Former Giants Linebacker and Defensive Coach Harland Svare Dies at 89

Svare, part of the Giants dominating defense of the 1950s, succeeded Tom Landry as defensive coordinator after Landry left to coach the Dallas Cowboys.

Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports

Harland Svare, a starting linebacker on the Giants’ 1956 NFL championship team and later the team’s defensive coach passed away on April 4 at a nursing home in Steamboat Springs, Colorado at the age of 89.    

Svare was a 17th-round draft choice of the Los Angeles Rams in 1953 out of Washington State University.  He joined the Giants two years later for the 1955 season where he played left linebacker for then-defensive coordinator Tom Landry.  

Svare, of Norwegian descent, was born on Nov. 15, 1930, in Clarkfield, Minn., to farmers. He started all 13 games in 1956, including the 47-7 trouncing of the Chicago Bears in the championship game and the “Greatest Game Ever Played”--the Giants loss to the Colts int eh NFL Championship game-- in 1958.

Svare played in 89 regular-season games with 79 starts, including 70 games with 61 starts for the Giants. He had nine career interceptions that he returned for 229 yards, including a 70-yard touchdown in 1959, and recovered five fumbles.  

After Landry departed to coach the Dallas Cowboys in 1959, the 6-0 and 215-pound Svare took over as the Giants' defensive coach while also doing double duty as a player. He retired after the 1960 season and remained as the Giants’ defensive coach under Allie Sherman in 1961 before returning to the Rams in 1962 first as their defensive line coach and then as their head coach.

Svare returned to the Giants as their defensive coach in 1967 and 1968 before joining former Giants offensive coordinator Vince Lombardi in Washington. 

After leaving football, Svare founded an institute devoted to physical therapy and promotion of good health habits.