The WORST Moment of Forrest Gregg's Career | 1977 Browns

Midway through the 1977 season, the Cleveland Browns were one of the top teams in the NFL, and were looking like serious contenders to make a push at Super Bowl XII. By the end, they had completely faltered, and the players on the team were so fed up with Gregg that they were threatening to revolt if he was still with the team in 1978. This is the story behind the moment that the Browns turned on Forrest Gregg, and the moment everything came crashing down
LINK TO PATREON: / jaguargator9
Get early access to videos, your name featured in the credits, and the ability to request future video topics by joining today for as low as $3!
LINK TO TWITCH: / jaguargator9_nfl
Play live NFL trivia every Tuesday night at 9 PM Eastern/6 PM Pacific with the chance to win cash prizes!
Check out the video below to learn more: • WEEKLY LIVE NFL TRIVIA...
LINK TO DISCORD: / discord
LINK TO TIK TOK: vm.tiktok.com/ZMJmVTKpr/
See videos like this condensed down to 60 seconds by following JaguarGator9 on Tik Tok!
SUBSCRIBE TO 60 SECOND NFL HISTORY: / @jaguargator8
See videos like this condensed down to 60 seconds by subscribing to 60 Second NFL History on KZbin!
SUBSCRIBE TO JG9 HIGHLIGHTS:
/ @jg9highlights184
See highlight videos of random players in NFL history by subscribing to JG9 Highlights on KZbin!
#nfl #browns #nflthrowback
Members of the 1977 Browns include:
Terry Luck
Dave Mays
Brian Sipe
Cleo Miller
Greg Pruitt
Brian Duncan
Larry Poole
Mike Pruitt
Reggie Rucker
Paul Warfield
Lawrence Williams
Ricky Feacher
Dave Logan
Reggie Craig
Oscar Roan
Gary Parris
Tom DeLeone
Al Dennis
Barry Darrow
Henry Sheppard
Robert E. Jackson
Doug Dieken
Bob Lingenfelter
Gerry Sullivan
Joe Jones
Earl Edwards
Mack Mitchell
Jerry Sherk
Mike St. Clair
Mickey Sims
Ricky Jones
John Garlington
Dick Ambrose
Dave Graf
Mark Johnson
Charlie Hall
Bob Babich
Gerald Irons
Tony Peters
Oliver Davis
Clarence Scott
Rolly Woolsey
Thom Darden
Ron Bolton
Ken Ellis
Greg Coleman
Don Cockroft
Eddie Payton
Gary Marangi
Forrest Gregg (head coach)
Art Modell (owner)

[@denisceballos9745]

Coach Rutigliano, who replaced Gregg the following year was almost a polar opposite - encouraging, supportive, philosophical, funny. The Browns had some good seasons under Sam Rutigliano.

[@DolFan316]

Two playoff appearances in six years (one with a losng record) is somehow "good"? Well, I guess by 21st century Browns standards it actually is.

[@dfaircloth30]

One time. One time. One time baby, One time.

[@Hatethefake]

Sam sucked! He road the coattails of the team Gregg built!

[@ryanjacobson2508]

@@Hatethefake And then your buddy Forrest Gregg went on to coach the mediocre at best and dirty as hell mid-80's packers.

[@joachimguderian4048]

Ryan Jacobsen - those early 80’s Packers teams weren’t dirty at all, they just weren’t very good. You sound like either a bears or lions fan…….always whining that y’all can’t beat the Packers with any consistency.

[@michaelbailey1578]

I've been a Green Bay Packer fan since the early 1950s, went to my first game in '57, and follow them to this day. There's been a lot of good times and bad times, but the absolute worst time was while Gregg was head coach; the very bottom off the pit was when Charles Martin, under Gregg's tutelage, slammed Jim McMahan's shoulder into the turf, well after the play was over, effectively ending Jimmy Mac's career. The locker room was infested with bounty hunters, it was an utter disgrace - the only time I was ever ashamed to be a Packer fan. I don't know how he got a team to the Super Bowl; that is as a coach, as a player is another matter. Thanks much for this well-crafted video.

