1959 Giants Coaches Profiles

JIM LEE HOWELL

Head Coach

"The oldest Giant in terms of service is Jim Lee Howell, who first reported as a lanky end candidate from Arkansas in 1937. Howell has grown since then, both in ability and stature. His six-five frame now carries a comfortable 240 pounds, making him the big man among NFL coaches. Jim is in his third season, but only two colleagues antedate him, Buddy Parker at Detroit and Paul Brown at Cleveland.

Howell is a modest, soft-spoken man who gives so much credit to others that he leaves little for himself. He says: 'As a famous coach once told me, the job of the head coach is to see that the balls are pumped up, and to keep order.' He will say this with a smile and begin to speak about the contributions of his assistants. But a careful observer will note the qualities which make Howell successful: executive ability, technical mastery, and facile handling of the men.

The Giant coach believes in an offensive based on simplicity and practice. When he took over in January of 1954, he devised a system of plays and assignments which could be easily grasped to eliminate hesitation on the field. 'We want action, not deep thinking,' he put it. 'We want to cut down classroom work, to have more time on the field for practice.'

Howell groups his plays in five 'packages.' Depending on the defense and the game situation, the quarterback is instructed to select a play from one package, which fits the need. Therefore, he does not have to fumble mentally through his whole catalog.

Howell was born on September 27, 1914, in Lonoke, Arkansas. As a boy, he ran a paper route and helped in his father's ice plant. As an awkward, growing youth, he could not make high school teams, but became a basketball star at Arkansas U. and captained the team which reached the finals of the Olympic tryouts in New York in 1936.

Jim Lee learned football under Fred Thomsen, a pioneer in bringing the 'aerial circus' to the southwest. Arkansas became known as the 'passingest' team in the country, with Howell a regular for three years. When Jim was appointed Giants coach, he said: 'I am from Arkansas and I like to throw the ball around.'

When Howell joined the Giants in 1937, he was a regular at right end from the start. He played over an 11-year span including three years as a Marine lieutenant in Pacific action and accepted a job as coach of ends when he returned.

The coach had established himself as a prosperous farmer and rancher in Lonoke, where he lived with his wife, the former Sue Campbell of that small town, when he was asked to direct the Giants. It was typical of Howell that he wished to be a full-time coach, and therefore sold most of his holdings, to move to Englewood, New Jersey, where the three Howells now live. A son, Hugh Timothy, was born last year.

In his first season, Howell pulled the Giants from a 3-9 record to one of 7-5, for third place. In 1955, three losses staggered the Giants at the start, but Howell rallied them to go 6-2-1 and close the year with an unbeaten streak of five games. Jim hopes to pick up that streak this year."

-1956 Jay Publishing

"The Giants' Jim Lee Howell is a modest, soft spoken man who gives so much credit to others, there is little for himself. If you ask him the secrets of his success as coach of the World Champions, he will laugh in a friendly way and tell you: 'A famous coach once told me that the job of a head coach is to keep order and see that the balls are pumped up!'

Not only players, but assistant coaches too are giving all they have for this once lanky end from Arkansas. The results: in three seasons Howell has rebuilt a fifth-place team into one which trampled the mighty Chicago Bears 47-7 last December, to win the World Championship.

Howell's interests are wide. As a politician he was elected to the Arkansas state legislature. As a soldier he was a Marine company commander in the South Pacific during the war. Currently he raises rice and beef cattle in Arkansas and flowers, as a hobby, in Englewood. He is the father of two boys.

Howell, as captain of the basketball team, first came to New York in 1936 for the finals of the Olympic tryouts. He is 6 feet 5 and at the time weighed about 185. The following year he joined the Giants as right end. He was really neither heavy enough nor fast enough, but he loved the game, studied it, and made the most of those skills which he did have. He was smart, durable and determined.

How good a player was he? Last year only two of over 400 NFL players had played better than ten years in the League. Howell, from 1937 to '47, lasted eleven."

-1957 Jay Publishing

"Coach Jim Lee Howell of the Giants started opposing the Bears in 1936 when he was a star end on the Centennial All-Americans who defeated the Bears 7 to 6 in a game played in Dallas. Howell intercepted a pass and returned it to the one-yard line to set up the All-Stars' touchdown."

