Former Buffalo Bills head coach and NFL Hall of Famer Marv Levy has had an esteemed coaching career not only in the United States but in Canada as well.
Thirteen years before starting his coaching career in Buffalo, Levy was the head coach of the Montreal Alouettes. From 1973-1977, Levy coached the CFL team to three Grey Cup appearances in five years and winning two of them during the 1974 and 1977 seasons. In 1974, Levy served as the general manager and head coach and was named the Coach of the Year after his first Grey Cup win. He finished his time in Montreal with a 43-31-4 regular season record and a 7-3 record in the postseason.
Even with all the success, Levy has yet to be inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame and the Montreal Alouettes are making a strong case to change that. They have started a campaign named #TwoHallsForMarv posting stories and accounts from former players and colleagues listing why Marv deserves to be in both halls.
If Levy was selected to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, he would join quarterback Warren Moon on the shortlist of individuals to be immortalized in football history in two pro football Hall of Fames.
The Canadian Football Hall of Fame will announce its 2021 class on April 7.
Players like Steve Christie, Warren Moon and Doug Flutie have all made their cases why Levy should be in both halls and why he means so much to the game of football. Bill Polian, who served as Levy's general manager in Buffalo thinks of Levy as a mentor to him. Polian was on One Bills Live on Wednesday and made his case for Levy and what effect Levy had on the football fans in Canada.
"When he came to Buffalo, we began to build a fan base in Canada," Polian stated. "By the time that Steve [Tasker] finished playing, about 20% of our fan base was from Southern Ontario. When you think of the effect Marv had on those people in Canada, and all of the tremendous publicity and positive publicity that he always generated for the Alouettes, and for the CFL. He really did more as coach of the Bills, to publicize and make the CFL a viable league in people's minds, then he really ever did as coach of the Alouettes. So, the CFL has benefited all these years, because everyone always identifies him as a big success in the CFL. So that to me is reason alone for him to be in, aside from that stellar record."
