Vince Lombardi is one of the best coaches football has ever seen, and the Super Bowl trophy bears his name. Lombardi’s ability to teach, motivate, and inspire players made him a leader on and off the field. He demonstrated these skills in his first head coaching position with the Green Bay Packers in 1959. In 1958, the Packers won one and tied 1 out of 12 games. Lombardi knew he had to make changes and spent the spring of 1959 reviewing plays and developing new strategies and tactics that would turn the Packers around.
His first step was to change the rules and policies. Veterans were required to attend practices once they arrived at training camp. Everyone had to make curfew and to be on time to meals, meetings, and practices. Violations of the rules were fined up to $25. The reason, Lombardi explained, was “a man who is late for a meeting or the bus will be sloppy. He won’t run pass routes right.” The biggest fine ($150) was reserved for being caught standing at a bar, because Lombardi felt “standing at a bar did not look good.” It was important to manage the town of Green Bay’s perceptions of the team, as some thought the players cared less about winning than having a good time. Changing the perception of the players to townsfolk was important to Lombardi because the Packers are owned by shareholders made up of the residents of Green Bay.
Lombardi told players, “You will be a professional.” He felt they needed to start acting like major league players who expected to win. Rather than traveling on bumpy planes, eating crummy food, and staying in cheap hotels, Lombardi got Packers management to pay for better accommodations, food, and transportation. Further, Lombardi required the players to dress in jackets and ties while traveling and helped pay for them to do so.
In his first meeting with all the players, he said the following:
Gentlemen, we’re going to have a football team here, and we’re going to win some games. Do you know why? You are going to have confidence in me and my system. By being alert, you are going to make fewer mistakes than your opponents. By working harder, you are going to out-execute, out-block, and out-tackle every team that comes your way. I have never been a losing coach and don’t intend to start here.
From watching previous games, Lombardi saw the Packers lacked the stamina to play four hard quarters. Rather than running light practices that “rested” players’ legs like the previous coach, Lombardi developed grueling twice-a-day practices that he intensified each week. These practices consisted of calisthenics, running plays until they were implemented to perfection, and punishments for those not giving it their all. Lombardi’s goal for the Packers players was for them to “have the best legs in the league,” thus making the players stronger and able to prevent the excessive second half scoring by their opponents suffered in the previous season. Jim Ringo, who played center, said to one of the other players in camp that year, “We’ve never had practices like this. This guy means business. The conditioning is brutal.” Those who could or would not keep up were cut or traded—even the “stars” and veterans.
Lombardi’s changes seemed to have worked. In 1959, the Packers finished the season with seven wins and five losses. By the next year, Lombardi’s hard-edged style turned the Packers into the most envied and successful franchise in the NFL. During the 1960s, Lombardi took the Packers on to win five NFL Championships and also victories in Super Bowls I and II.
Discussion Questions
1. How did Lombardi’s actions help change the players’ perceptions of themselves and their abilities? How did it create success for the Packers?
2. The Packer culture was tolerant of losing before Lombardi took over. How might this culture have created a Golem effect?
3. How did Lombardi’s changes to the team’s professionalism and physical ability help change the identity the Packers had created for themselves and their team?
4. Lombardi instituted a rule that players could not drink standing at a bar. While not all players would drink alcohol or visit bars, the actions of those who did would be attributed to the entire team. What kind of effect is this? Why is it important to manage perceptions held not only by oneself but also by others?