[@randyboggs3269]

In Cincinnati, Paul Brown was a hands-on owner, one of the few that actually knew football. If he suggested this assistant coach or that player, they normally ended up on the team. They had too many good players and both offensive and defensive coordinators that year. Gregg couldn't screw that up. All he had to do was let the assistant coaches communicate for him.

[@Wallyworld30]

1986 Was the first year I was a Packer Fan. I was introduced to football in 1985 as my father was from Chicago and a huge Bears fan. I watched the game with my father and I was 9 years old. He was sooo pissed off at that Charles Martin play and called the Packer all filthy dirty players. We lived in Milwaukee and all my friends were Packer fans so even though my pop hated them Packers were still my team. That was a terrible play and team that year and I didn't truly love the Packers until Don Majkowski was our starter.

[@ryanjacobson2508]

Thanks for having the decency to admit that. I'm a Vikings fan and that was a disgrace, and McMahon didn't deserve that; the Packers of that era were clearly jealous of the Bears and knocking out McMahon cost the Bears a potential Super Bowl repeat. After Gregg the Packers cleaned up everything a lot, and though I got tired of how much the Packers won over the last 30 years as a long suffering Viking fan, they did it with class and I admit that I can respect that.

[@Backpackfiles]

This Bears fan thanks you for that. I always have respected the Packers except for my teen years when the Bears were great and the Pack had to deal with that dope. And the Bears made sure to give him the WHOLE business.

[@michaelbailey1578]

@@Backpackfiles I don't recall what became of Martin but it would have been poetic justice if someone like Mike Singletary would have expressed his disatisfaction in good Bear fashion. Thanks friend.

[@bobb6313]

Wait...Art wanted to keep a bad coach? OMG the man who fired Paul Brown, Sam Rutigliano, Marty Schottenheimer and Bill Belichick?

[@davester1970]

Not to mention that he ran off arguably the best player in NFL history, Jim Brown in his prime because he wouldn’t let him report late to training camp so he can film The Dirty Dozen.

[@Mindmapjim]

One of the best comments ever

[@nasetvideos]

Forrest Gregg really was an enigma. Great player...then had everything going for him to be a good coach (Coach of the Year)--But he was a terrible communicator...and then it just didn't happen for the team to go to the next level...and of course, he then lost the Browns' team after his post-game press comments. I remember him and his career very well.

[@Youngpinevr]

Forest was ole country boy from Alabama played at Alabama was a Bear Bryant guy ain’t got no patience for them slicky boys ain’t neva won nuthin

[@6412mars]

@@Youngpinevr SMU . Mr.Know it all 😂😂😂😂😂

[@Youngpinevr]

@@6412mars yea it was SMU but ole Forst WUZ ole county boy w a 4 wheel drive hop in the bed and he take you for a ride up city streets down country roads cuz he kin git cha wher you wanna go cuz he’s a country boy (Alan Jackson)

[@6412mars]

@@Youngpinevr Yeah I know..I met him numerous times when he coached the Bengals

[@stevenmccoy5103]

Great coach

[@NosferatusCoffin]

Coin Flip in an OT game between the Browns and Steelers in 1979. Ref: "Each team gets two timeouts in overtime." Rutigliano: "Do we get anything to eat?" Ref: "You don't get anything to eat." Sam Rutigliano was a fun coach. Those Browns teams were both explosive offensively and of course, were the true "Cardiac Kids" as seemingly every game in '79 and '80 went down to the wire. After being fired, he actually coached Liberty University for 11 seasons ('89-'99) and also was an assistant in NFL Europe for a bout five seasons.

[@gluserty]

Ha ha, that's funny; I could see myself saying something like that (I make a lot of people ...happy? Wonder? Yeah, but it IS fun😁).

