Texas, U.S. | ||||||
| Died: | April 12, 2019(2019-04-12) (aged 85) Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S. | ||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||||
| Weight: | 249 lb (113 kg) | ||||||
| Career information | |||||||
| High school: | Sulphur Springs (Sulphur Springs, Texas) | ||||||
| College: | SMU | ||||||
| NFL draft: | 1956: 2nd round, 20th pick | ||||||
| Career history | |||||||
As a player: | |||||||
As a coach: | |||||||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||
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| Head coaching record | |||||||
| Regular season: | NFL: 75–85–1 (.469) CFL: 13–39 (.250) NCAA: 3–19 (.136) | ||||||
| Postseason: | NFL: 2–2 (.500) | ||||||
| Career: | NFL: 77–87–1 (.470) CFL: 13–39 (.250) NCAA: 3–19 (.136) | ||||||
Coaching profile at Pro Football Reference  | |||||||
Alvis Forrest Gregg (October 18, 1933 – April 12, 2019) was an American professionalfootball player and coach. APro Football Hall of Fameoffensive tackle for 16 seasons in theNational Football League (NFL), he was a part of sixNFL championships, five of them with theGreen Bay Packers before closing out his tenure with theDallas Cowboys with a win inSuper Bowl VI. Gregg was later the head coach of three NFL teams (Cleveland Browns,Cincinnati Bengals, andGreen Bay Packers), as well as twoCanadian Football League (CFL) teams (Toronto Argonauts andShreveport Pirates). He was also acollege football coach for theSMU Mustangs.
As a head coach, he led the1981 Bengals to the Super Bowl, where they lost to theSan Francisco 49ers, 26–21.[1]
Born on October 18, 1933, inBirthright, Texas,[2] Gregg attendedSulphur Springs High School inSulphur Springs and playedcollege football atSouthern Methodist University inDallas.[1][3] Playing on both the offensive and defensive line at SMU, Gregg earned All-Southwest Conference honors in his final two seasons.[4]
Gregg was a key player in the Packers dynasty of head coachVince Lombardi that won five NFL championships and the first twoSuper Bowls. He played mostly at right tackle, but also filled in at guard.[1] He earned an "iron man" tag by playing in a then-league record 188 consecutive games in 16 seasons from 1956 until 1971. He also won All-NFL honors for eight straight years from 1960 through 1967 and ninePro Bowl selections.[5]
Gregg closed his career with the Dallas Cowboys, as did his Packer teammate, cornerbackHerb Adderley. They both helped the Cowboys win Super Bowl VI in January 1972, making them the only players (along with former teammateFuzzy Thurston, who was on theBaltimore Colts NFL championship team in1958 andTom Brady of theNew England Patriots andTampa Bay Buccaneers) in professional football history to play on six NFL title teams. Gregg wore the number 75 for 15 seasons in Green Bay, but that number belonged toJethro Pugh in Dallas, so Gregg wore number 79 for his final season in 1971.[6]
It has been reported thatVince Lombardi said, "Forrest Gregg is the finest player I ever coached!" but official Packers team historian Cliff Christl can find no evidence of Lombardi ever saying or writing that.[7] In 1999, he was ranked 28th onThe Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Football Players, putting him second behindRay Nitschke among players coached by Lombardi, second behindAnthony Muñoz (whom he coached) among offensive tackles, and fourth behind Munoz,John Hannah, andJim Parker among all offensive linemen.[8] He was inducted into theGreen Bay Packers Hall of Fame in 1977.[9]
After serving as an assistant with theSan Diego Chargers in 1973, he took a similar position the following year with theBrowns. After head coachNick Skorich was dismissed after the 1974 season, Gregg was promoted to head coach in1975, a position he held through1977.[10] According toDave Logan, safetyThom Darden and Gregg once had a fist fight after a game.[11] Darden has explained that the1977 Cleveland Browns did not respond to Gregg's coaching style, which contributed to his firing with one game remaining.[12] In 1977, Darden was one of the vocal dissidents that led to the ouster of Gregg ashead coach of the Cleveland Browns.[13]
After sitting out the 1978 season, Gregg returned to coaching in 1979 with the Canadian Football League'sToronto Argonauts. In1980, he became the head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals for four seasons through1983. His most successful season as a head coach was in1981, when he led the Bengals to a 12–4 regular season record.[14] They defeated theSan Diego Chargers 27–7 in the AFC championship game (known as theFreezer Bowl),[15] earning them a trip toSuper Bowl XVI, where they lost to theSan Francisco 49ers, 26–21.[16]
When his longtime former teammateBart Starr was fired after nine years as head coach of the Packers in December1983, Gregg was allowed out of his Bengals' contract to take over in Green Bay.[17] He finished his NFL coaching career with the Packers, leading them for four seasons,1984–1987, with a record of 25–37–1. Gregg's overall record as an NFL coach was 75 wins, 85 losses and one tie. He was also 2–2 in playoff games, all with the Bengals.[18] He is one of only two coaches, the other beingMarvin Lewis, to have left the Bengals with a winning record.
