Earle "Greasy" Neale

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Earle "Greasy" Neale
Date of birth	November 5, 1891
Place of birth	Parkersburg, WV
Date of death	November 2, 1973 (age 81)
Place of death	Lake Worth, FL
Position(s)	Head Coach
College	West Virginia Wesleyan
Career Highlights
Career Record	63-43
Championships       Won	1949 NFL Championship 1948 NFL Championship
Stats
Playing Stats	DatabaseFootball
Coaching Stats	DatabaseFootball
Team(s) as a coach/administrator
1923-28 1931-33 1941-50	Virginia Cavaliers West Virginia Mountaineers Philadelphia Eagles
College Hall of Fame
Pro Football Hall of Fame, 1969

Alfred Earle "Greasy" Neale (November 5, 1891 - November 2, 1973) was an American football coach who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1969. He was the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles from 1941-1950. Neale was born in Parkersburg, West Virginia. Before he became a head coach in the National Football League, Neale starred as an end on Jim Thorpe's pre-World War I Canton Bulldogs. A successful college coach, he also led his Washington and Jefferson College squad to the 1922 Rose Bowl.

Although it took Neale awhile to pull together the needed talent to build a winning team, once he had the right ingredients, they stayed among the league's best for nearly a decade.

In three years Greasy had the Eagles in second place and, three years later, he had them winning their first divisional crown. His offense was led by the passing of quarterback Tommy Thompson, the pass catching of future Hall of Fame end Pete Pihos, and the running of another Hall of Famer, Steve Van Buren.

Defensively, Neale developed the Eagle Defense, which was a mainstay around the league for years to come. The defensive set eventually spawned another National Football League favorite, the 4-3 defense, which is still featured by teams today.

From 1944 through 1949, Neale's Eagles finished second three times and in first place three times. The Eagles won the NFL Championship in 1948 and again in 1949, and were the only team to win back-to-back titles by shutting out their opponents. They beat the Chicago Cardinals 7-0 and the Los Angeles Rams 14-0.

Neale was also an outfielder in Major League Baseball from 1916-1924. He spent all but 22 games of his career with the Cincinnati Reds. He had a career batting average of .259 and finished in the top 10 in stolen bases in the National League 4 times.

[edit] External links

• Pro Football Hall of Fame
• Greasy Neale stats at Baseball-Reference.com

Preceded by Thomas Campbell	University of Virginia Head Football Coach 1923–1928	Succeeded by Earl Abell
Preceded by Ira Errett "Rodg" Rogers	West Virginia Head Football Coach 1931–1933	Succeeded by Charles C. "Trusty" Tallman
Preceded by Bert Bell	Philadelphia Eagles Head Coaches 1941–1950	Succeeded by Bo McMillin

Philadelphia Eagles Head Coaches
Wray • Bell • Neale • McMillin • Millner • Trimble • Devore • Shaw • Skorich • Kuharich • Williams • Khayat • McCormack • Vermeil • Campbell • Ryan • Kotite • Rhodes • Reid

Eagles Honor Roll inductees.

1987: Chuck Bednarik | 1987: Bert Bell | 1987: Harold Carmichael | 1987: Bill Hewitt | 1987: Sonny Jurgensen | 1987: Wilbert Montgomery | 1987: Earle "Greasy" Neale | 1987: Pete Pihos | 1987: Ollie Matson | 1987: Jim Ringo | 1987: Norm Van Brocklin | 1987: Steve Van Buren | 1987: Alex Wojciechowicz | 1988: Bill Bergey | 1988: Tommy McDonald | 1989: Tom Brookshier | 1989: Pete Retzlaff | 1990: Timmy Brown | 1991: Jerry Sisemore | 1991: Stan Walters | 1992: Ron Jaworski | 1993: Bill Bradley | 1994: Dick Vermeil | 1995: Jim Gallagher | 1995: Mike Quick | 1996: Jerome Brown | 1999: Otho Davis | 2005: Reggie White