FOOTBALL

Legendary USC Coach Dave Levy Passes Away

Dave Levy, who was one of the most influential figures in USC football, died Wednesday. He was 91.

Although he was not a head coach at USC, if you ask any player during the years he coached (1960-75), they would mention him and not John McKay as the coach they loved and had fond memories of from their days as Trojans.

And they all agreed Levy should have replaced McKay as USC coach following the 1975 season.

Levy taught me more about the history of USC football than any other coach. He would meet me for lunch at McKay’s across the street from USC and tell great stories about the past. He even used to bring me scrapbooks that his mother made of newspaper articles during his time at USC.

Sometimes during the lunches, I would call a former All-American from the past that Levy coached and put him on the phone. They hadn’t talked in years but immediately restored the USC bond.

He told me two great stories about Bear Bryant in Los Angeles here and here.

He also told me this one: After USC lost to Notre Dame, 51-0, in 1966 at the Coliseum, McKay had little desire to go to the old Sheraton-Town House hotel on Wilshire Blvd., where he would go after home games to talk to boosters.

McKay stayed in the locker room for so long after the game that stadium staff informed him they were turning out the lights. When McKay and Levy walked up the tunnel, there were no fans around. Or even wives, who had cars.

Instead of trying to get a taxi or going back to USC, McKay and Levy walked to the Town House via Vermont Ave. because McKay did not want to face the boosters. That’s about 4.5 miles. By the time the pair got to the hotel, there were about 15 boosters left to hear McKay speak.

Levy told me he and McKay didn’t speak during the walk.

There’s so many stories to recall from Levy, I’ll probably have to just start mentioning them over time. He brought his five national championship rings (four as a coach, one as administrator) to lunch one day so I took a picture.

21 thoughts on “Legendary USC Coach Dave Levy Passes Away”

      1. Slo pa-troll is so fuck’ed up between the ears, he’ll claim MTG was slapping Wray around. The idiot will post a comment and then try to convince us it has an alternative meaning…..

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      2. Once again projecting her own habit of reading something, then claiming it says something else.

        Also proving what a hypocrite she is AGAIN. She claims I’m obsessed, even though she’s the one who references me here when I haven’t even posted on this thread. Typical Lib.

        Get the professional help so many have suggested. Don’t lie again and claim they said that to me. You look really pathetic what you do that. (Though I know you don’t let that stop you. LOL)

        Liked by 2 people

      3. More whining and crying…..you keep taking the bait, every fucking day….no one is holding a gun to your head and making read my posts……FUCKING IGNORE ME, DIPSHIT

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  3. Several of us discussed Coach Levy on this board during the past week (in the context of – and I’m shocked Woof didn’t mention either this or how Levy went on to be a key member of Don Coryell’s great Chargers staff along with Joe Gibbs and Jim Hannifan – Coach McKay preferring Levy to be his successor over John Robinson). RIP.

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    1. Clay Helton (Look what he is doing at Georgia Southern)
      Steve Sarkisian (At Texas he is killing it at recruiting and in the Top 10 year after year.
      Lane Kiffin (Ole Miss is a factor year in and year out!)

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  5. In 1966 I had to convince Dave Levy to give me a uniform as a walk-on football player and he told me that 97% of walk-ons don’t make it, and I retorted, “Well, I’ll make that 94%,” and he gave me a uniform

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  7. Speaking of percentages, just saw ‘Celeb’ contemplating the likelihood of him staying another year at SC or even playing after the sucla game-
    I say 100% he is NFL-bound after sucla

    Trojans should really give this guy a nice send-off ‘roar of approval’

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  8. He was one of our coaches during the 60’s. He was a football genius. He and Don Coryell were close. He was like the opposite of coach Goux in that Goux was fiery and hands on; Levy was analytical and measured. We had a great staff. Our line coaches perfect for the time. Coach Ray George really loved his players. His favorite guys when I was there, were the McKeever twins. They were extraordinary athletes who could do anything required of them.

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  11. With his time coaching at Long Beach Poly and LBCC, he was instrumental in starting the Long Beach pipeline to USC that was so important in the program’s success.

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  12. For the past quarter century sucla football has, shall we say, ‘struggled,’
    and it all started in 1998 because this guy named Cade just had to show-up SC at the end of a game sucla had handily.

    In the papers this morning they call this ‘disrespecting’ a Curse that has been cast on the sucla football program all these years. This Cade is arrogant enough without mentioning him 25-years later

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  13. For the past 19 years USC has been under the Norm Chow Curse thanks to Pete Carroll just having to disrespect his OC and hiring his worthless basketball buddies to take Norm’s place after Norm’s offense put 55 on Oklahoma in a game USC won handily.

    This Pete is arrogant enough without mentioning him- 19years later.

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