-1957 Chicago Bears Official Program

"Jim took over the club in 1954, and three years later had a world championship. He runs his club like a Madison Avenue executive, delegating authority to responsible assistants. Jim formerly coached the ends (1949-1953) before he replaced the popular Steve Owen.
He was a Giant end for nine seasons. An outstanding basketball player in college (Arkansas U.), Jim was born in Lonoke, Arkansas. He now lives in Englewood, New Jersey."

-Pro Football Handbook 1959

"In his sixth season as head coach of the Giants, Howell hails from Lonoke, Arkansas and played varsity ball at the University of Arkansas. He also captained the Arkansas basketball team which reached the Olympic finals at Madison Square Garden before being defeated.

Howell, an end, joined the Giants in 1937 and played with the Maramen for nine years, 1937-43 and 1946-48, with time out with a stretch in the Marines.

His previous coaching experience was as an assistant at Arkansas in 1936, as end coach at Manhattan in 1940, and head coach at Wagner in 1949. Jim Lee's record at Wagner was 8-1. He coached Giants ends from 1949-53.

Jim Lee served as a member of the Arkansas State Legislature in 1940 and had a farm in his native state before being named Steve Owen's successor. He, his wife and two boys now live in Englewood, N.J."

-1959 N.F.L. Pro-Football Yearbook (Jay Publishing)

COACHES AND FOUR MAKE GIANTS GO

"Many head football coaches, particularly old-liners, are charter members of the Leader Cult. They set up their command posts conspicuously out in front and gush forth noisily as the fonts of all knowledge on matters pertaining to their team- and just about everything else.

Under Jim Lee Howell, the Giants operate under a more modern concept. Few coaches are better to command than Howell. Consider some of the things he has been and done en route to his role as the autumnal resident genius at Yankee Stadium.

Big Jim was president of the student council and captain of a basketball team that went to the final tryouts of the 1936 Olympics as well as a star end at the University of Arkansas. He was the company commander of a Marine combat unit in the Pacific Theatre in World War II. He served a term in the Arkansas State Senate by the dicta of his fellow citizens of Lonoke where, off-seasons, he sagely administered his own rice plantation and prize cattle herd. While still playing big league football, he was a successful small college coach at Staten Island's Wagner College.

If ever a man had a right to view himself as eight feet tall, instead of a mere 6-foot-6, it was Howell, when the big chance to take charge of the Giants came his way at the end of the 1953 season. Big Jim took command, all right, in a manner that has added greatly to his stature. But he did it in his own level-headed, enlightened way.

It is Howell's singular theory that coaching command and responsibility in modern football should be plural. Pro football is a specialized game, with distinct units for attack, defense, kicking and kick defense, etc. So, Big Jim reasoned, why not apply the same principle to coaching?

That he had done, to an extent unapproached elsewhere, with brilliant results. Under the Howell, the Giants are the only National League club- in East or West- that has consistently finished over .500.

Under the Howell delegation-of-authority system, Allie Sherman is charged with planning the over-all attack and Tom Landry with charting the over-all defense. Ken Kavanaugh, end coach, designs pass patterns tailored to fit the attack plan. Johnny Dell Isola, line coach, plots stunts to implement the defense plan.

Much in the manner of a chairman of the board, Howell confers with his aides each Tuesday to review strategy. He has the power to veto their suggestions, of course, but seldom exercises it. And once a plan has been agreed on, Big Jim leaves it to Sherman and Landry to execute the same.

It's part of the system, also, for Howell after a game to refer questions on details to the man responsible for them- Landry, Sherman, Kavanaugh or Dell Isola, as the case may be.

This modus operandi has helped keep Giant morale high, on the playing field as well as at the coaching level. The Giant assistants, in turn, listen to and respect suggestions by the players.

Yes, there's a rivalry between the Giant platoons. But it's a healthy rivalry, stimulated by the desire to excel and underlined by a spirit of togetherness that springs from a head coach who believes in being on the team, not just its leader."

-1959 New York Giants Official Program (Yankee Stadium, November 15)

JOHNNY DELL ISOLA

"Watch Dell Isola, former Fordham University and present New York Giants centre, as he prepares to snap the ball. Dell's right hand grasps the ball much as a forward passer would do, gripping his fingers over the laces. His left hand, a little to the rear of the ball and under, serves only to steady his passes, which are made almost entirely with the right hand, enabling his fingers to impart the spiral as it is snapped to the backfield.

