Forrest Gregg

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Forrest Gregg
Date of birth	October 18, 1933
Place of birth	Birthright, Texas
Position(s)	Offensive Tackle Offensive Guard Head Coach
College	Southern Methodist
NFL Draft	1956 / Round 2/ Pick 20
Pro Bowls	9
Honors	NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team
Career Record	75-85-1
Championships Won	1981 AFC Championship
Playing Stats	Pro Football Reference
Playing Stats	DatabaseFootball
Coaching Stats	DatabaseFootball
Team(s) as a player
1956, 1958-1970 1971	Green Bay Packers Dallas Cowboys
Team(s) as a coach/administrator
1975-1977 1979 1980-1983 1984-1987 1994-1995	Cleveland Browns Toronto Argonauts Cincinnati Bengals Green Bay Packers Shreveport Pirates
Pro Football Hall of Fame, 1977

Alvis Forrest Gregg (born October 18, 1933, in Birthright, Texas) is a former American Football player and coach. During a Pro Football Hall of Fame playing career, he was a part of six championships, five of them with the Green Bay Packers before closing out his tenure with the Dallas Cowboys with a Super Bowl ring in 1971. He went on to serve as head coach of three teams: the Cleveland Browns, the Cincinnati Bengals and the Green Bay Packers.

1 College Years
2 Professional Career
3 Coaching career
4 External links

[edit] College Years

Gregg attended Southern Methodist University and was a letterman in football.

[edit] Professional Career

Despite his small size (6-4, 249 pounds) for an offensive lineman, Gregg was a key player on the Packers dynasty that won five NFL championships and 2 Super Bowls in the 1960s. Gregg earned an "iron-man" tag by playing in a then-league record 188 consecutive games from 1956 until 1971. He also won All-NFL acclaim eight straight years from 1960 through 1967 and was selected to play in nine Pro Bowls.

Gregg closed his career with the Dallas Cowboys, as did his Packer teammate, cornerback Herb Adderley. They both helped the Cowboys win Super Bowl VI, making them the only players in pro football history to play on six teams that won World Championships.

Vince Lombardi, the famed head coach of the Packers in the 1960s, claimed "Forrest Gregg is the finest player I ever coached!" in his book Run to Daylight. In 1999, he was ranked number 28 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players, ranking him second behind Ray Nitschke among players coached by Lombardi, second behind Anthony Munoz among offensive tackles, and third behind Munoz and John Hannah among all offensive linemen.

[edit] Coaching career

After serving as an assistant with the San Diego Chargers in 1973, he took a similar position the following year with the Browns. After head coach Nick Skorich was dismissed at the conclusion of the 1974 NFL season, Gregg took over as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns, a position he held until 1977.

After sitting out the 1978 season, Gregg returned to coaching in 1979 with the Canadian Football League's Toronto Argonauts. In 1980 he became the head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals and remained until 1983. Gregg's most successful season as a head coach was in 1981, when he coached the Bengals to a 12-4 regular season record and they went on to defeat the San Diego Chargers 27-7 in the AFC championship game (known as the Freezer Bowl), earning them a trip to the Super Bowl. They lost to the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XVI 26-21.

He finished his NFL coaching career with his old team, the Packers, from 1984-1987. Gregg's overall record as an NFL coach was 75 wins, 85 losses, and two ties. He also won and lost two playoff games.

After coaching in the NFL, Gregg went on to coach for two years at Southern Methodist University, his alma mater, during the 1989 and 1990 seasons. He was brought in to revive their football program after two years of no competition due to the "death penalty" imposed by the NCAA in 1986. Gregg's coaching record at SMU was 3 wins and 19 losses. He served as Athletic Director at SMU from 1990-1994.

He returned to the CFL with the Shreveport Pirates in 1994-95, during that league's brief attempt at expansion to the United States. Gregg's overall record as a CFL coach was 13 wins and 39 losses.

When former Shreveport Pirate owner Bernard Glieberman bought a stake in the Ottawa Renegades in May 2005, Gregg was appointed as Vice President of Football Operations.

[edit] External links

Pro Football Hall of Fame: Member profile

Preceded by: Nick Skorich	Cleveland Browns Head Coaches 1975–1977	Succeeded by: Dick Modzelewski
Preceded by: Bud Riley	Toronto Argonauts Head Coaches 1979	Succeeded by: Willie Wood
Preceded by: Homer Rice	Cincinnati Bengals Head Coaches 1980–1983	Succeeded by: Sam Wyche
Preceded by: Bart Starr	Green Bay Packers Head Coaches 1984–1987	Succeeded by: Lindy Infante

Preceded by: Bobby Collins	Southern Methodist University Head Football Coach 1989–1990	Succeeded by: Tom Rossley
Preceded by: John Huard	Shreveport Pirates Head Coaches 1994–1995	Succeeded by: last coach

Cincinnati Bengals Head Coaches
Brown • Johnson • Rice • Gregg • Wyche • Shula • Coslet • LeBeau • Lewis

Cleveland Browns Head Coaches
Brown • Collier • Skorich • Gregg • Modzelewski • Rutigliano • Schottenheimer • Carson • Shofner • Belichick • Palmer • Davis • Robiskie • Crennel

Green Bay Packers Head Coaches
Lambeau • Ronzani • Devore • McLean • Blackbourn • McLean • Lombardi • Bengtson • Devine • Starr • Gregg • Infante • Holmgren • Rhodes • Sherman • McCarthy

SMU Mustangs Head Football Coaches
Morrison • J. Burton Rix • Bell • Stewart • H.N. Russell • Woodard • Meek • Fry • Smith • Meyer • Collins • Gregg • Rossley • Cavan • Bennett