Gregg resigned from the Packers in January 1988 and took a pay cut to take over at SMU, his alma mater.[19][20] He was brought in to revive the Mustang football program after it received the "death penalty" from the NCAA formassive violations of NCAA rules.[20] Though the NCAA had only canceled the 1987 season, school officials later opted to cancel the 1988 season due to fears that fielding a competitive team would be impossible; nearly every letterman from the1986 squad had transferred elsewhere.[21] Gregg knew that any new coach would be essentially rebuilding the program from scratch, but when acting president William Stalcup asked him to return, he felt he could not refuse.[22]
As it turned out, when Gregg arrived, he was presented with a severely undersized and underweight roster composed mostly of freshmen. Gregg was taller and heavier than nearly the entire 70-man squad. The team was so short on offensive linemen that Gregg had to make several wide receivers bulk up and switch to the line. By nearly all accounts, it would have been unthinkable for the Mustangs to return for the 1988 season under such conditions.[23]
In1989, the Mustangs went 2–9, including a 95–21 thrashing byHouston—the second-worst loss in school history. In that game, eventualHeisman Trophy winnerAndre Ware threw six touchdown passes in the first half, andDavid Klingler added four more in the second, even with the game long out of reach. Gregg was so disgusted that he refused to shake Houston coachJack Pardee's hand after the game.[24] Nonetheless, Gregg reflected fondly on the experience. In a 2012 interview withThe New York Times, he said the players on the two teams he coached should have had their numbers retired for restoring dignity to the program. "I never coached a group of kids that had more courage," he said. "They thought that they could play with anyone. They were quality people. It was one of the most pleasurable experiences in my football life. Period."[22]
After the season, Gregg was named SMU's athletic director. The Mustangs went 1–10 in1990, and after the season, he resigned as coach to focus on his duties as athletic director. Gregg's coaching record at SMU was 3–19,[25] and he served as athletic director until 1994.[26]
He returned to the CFL with theShreveport Pirates in 1994–95, during that league'sbrief attempt at expansion to theUnited States. His overall record in the CFL was 13–39.[27]
When former Shreveport Pirates ownerBernard Glieberman bought a stake in theOttawa Renegades in May 2005, Gregg was appointed Ottawa's vice president of football operations, a position he held through 2006.[28]
Gregg had two marriages. He married Barbara Sue Leach in 1954. He married his second wife, Barbara Dedek in 1960.
In the 1970s, he had multiple surgeries forskin cancer.[29]
He retired toColorado Springs, Colorado. In October 2011, he was diagnosed withParkinson's disease, thought to be caused byconcussions from playing over two decades of high school, college, and professional football.[5][30][31]
On April 12, 2019, Gregg died at the age of 85 due to complications from Parkinson's disease.[1][32]
In addition to his wife, he was survived by a son, Forrest Jr.; a daughter, Karen Gregg Spehar; and several siblings.
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SMU Mustangs(Southwest Conference)(1989–1990) | |||||||||
| 1989 | SMU | 2–9 | 0–8 | 9th | |||||
| 1990 | SMU | 1–10 | 0–8 | 9th | |||||
| SMU: | 3–19 | 0–16 | |||||||
| Total: | 3–19 | ||||||||
| Team | Year | Regular Season | Post Season | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Ties | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| CLE | 1975 | 3 | 11 | 0 | .214 | 4th in AFC Central | – | – | – | – |
| CLE | 1976 | 9 | 5 | 0 | .643 | 3rd in AFC Central | – | – | – | – |
| CLE | 1977 | 6 | 7 | 0 | .462 | (fired) | – | – | – | – |
| CLE Total | 18 | 23 | 0 | .439 | – | – | – | |||
| CIN | 1980 | 6 | 10 | 0 | .375 | 4th in AFC Central | – | – | – | – |
| CIN | 1981 | 12 | 4 | 0 | .750 | 1st in AFC Central | 2 | 1 | .667 | Lost to49ers inSuper Bowl XVI |
| CIN | 1982 | 7 | 2 | 0 | .778 | 3rd in AFC | 0 | 1 | .000 | Lost toJets inAFC first round Playoffs Game |
| CIN | 1983 | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 3rd in AFC Central | – | – | – | – |
| CIN Total | 32 | 25 | 0 | .561 | 2 | 2 | .500 | |||
| GB | 1984 | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 2nd in NFC Central | – | – | – | – |
| GB | 1985 | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 2nd in NFC Central | – | – | – | – |
| GB | 1986 | 4 | 12 | 0 | .250 | 4th in NFC Central | – | – | – | – |
| GB | 1987 | 5 | 9 | 1 | .367 | 3rd in NFC Central | – | – | – | – |
| GB Total | 25 | 37 | 1 | .447 | – | – | – | |||
| NFL Total | 75 | 85 | 1 | .469 | 2 | 2 | .500 | |||
| Team | Year | Regular Season | Post Season | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Ties | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| TOR | 1979 | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | 4th in CFL East | – | – | – | – |
| TOR Total | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | – | – | – | |||
| SHP | 1994 | 3 | 15 | 0 | .167 | 6th in CFL East | – | – | – | – |
| SHP | 1995 | 5 | 13 | 0 | .278 | 5th in CFL South | – | – | – | – |
| SHP Total | 8 | 28 | 0 | .222 | – | – | – | |||
| CFL Total | 13 | 39 | 0 | .250 | – | – | – | |||
Logan, who broke in with the Browns in 1976, said one of his lasting memories involves a postgame fistfight between his first head coach, Forrest Gregg, and safety Thom Darden.
As the season went on, the team didn't respond well to the way Gregg pushed. Cliques formed, as players' differences polarized the locker room and broke down the team chemistry. "It was tough going to practice," said defensive back Thom Darden. "It was not a good working environment. You could cut the tension with a knife when we were in practice."
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