Lou Saban, a legendary coach in the American Football League, played college ball at the University of Indiana where he was All-Big Ten quarterback one year and All-Big Ten fullback in another. He began his pro career with the Cleveland Browns of the All America Football Conference. He was the team captain as the Browns dominated the AAFC in all four years of the league’s existence. Saban was twice voted to the league's All-Star team as a linebacker. He went on to be head coach at Case Institute, and assistant coach at Northwestern University. In 1955, Saban was named as the head coach at Northwestern. Two years later, he moved on to Western Illinois University, where he would remain as head coach until he entered the professional football ranks to guide the Boston Patriots of the newly formed American Football League. In his last season at Western Illinois, his team had a perfect 9-0 record.
In the early 1960s the Buffalo Bills enjoyed an era of glory. The driving force behind it was Lou Saban, whose style of coaching won him the respect, love and loyalty of his players.
"Trader Lou" came to the Buffalo Bills as head coach in 1962, from the Boston Patriots. He set to work building the Bills into a formidable defensive team, with a strong offense as well. In 1964 and 1965 the Bills went 12-2 and 10-3-1, enroute to consecutive AFL championships. He was named Coach of the Year twice, but one week after winning his second title, he quit to become head coach at the University of Maryland, and then the Denver Broncos. His record at Buffalo during the AFL years was 36-17-3, with winning seasons in each of his four years. Saban is a member of the American Football League Hall of Fame.
