Did Mike Holovak save the Patriots?

[RayClay]

Will McDonough wrote, “Billy Sullivan founded the Patriots, but the guy who saved them was Holovak. It was his personality, and the love his players had for him, that kept the team afloat in its first decade of existence. The team won consistently with the lowest payroll in the league and the worst practice conditions imaginable.” Had the Patriots collapsed, the credibility of the AFL as a major league would have been called into question.

www.footballresearch.com/articles/frpage.cfm?topic=holovak - 10k - (hit cache)

He was 88.

 

[Jimke]

Will McDonough wrote, “Billy Sullivan founded the Patriots, but the guy who saved them was Holovak. It was his personality, and the love his players had for him, that kept the team afloat in its first decade of existence. The team won consistently with the lowest payroll in the league and the worst practice conditions imaginable.” Had the Patriots collapsed, the credibility of the AFL as a major league would have been called into question.

www.footballresearch.com/articles/frpage.cfm?topic=holovak - 10k - (hit cache)

He was 88.

I think he did. I'm an old time fan who followed the Pats from the
beginning. They were a nickle and dime organization that had very
little money to spend on players. Mike Holovak took a bunch of
cast offs and turned them into a decent team. If they had been
terrible, the fans would have turned them off very quickly. They
would have suffered the same fate as the Boston Redskins and
Boston Yankees.

 

[RayClay]

I think he did. I'm an old time fan who followed the Pats from the
beginning. They were a nickle and dime organization that had very
little money to spend on players. Mike Holovak took a bunch of
cast offs and turned them into a decent team. If they had been
terrible, the fans would have turned them off very quickly. They
would have suffered the same fate as the Boston Redskins and
Boston Yankees.

I agree 100% about the money, not about the castoffs, though.

Holovak started as personnel director and I think Billy Sullivan had a good eye for talent too. They had a great DLine, QB, two good receivers and a kicker between Gino and Colclough. Hall of fame MLB in Buoniconti and a bunch of talented backs including Garron, Burton, Nance, Lott....

I'd say they were top half talent wise in the AFL up to the dark ages of the Clive rush collapse years.

There were ties then, but records of 10-3, 9-4 9-4 and 8-4 were due to good coaching and good talent acquisition, IMO. Their only playoff appearance was a 7-6 season, ironically. No wild card then, you had to win the division.

 

[Jimke]

I agree 100% about the money, not about the castoffs, though.

Holovak started as personnel director and I think Billy Sullivan had a good eye for talent too. They had a great DLine, QB, two good receivers and a kicker between Gino and Colclough. Hall of fame MLB in Buoniconti and a bunch of talented backs including Garron, Burton, Nance, Lott....

I'd say they were top half talent wise in the AFL up to the dark ages of the Clive rush collapse years.

There were ties then, but records of 10-3, 9-4 9-4 and 8-4 were due to good coaching and good talent acquisition, IMO. Their only playoff appearance was a 7-6 season, ironically. No wild card then, you had to win the division.

A key trade netted the Pats both Babe Parelli and Billy Lott. Buoniconti
was a tackle for Notre Dame considered too small to play in the NFL. Nance
was a #19 draft pick for the Pats and a #4 draft pick for the Bears. For
some strange reason the Bears were not agressive in trying to sign him.
The Pats drafted a few high profile players like Fran Tarkington, Jack Concannon,
and Lee Roy Jordan but did not have the resources to sign them. Instead, they
concentrated on local players ( Eisenhauer, Morris, Colclough, Whelan, Graham)
and players scouted by Ed McKeever in the Southeast part of the U.S.
(Long, Neville, St. Jean).

 

[italian pat patriot]

thanks to both of you

 

[RayClay]

A key trade netted the Pats both Babe Parelli and Billy Lott. Buoniconti
was a tackle for Notre Dame considered too small to play in the NFL. Nance
was a #19 draft pick for the Pats and a #4 draft pick for the Bears. For
some strange reason the Bears were not agressive in trying to sign him.
The Pats drafted a few high profile players like Fran Tarkington, Jack Concannon,
and Lee Roy Jordan but did not have the resources to sign them. Instead, they
concentrated on local players ( Eisenhauer, Morris, Colclough, Whelan, Graham)
and players scouted by Ed McKeever in the Southeast part of the U.S.
(Long, Neville, St. Jean).

Not arguing they got players in some strange ways, but they were considered to have some of the strongest personnel in the fledgling league, according to an article on Annihilus's great history section at P.P.

They apparently rolled over teams in the first exhibition season and they continued to select some darn good castoffs.

And that Buoniconti guy did pretty good for a smurf.

---------------------------

Thanks for the info, Jimke. We all know they operated on a shoestring, but they had some executives with a good eye for talent.

Sullivan was a huge local sports fan who did PR for B.C., so I'm sure he knew the good local players. Of course Holovak was the original personnel guy.

Apparently McKeever was a little more on the ball than he was during the Clive Rush years when he suggested they draft a guy who was dead.

 

[psychoPat]

Will McDonough wrote, “Billy Sullivan founded the Patriots, but the guy who saved them was Holovak. It was his personality, and the love his players had for him, that kept the team afloat in its first decade of existence. The team won consistently with the lowest payroll in the league and the worst practice conditions imaginable.” ....

Mike Holovak,
by all accounts, was one of the great men of football
and a jewel of this franchise.

 

[Crowpointer]

Let' not forget Mike Holovak as a war hero. "Following graduation from Boston College in 1943, Mr. Holovak enlisted in the Navy and served as skipper of a PT boat operating in the South Pacific war zone.

“He rarely spoke of it, but he was so proud of that service to his country,” said his widow, Pauline Scudder Holovak. His boat was credited with sinking nine Japanese ships and Mr. Holovak retired from the Navy as a lieutenant commander"
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/ob....bg?articleid=1069427&srvc=home&position=also

 

[tuckeverlasting]

Let' not forget Mike Holovak as a war hero. "Following graduation from Boston College in 1943, Mr. Holovak enlisted in the Navy and served as skipper of a PT boat operating in the South Pacific war zone.

“He rarely spoke of it, but he was so proud of that service to his country,” said his widow, Pauline Scudder Holovak. His boat was credited with sinking nine Japanese ships and Mr. Holovak retired from the Navy as a lieutenant commander"
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/ob....bg?articleid=1069427&srvc=home&position=also

wow, love that stuff. i remember holovak, but not as a war hero, just a pats coach.