Greg Landry

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Greg Landry
Date of birth December 18, 1946
Place of birth Flag of United States Nashua, New Hampshire
Position(s) Quarterback
College Massachusetts
NFL Draft 1968 / Round 1/ Pick 11
Pro Bowls 1
Stats
Statistics
Team(s)
1968-1978
1979-1981
1984
Detroit Lions
Baltimore Colts
Chicago Bears

Gregory Paul Landry (born December 18, 1946 in Nashua, New Hampshire) is a former American football player and coach who played quarterback in the National Football League from 1968 to 1981 and again in 1984. He played for the Detroit Lions, Baltimore Colts, and Chicago Bears.

He was the first quarterback selected in the first round (11th overall) of the 1968 NFL Draft after a stellar career at the University of Massachusetts where he was selected All-Yankee Conference for two seasons. In 1971, as a member of the Lions, he passed for 2,237 yards and 16 touchdowns and was named to his only Pro Bowl that year.

In 1976, he passed for 2,191 yards and 17 touchdowns and was named the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year.

After setting a couple of passing records with the Lions, he moved on to play for the Baltimore Colts for three seasons where in 1979, as a member of the Colts, he played brilliantly despite a 5-11 record and a season-ending injury to starting quarterback Bert Jones. He passed for a career best 2,932 yards and 15 touchdowns that season. He also played one season with the Chicago Bears and played for George Allen in the United States Football League before retiring as a player in 1984.

Landry began his coaching career in 1985, handling the Cleveland Browns quarterbacks and later joined Mike Ditka's staff as quarterback coach in 1986, following the Bears Super Bowl rout of the New England Patriots.

With the Bears, he was also the wide receivers and tight ends coach before taking over as offensive coordinator from 1988 to 1992 where he was a part of six division championships with them.

Following the 1992 season he was hired as the offensive coordinator at the University of Illinois for 2 seasons. In 1994 he was a key reason why Illinois had the second-best passing offense in the Big Ten, which eventually carried the team to a 30-0 win in the Liberty Bowl over East Carolina, which was making its first bowl appearance in 16 seasons.

After that, Landry was back with the Lions as the team's quarterback coach, where in 1995 the Lions were the top offensive unit in the NFL and tutored Scott Mitchell to record setting passing numbers that season. He retired from coaching after the 1996 season and became a local radio host.

He currently ranks third on all-time Lions career yardage list (12,451) and ranks second in touchdown passes with 80.

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Preceded by
Ed Hughes
Chicago Bears Offensive Coordinators
1988–1992
Succeeded by
Ron Turner
Preceded by
Dave Hampton
NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award
1976
Succeeded by
Craig Morton