[@Classicrocker6119]

Gregg coached the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL (Canadian Football League) in 1979 to a 5-11 record.

[@halwarner3326]

5-11 in Canada is actually 12-4 in America.

[@orbyfan]

He also coached the Shreveport Pirates to a 3-15 record in 1994 and 5-13 in 1995 during the CFL's American expansion experiment.

[@rocknroll7316]

@@halwarner3326 and his $350,000 salary in Canada was - $1 mil in the USA 🤣

[@rowdycmoore]

I dunno... it's likely Gregg had worse moments when he was brought in to coach the disaster that was SMU after they were brought back from the Death Penalty.

[@gluserty]

I agree, I think the SMU situation was worse, and bad for anyone & everyone.

[@PhilWood82]

The day George Allen lost the Rams (1978)

[@orbyfan]

He was fired after just 2 pre-season games.

[@DolFan316]

Here's the irony: when Allen was fired from the Rams the first time in '68 the players raised such an outcry that he was immediately re-hired. Then just a decade later the complete opposite happens, with the players raising such an outcry after Allen was hired by the Rams again that he was fired after just a couple of weeks. Same team, same coach, but in just one decade times had changed that much regarding discipline, in sports and society in general. Which is why Gregg doesn't deserve this video hit piece for being such a meanie or whatever, he just fell victim to changing times and was far from the only coach affected.

[@davester1970]

George Allen really never had the Rams. He was doomed the moment he was hired. The Rams at that time had a lot of free spirits like Fred Dryer, Jack Youngblood and Jack Reynolds who in no way could have peacefully coexisted with a tight ass like George Allen.

[@VolumedMusicMan]

@@davester1970 George couldn’t get those three guys in a suit and tie. They preferred bellbottoms and sandals. George had more support from his late 60’s team...

[@davester1970]

@@VolumedMusicMan - The 1978 Rams were a completely different team than the one he coached in the 1960's.

[@davidlucasmachado2831]

Unbelievable !! he played for the great Vince Lombardi and he didn't know how to motivate players !!?? ridiculous

[@67marlins81]

That is hard to believe, but some guys aren't meant to coach or manage people.

[@davidlucasmachado2831]

@@67marlins81 and gals

[@rocknroll7065]

It's seems to me that Lombardi wasn't a great communicator and neither was Landry they motivated by fear and maybe Gregg thought he could do the same. Correct me if I'm wrong

[@67marlins81]

@@davidlucasmachado2831 Confining my thoughts and this initial discussion to the NFL'S Head Coaching ranks, I still don't think about women ever. But in the larger issue of supervisors in life......in general......sure, OK. Then yes OK, your addition is timely, personal and thought-provoking.

[@DolFan316]

The real crazy part is that Gregg's last season as a player was just six years before this. That's how rapidly things changed in terms of players no longer accepting disciplinary measures that had worked for decades. Lombardi never could've been a successful coach in the mid '70s.

[@thepunditspundit1776]

Screaming a ton doesn’t do a whole lot when you don’t win

[@Fireyninjadog]

In green bay, he was a hall of fame player, and hall of shame head coach

[@richardadams4928]

Nick Skorich had already ruined the once mighty Browns, ably abetted by the STUPID trade for Mike Phipps and Phipps's wild inconsistency. Gregg was not a good enough coach to fix that, then obviously lost the locker room. When Rutigliano came in, at least he did have pieces to work with like Greg Pruitt. Jerry Sherk, Clarence Scott, and Brian Sipe to build around. I loved those Browns teams, they were great fun to watch.

[@davester1970]

Being a Steelers fan in the 70’s, the old AFC Central division during that decade and a half was a true black and blue division. Every team in that division were tough and played the Steelers hard during that time. The Oilers, Browns and Bengals had some winning seasons during the 70’s in spite of having to play Pittsburgh twice every season.

