Weeb Ewbank Wilbur Charles " Weeb " Ewbank ( May 6 , 1907 – November 17 , 1998 ) was an American professional football coach . He coached the New York Jets to victory over the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III in 1969 , as well as leading the latter to two NFL Championships in 1958 and 1959 . Early years . Ewbank was born in Richmond , Indiana , and lived there through high school . He then attended Miami University in Oxford , Ohio , where he played quarterback under head coach Chester Pittser and was a member of Phi Delta Theta Fraternity . Ewbank ' s first football coaching job was in 1928 at Van Wert High School in Van Wert , Ohio . He soon moved back to Oxford , Ohio , and took a position to coach all sports at McGuffey High School . McGuffey was a school run by Miami University , separate from Oxford ' s public high school . In 1939 when Miami ’ s basketball coach left for another job , Ewbank agreed to coach both the McGuffey High School and the Miami University basketball team . During World War II Ewbank joined the Navy and was assigned to Naval Station Great Lakes , where he was reunited with his Miami teammate Paul Brown who was the base football coach . At Great Lakes , he assisted Brown with the football team and coached the basketball team Ewbank was the head coach of Washington University in St . Louis for the 1947 and 1948 seasons before moving on to become the backfield coach for Charles " Rip " Engle at Brown University . The Brown quarterback in 1949 was Joe Paterno . Brown went 8 - 1 in that season . Ewbank also was the J . V . basketball coach at Brown . Cleveland Browns . Ewbank entered the pro ranks in 1949 as assistant under Paul Brown with the Cleveland Browns . Baltimore Colts . Ewbank joined the Colts at the recommendation of Cleveland Browns coach Paul Brown . Colts owner Carroll Rosenbloom had called Brown , asking for a coaching tip , as he was interested in Browns assistant Blanton Collier . Brown suggested Ewbank instead and Rosenbloom took the offer . As coach of the Colts , Ewbank won the 1958 and 1959 NFL championships . The 1958 game is often referred to as " The Greatest Game Ever Played " . By the end of the 1962 NFL season , Rosenbloom thought that the Colts had slipped and Ewbank was fired . Rosenbloom replaced him with the then - youngest head coach in NFL history , Don Shula . New York Jets . When Sonny Werblin bought the New York Titans franchise of the American Football League in 1963 , he changed both the team ' s name ( to the New York Jets ) and its coach . Ewbank took over a team that had not had a winning record in its first three years , and made them into a winning team . Werblin signed Matt Snell away from the NFL in 1964 , and in 1965 , the Jets ' signing of Joe Namath added to the arsenal which would eventually pit Ewbank against his former team in the third AFL - NFL World Championship game ( Super Bowl III ) . Ewbank ' s Jets won the American Football League Championship in 1968 with a victory over the Oakland Raiders . In the third World Championship Game , the Colts were heavily favored over the AFL ' s " overmatched " Jets . But with Ewbank ' s confident planning the Jets ran a game plan that mystified the Colts and came out with a 16 - 7 victory . After the 1972 season , Ewbank announced that at the end of the 1973 season he would retire as head coach in favor of his son - in - law , Charley Winner , though he would continue as general manager . The 1973 Jets season is the subject of the book " The Last Season of Weeb Ewbank " by Paul Zimmerman . Hall of Fame . Ewbank is the only man ever to coach two different American Professional Football teams to victory in a championship game , and the only man to coach winners of NFL , AFL , and World Championships : ( NFL championships in 1958 and 1959 with the Colts , an AFL championship in 1968 with the Jets , and a World Championship in Super Bowl III in 1969 with the Jets ) . His record in the AFL was 50 - 42 - 6 ( 71 - 77 - 6 all - time with the Jets ) ; his career regular season record in the NFL and AFL was 130 - 129 - 7 ; and his playoff record was 4 - 1 . Ewbank was selected as the Head Coach of the AFL All - Time Team . He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1978 . He is a member of the Indiana Football Hall of Fame and the Miami University Athletic Hall of Fame . Harper Collins e - books ISBN