In this day of direct passing, instead of having the quarterback crouched just behind the centre, accuracy and a complete knowledge of signals and backfield assignments are essential for every centre."

Eddie Casey, Chair Boston Redskins, Former Harvard Coach (1935 National Chicle Football Stars No. 26)

"Dell Isola, one of the great pro linemen of all time, played with the Giants as a running guard from 1934 to 1940. He was small, scarcely more than 200 pounds, but he was chunky, rough, and fiercely competitive.

Dell Isola was line coach at Dartmouth for many years."

-1957 Jay Publishing

KEN KAVANAUGH

"Ken ranks with the foremost pass receivers of all time. He was a member of three Bear championship teams, 1940, '41 and '46. He has been named All-Pro three times.

He snared 13 touchdown passes last year to rank fourth in scoring with 78 points. He is in his sixth season with the Bears.

Ken earned All-American honors at LSU."

-1948 Leaf No. 23

"Ken caught 18 passes last season, good for 352 yards and six touchdowns- far off his 1947 pace when he snared 13 touchdown passes and scored 78 points. 

He still ranks among the foremost receivers of all time. He has been named All-Pro three times. Ken was a member of the Bears' 1940, '41 and '46 championship clubs."

-1949 Leaf No. 51

"A top offensive end for the Bears since joining the team in 1940, Ken is the second highest scorer in the club's history. He ranks fourth in most touchdowns scored during his lifetime in the National Football League.

Ken was an All-American at Louisiana State University. He served in the Army Air Force, flew many missions and was decorated for bravery.

Ken lives on a cattle ranch near Sacramento."

-1950 Bowman No. 137 

"Ken climaxed a great college career against Holy Cross in his senior year. He streaked to three touchdowns- two coming on 74 and 80-yard pass plays!

For two years he led the nation's pass receivers and paced the Tigers to the Sugar Bowl. As a pro, he was a great end for the Bears."

-1955 Topps All-American No. 50

"Ken Kavanaugh, the end coach, has charge of the passing attack. In concert with Vince Lombardi, he designs many of the pass patterns and teaches them to ends and backs. Ken also reveals to his players some of the tricks he picked up at L.S.U. and in eight seasons with the Chicago Bears. He ought to know a few. He is the fourth most effective pass catcher in League history, making a touchdown with approximately every third ball he caught.

Kavanaugh is in the ranching business in California and the lumber business in Philadelphia."

-1957 Jay Publishing

TOM LANDRY

"With the Yankees one year and the Giants two years, Tom is an outstanding defensive back. So used by the Giants, he's also an excellent runner and passer. He averaged 44.1 yards on 51  punts in 1949.

Tom played all the backfield positions at the University of Texas. He is extremely versatile. He gained 146 yards in the Longhorns' Orange Bowl victory over Georgia.

Tom works with an electric plating company in the off-season."

-1951 Bowman No. 20 (Bowman Gum, Inc.)

"When Landry captained the Texas team, he starred both on offense and defense. Now, in his third year with the Giants (his fourth year in pro ball), he is being used mostly on defense.

In 1951 he recovered an opponent's fumble and returned it nine yards for a touchdown. Landry was one of three players in the league to score two touchdowns from intercepted passes."

-1952 Bowman No. 142

"Last season, Landry's first in the dual role of player-coach, was one of his best as he made the All-Pro team as a defensive halfback and was fourth in the league in punting. He directed the Giant defense which was second in fewest points allowed and first in a number of interceptions and number of fumbles recovered. He can and has played all backfield positions on offense and defense.

Landry holds two degrees from the University of Texas and plans an engineering career after football. He was a 1st Lieutenant in the Army Air Corps, then a fullback and T-quarterback at Texas. Married, with two children, this is his sixth year with the Giants."

-1955 Bowman No. 152

"Landry, coach of defense, directs primarily the defensive backfield and secondarily the defensive line. In the old days, his task was somewhat easier because one of his players always understood instructions perfectly- Landry himself.

Landry has earned two university degrees from the University of Texas and is a qualified engineer."

-1957 Jay Publishing