[@richardadams4928]

@@davester1970 Yeah, that particular iteration of the AFC Central was legitimately tough, you're right about that.

[@richardadams4928]

Come to think of it, though, it's pretty mind-boggling how TERRIBLE the AFC Central was in the mid 80's.

[@Youngpinevr]

Joe “Turkey” Jones when he pile drove Bradshaw (I think it was) head first into the ground practically rendering him paralyzed

[@richardadams4928]

@@Youngpinevr Man, and Bradshaw was already paralyzed from the neck up ... 😆

[@t-squared6406]

Playing just for money,back then wasn't much,that is bad!

[@JimK2112]

The day Mike Ditka lost the Bears

[@jewsco]

Would of been during the strike of 87 and he said the scrub players were his team but it started even before that . He told the team after the super bowl in 1985 to not to do to many commercials and talk shows going as far to talk some players out of a commercial for Campbell’s chunky soup . Then they saw him doing a Campbell chunky soup commercial and on every talk show. It got ugly and sad for bears fans

[@teen_laqueefa]

@@jewsco da bears

[@tomryan914]

"Greatest player I ever coached", Vince Lombardi.

[@chadwickwhite6107]

I thought Forrest Gregg coached the Cincinnati Bengals.....🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔

[@dallasbrubaker6054]

@@chadwickwhite6107 He did, from 1980-83

[@rocknroll7316]

And the Packers I believe

[@thunderlightning1980]

@@rocknroll7316 from 1984-1987

[@josephjohnson448]

Wow high praise from the master😮

[@gluserty]

Also, at least Gregg didn't stand pat & wasn't afraid to start from scratch. To me, it appeared that he was willing to put the football first over job security; I have a feeling Gregg didn't coach scared.

[@emilionelli5191]

IN my top 10

[@DolFan316]

After the masterclass in how NOT to tackle a ballcarrier starting at 5:07 I'm supposed to believe it was all Gregg's fault??? Really???

[@edpinkerton7947]

The day the bears lost jack pardee 1977

[@davester1970]

I thought Jack Pardee did an admirable job coaching the Bears with a stiff like Bob Avellini as quarterback. 🤣

[@edpinkerton7947]

Agree that slo mo bob was a stiff but don’t forget he was jacks stiff started almost every game that pardee coached for the bears. A lot of back room intrigue on why pardee left bears went downhill & Jack shit the bed in Washington. Both would have been better had he stayed

[@NosferatusCoffin]

@@edpinkerton7947 I would not say he totally shit the bed in DC. 24-24 record, just missing out on a division title and winning Coach of the Year in 1979. OTOH, he was not a good communicator and that was one reason Cooke fired him and went with the unknown Gibbs. Pardee did have success in the USFL with the Houston Gamblers, with the Houston Cougars and of course, the Oilers. I would say that shitting the bed is hiring Rich Kotite.

[@erob3878]

How the hell did he get hired at Cincinnati

[@nicholassmith479]

Cincinnati has their own disfunctional problems as well. After Paul Brown decided to retire he has His friend Tiger Johnson elevated to head coach, passing over Bill Walsh. Tiger Johnson was a disaster and Walsh eventually left to coach Stanford and the 49ers and the rest is history. After the Homer Rice tenor was mercifully ended, Paul Brown needed to sharpen up the Bengals and thumb his nose at his former employer Art Modell. The disciplinarian thing that Gregg was known for worked a while which led to the Super Bowl in 1982. I don't think he got along with Mike Brown, which is Paul Brown's son, so he left to rebuild SMU's program.

[@davester1970]

Not hiring Bill Walsh to succeed Paul Brown was the worst mistake in Bengals history that nobody talks about. Second worst mistake was Paul Brown not pulling out the day Mike Brown was conceived. Not giving Bill Walsh the coaching job only cost the Bengals a dynasty. Those Super Bowls the 49ers won in the 80’s could have been Cincinnati’s.

