Coach of the Year Says Packers Will Be Even Better

Dec. 22, 1959 – Packers coach Vince Lombardi is named the NFL Coach of the Year, and the 46-year-old New York native who turned around Green Bay’s fortunes (from 1-10-1 to 7-5) claims his 1960 team will be even better. “Whether it will show up in the won and lost column, I don’t know. We sneaked up on a few of the teams in the beginning and now they’ll be ready for us,” says Lombardi who received 29 of the 37 votes cast. Four votes went to Giants coach Jim Lee Howell, and Weeb Ewbank of the Colts and Red Hickey of the 49ers got two apiece. “We solved our most pressing problem,” Lombardi adds. “That was teaching them a new system. It took time to do that. We won’t have to spend as much time on it next year. That’s a great advantage. We’ve got to be better off.”