When Pride Still Mattered Chapter 4 - Saints
There have been so many biopics about sports heroes, such as they are, that it’s almost impossible to think about Vince Lombardi’s life in anything but cinematic terms.
But that said, his early coaching career is basically a sports movie. It’s got all the hallmarks. Lombardi is a young man trying to make his mark on the world. He’s newly married, and boy he and his wife are trying to figure out where they stand in this new phase of their relationship. He’s in a new position and he’s attempting to revolutionize some of the game he loves while climbing the ladder of power. Add in a very well-defined location (what’s more cinematic than a school, and a Catholic one at that?) and you’ve got yourself a sports movie.
You even have some great supporting characters, like Sister Louise “The Bap” Batista, the fearsome nun who kept her young charges in line, or the mild-mannered (but still forceful) Irish priest, Father Tim Moore. Between The Bap scolding high school students and Father Moore collaring and then punching a football player, I don’t know what else you could want in your football film.
However, we also have to remember this isn’t a movie, it’s a man’s life. Or, just as importantly, it’s a family’s life. In this chapter I think we see a little bit of the good and the bad in Lombardi. You can see what made him a great teacher and coach: he was absolutely devoted to being the best at both and he was willing to do whatever it took to hit the mark. You can also see how those same qualities made him a less-than-perfect husband and father. Lombardi may have said the order of priorities was faith, family, and then football, but that doesn’t appear to be how he actually lived his life.
But if we’re trying to just get a picture of the man, this chapter does that quite well. In his first coaching appointment, Lombardi seems to have arrived almost fully formed, though not yet refined by the crucible of West Point. These two quotes about teaching the T formation (more on that below) sounds an awful lot like his later coaching work with the Packers:
“The T required precision and constant practice, but not great physical prowess, an offense that seemed made for Lombardi and his Saints, the first team in the area to use it.”
“Repetition was at the core of his coaching philosophy. Doing the same thing over and over again, whether it was a play or a calisthenic, he believed, would make his boys fearless and instinctive.”
There, again, is Lombardi, chasing perfection, a Jesuit football coach to his core.
Interesting notes
Lombardi’s starting salary at St. Cecilia’s was $1,700 a year in 1939, which is roughly the equivalent of $35,784.04 in 2023 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ inflation calculator.
One of the best things about biographies like this is seeing when the subject at hand crosses paths with other notable people and we get a good one in this chapter: Lombardi and his wife ran into Frank Sinatra while out and about as a newlywed couple.
Another interesting backdrop here: World War II. Lombardi’s first football head coaching job came indirectly because of the war. Jim Crowley left Fordham for the military, and Andy Palau filled his spot there, opening the top job at St. Cecilia’s.
Speaking of the war, Lombardi’s draft deferments deserve mention. Though not a draft dodger by any means, it’s curious that Lombardi managed to avoid service when, as Maraniss notes, many other young men in similar situations did not. I am in no way implying anything untoward here, but it is interesting that Lombardi would avoid service in the military and then go on to coach at a service academy.
Speaking of “Handy Andy,” give Andy Palau’s page at the Bristol Sports Hall of Fame a look sometime.
I tried to find a complete copy of the T-formation pamphlet by Clark Shaughnessy and George Halas that Lombardi used at St. Cecilia, but I was unable to do so. However, you can get a little glimpse of what was inside here and here, or you can fork over $72 for a leatherbound copy
Chapter 4 concludes with a great what-if: Lombardi was named as the new head coach at Hackensack High School on May 15, 1945. You can see the article in part below. But as we know, that never actually ended up taking place. What if it had, though? Where would Lombardi have ended up?
Packers connections
Neither of these are Packers connections per se, but it’s funny that some of Lombardi’s early football innovation was shaped, at least in part, by George Halas, who would go on to be quite the rival in Chicago.
Joe Paterno also shows up in Lombardi’s coaching journey, but as a player, lining up for Brooklyn Prep in a game against St. Cecilia’s.