[@MilsurpMikeChannel]

If you want team mutinies... Chiefs players (who didn't like HC John Mackovic) met with Lamar Hunt at kicker Nick Lowery's house shortly after their playoff loss to end the 86 season. Shortly after, Mackovic was fired and Special Teams Coordinator Frank Gansz was hired. This was after the Chiefs making the playoffs for the first time since the early 70's.

[@gluserty]

Vince Lombardi said that Forrest Gregg was the best player he ever coached. I imagine he demanded out of his players what he demanded out of himself (I'm sure Lombardi's way had an influence as well). I think Gregg's coaching style & career was a more successful version of Norm can Brocklin's (both being hard chargers). Gregg's coaching career definitely has some ups and downs, but the 1976 Browns were a surprising 9-5 (that AFC Central in the 1970s was hardcore), and Gregg did blow up the Packers so they'd get off that 8-8 treadmill. Like van Brocklin though, it seemed Gregg's approach wore thin after a short time though ( I do like that he went back to SMU right after they were hit with that death penalty; true to his alma mater).

[@scottconner7930]

44 Years Ago

[@DolFan316]

That's how long players have been whiny brats. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

[@sipesthebest128]

@@DolFan316 Turns out those whiny '77 Browns were proven correct... Gregg quit in disgrace, and deservedly so.

[@DolFan316]

@@sipesthebest128 And yet as a coach Gregg reached more Super Bowls than the Browns ever have to this day. Maybe, just maybe, the team was the problem.

[@sipesthebest128]

@@DolFan316 One lucky season with a desperate Cincinnati franchise... and they predictably lost. It happens! The 1977 Browns team were not the problem... much of the same personnel won the toughest division in the NFL only 3 seasons later. Having a competent HC did wonders...

[@davester1970]

Another big problem the Browns had in the late 70’s is that they had to play the Steelers and the Oilers each twice every season.

[@bjnt92281]

This situation almost sounds like how the Giants were under Tom Couglin before he loosened up some and they ended up winning two Super Bowls under him.

[@DolFan316]

This was a time when sports (and society in general) was taking a hard turn away from discipline, and people were no longer as accepting of the "I'm the boss and you do what I say!" dynamic as they'd been even in the '60s. And it's only degenerated from there, to the point where now QBs are allowed to hold their teams hostage because hurt feelings.

[@tomlombardo6051]

The last Browns coach who won COTY was fired midseason the year after. Could it happen again?

[@Bruce12867]

Losing Brian Sipe to injury during the Pittsburgh game was the real turning point. The Browns would have had at least a fighting chance if Sipe were healthy.

[@SingleTax]

Exactly. If Sipe didn't get injured, the Browns would almost certainly have had a winning season, thereby preserving Gregg's job for at least another year.

[@DolFan316]

The irony is, that if Modell had gone with Monte Clark things would've been the exact same from a coaching discipline standpoint, and Clark would've been fired too.

[@rocknroll7316]

His hairstyle was worse than his coaching ability

[@andrewmitchell393]

The crazy thing about Gregg's comments after the Oilers game was that Cleveland turned the ball over 8 times in that game--Cleveland was a turnover machine that season with 53, leading the league and way over the league norm of 35.6. If they'd been a little more disciplined they might have won 9-10 games and taken the division.

[@gothard5]

Oh, I thought this was a Bengals video

[@Wallyworld30]

Forrest Gregg passed away in 2019. RIP Forrest!

[@ryanjacobson2508]

Too bad his mid 80's Packer teams were scummy as hell. He could've booted these low-lifes off his team, but I guess in Gregg's book if you're typically out-matched by the other team you might as well play dirty.

[@Youngpinevr]

Was that the Mackowski Terdell Middleton years for the Pack ? James Lofton ?

[@NosferatusCoffin]

@@Youngpinevr After that. Mid 80's. Middleton was long gone by then.

