Dave Levy, whose long and wide-ranging football-coaching career included four national championships as a USC assistant before he moved to the NFL, NFL Europe, XFL and CFL, died Wednesday at age 91, USC announced.
Levy died in Beverly Hills of natural causes, according to the university’s athletic department.
Serving under Trojan head coach John McKay for 16 seasons starting in 1960, Levy helped USC win national titles in 1962, 1967, 1972 and 1974. He was inducted into the USC Athletic Hall of Fame in 2015.
After McKay left for the NFL in 1976, Levy was a Trojan assistant athletic director for the next four years.
He then joined the San Diego Chargers for nine seasons, coaching the offensive line and tight ends, and serving as offensive coordinator under head coaches Don Coryell and Al Saunders. Following that, he worked for the Detroit Lions for eight seasons, handling the running backs and serving as offensive coordinator and assistant head coach.
In 1999 and 2000, Levy worked as an assistant coach with NFL Europe’s Amsterdam Admirals before moving on to the XFL’s Los Angeles Xtreme in 2001 and the CFL’s Calgary Stampeders in 2003 — as well as at Estancia High in Costa Mesa and Harvard-Westlake School in Studio City.
Before coming to USC, Levy won a pair of CIF football championships as head coach at Long Beach Poly High during his four-year tenure, starting in 1956.
Levy was on the football and track teams at Long Beach City College and was inducted into the school’s Hall of Champions in 2006. He also played football and baseball at UCLA.
He is survived by his wife, Barrie; sons John Levy and Robert Bray; stepdaughters Laurie Levin and Ariel Levin and her wife Karen Cearley; and his 101-year-old aunt, Clara Lowry.
Memorial services are pending.