Lou Saban, First Patriots Coach, Dies At 87

The NFL lost one of its greatest contributors this week, and so did the legacy of the New England Patriots. Lou Saban, the Patriots’ first head coach when the team was still known as the Boston Patriots, passed away Sunday at his home near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, leaving his memory entangled in the Patriots’ 50th anniversary season.

Saban grew up in Illinois and was a star quarterback for Indiana University in the ‘40s, playing pro for the Cleveland Browns from 1946 to 1949 and thereafter jumpstarting his magnificent coaching career. When the American Football League started in 1960, Lou Saban joined on as the head coach for the Boston Patriots, starting the structure for the New England dynasty to follow. Saban left the Patriots for the AFL’s Buffalo Bills in 1962 and thereafter got the nickname “Much Traveled Lou” for how many different teams he coached in his five decade career. Lou Saban held 18 different jobs in his fruitful career, coaching several college teams and even taking on the task of the president of the New York Yankees in the 1980s, and he will forever be remembered in Patriots history, especially this season as the Pats celebrate their 50th anniversary.

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