[@nathandebartolo8330]

A couple of things: Lose the commercials. I'm not here to make you money. Also, work on your diction. You run your words together and it makes you impossible to understand.

[@carljacobson7156]

That's still not as bad as Lou Holtz' NFL Coaching Career - 1 LOSING Season with the JETS in 1976. Lou Holtz was loathed as a Coach, both in the NFL and NCAA

[@dallasbrubaker6054]

Oh you mean Daffy Duck? I couldn't listen to him talk when he was on ESPN.

[@NosferatusCoffin]

Holtz might not be popular in some circles but the guy could coach. Heck, taking a laughingstock Notre Dame team that was at rock bottom in 1985 and taking them to a national championship in just his third season (1988), as well as taking a South Carolina program that at one point had lost 24 straight games and taking them to 8 wins and a bowl appearance in just two seasons, speaks volumes.

[@dallasbrubaker6054]

@@NosferatusCoffin Yeah, and he did well at Arkansas; he just sucked in the NFL, he went 3-10. He was just lousy to listen to.

[@jeffreylorenger6746]

Actually Forrest Greg was the only SB coach to almost beat the superstar QB Joe Montana.

[@KHayes666]

You forget Sam Wyche in 88

[@williamstocker584]

88 Bengals just left to much time on the clock

[@cannotwaittoseedavanteadam4301]

I think I remember reading or hearing something about Elway was almost drafted by the Raiders? I might’ve heard wrong.

[@cannotwaittoseedavanteadam4301]

@JBSptfn Dude, could you imagine what the Raiders could’ve done with Elway at QB?

[@cannotwaittoseedavanteadam4301]

@JBSptfn I wouldn’t be surprised if Rozelle blocked the trade cuz he absolutely hated Al Davis cuz Al was a thorn in his side. Plus Al had just moved the Raiders to LA too.

[@cannotwaittoseedavanteadam4301]

@JBSptfn Understandable. lol. An offense with Marcus Allen, Bo Jackson, Tim Brown and John Elway... yikes. lol

[@rocknroll7316]

@@cannotwaittoseedavanteadam4301 I've been a lifetime Broncos fan but you're right. Denver never surrounded Elway with great talent most of his career. It would have been great to watch him as a Raider surrounded by all that talent.

[@josephmiller9424]

How did he lead any team to a superbowl

[@troyc4250]

The day Wade Phillips lost the Cowboys.

[@t-squared6406]

how about Jason Garrett

[@troyc4250]

@@t-squared6406 yeah that's a good one

[@bradcarter2072]

" They are in the dog house " hahaha irony

[@TeddyBelcher4kultrawide]

No it was the tie game then 3 overtime games in a row befor he was fired

[@cdprince768]

None of this was as bad as Red Right 88.

[@CelticBadBoyPoet7]

is That The Little Pumpkin Pie Haircut Bruce Coslet @ 00:18??

[@rocknroll7316]

I don't know but only Coslett had a worse haircut than Gregg

[@gluserty]

It is!

[@DolFan316]

Wow...a minute into this and I have to pause it already just to make a few comments. One, Don McCAfferty is at least tied with Gregg for worst Super Bowl coach. And Red Miller is probably tied with them as well. Two, Gregg turned the Browns around from 3-11 his first season to 9-5 his second. That's not exactly horrible. And three, his successor Sam Rutigliano had just two playoff appearances in six seasons (one with a losing record thanks to the '82 strike season funkiness) so where's the video bashing him?

[@sipesthebest128]

No one dense enough would attempt to create one, that's why.

[@-phenom-]

I wonder if the player making those quotes about the coach was Dave Logan? Wasn't he a fairly out-spoken player and traded early the next season? I remember being excited when the Broncos got him. Of course, he's made most of contributions in Denver after his playing days.

[@67marlins81]

Who's the narrator, Bryant Gumbel?

[@davidvondusseldorf1208]

Brownstains