The football world is mourning the loss of former head coach Marty Schottenheimer, who passed away yesterday from Alzheimer’s Disease at the age of 77. Schottenheimer coached in the NFL for 21 years with the Cleveland Browns, Kansas City Chiefs, Washington Redskins, and the San Diego Chargers. Schottenheimer has 200 career wins as a head coach, the seventh most in NFL history.
Schottenheimer was born in Canonsburg, PA, on September 23rd, 1943. He attended high school at Fort Cherry High School in McDonald, PA. After high school, he went to the University of Pittsburgh, playing linebacker.
In 1965, he was drafted twice by the Baltimore Colts in the fourth round and the Buffalo Bills in the seventh round. He chose to play for the Bills and played four seasons with them before heading to Boston to play for the Patriots for two seasons. He would spend two seasons there before retiring.
After some time away from football, Schottenheimer got back into football as a linebackers coach for the World Football League’s Portland Storm. After one year in the WFL, he took the same position with the New York Giants in 1975 for two seasons before moving up to defensive coordinator in 1977.
After three seasons with the Giants, he went to the Detroit Lions, going back to linebackers coach in 1978. He spent two seasons with the Lions before heading to Cleveland to be the Browns’ defensive coordinator in 1980.
He was the defensive coordinator for four seasons before taking over the head coaching duties from Sam Rutigliano. In his first full year as head coach, the Browns took Miami quarterback Bernie Kosar in 1985.
The duo turned the franchise around into playoff contenders. In 1986, the Browns were eliminated from the divisional round against the Miami Dolphins.
For the next two seasons, the Browns made it to the AFC championship game, losing twice to the Denver Broncos. Schottenheimer remained with the Browns until after the 1988 season. His record with the Browns was 44-27 with four playoff appearances and three AFC Central titles.
In 1989, he became the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs. During his ten-year career in Kansas City, he took the Chiefs to the playoffs seven times. The closest he got to taking the Chiefs to the Super Bowl was in 1993 in a loss to the Buffalo Bills after Joe Montana was knocked out of the game. After the 1998 season, Schottenheimer resigned and left the Chiefs with a 101-58-1 record.
After spending a couple of years as an ESPN analyst, he returned to coaching, this time for the Washington Redskins in 2001. He only lasted one season there with an 8-8 record. The following year, he was named the head coach of the San Diego Chargers. He would spend five seasons with the Chargers, guiding them to two playoff appearances.
He would be fired after the 2007 season with an overall record of 47-33. That would be the last time he coached in the NFL. His overall record in the NFL was 200-126-1. He mentored future head coaches in the NFL like Tony Dungy, Bill Cowher, Herm Edwards, Hue Jackson, Mike McCarthy, Marc Trestman, Todd Bowles, Dom Capers, Mike Tomlin, Marvin Lewis, and more.
His final coaching gig came in the United Football League with the Virginia Destroyers, formerly known as the Florida Tuskers in 2011. He guided the Destroyers to a 4-1 record in the short 2011 season. The Destroyers would go on to win the UFL championship over the three-time defending champion Las Vegas Locomotives 17-3, his first championship as a coach. He was also named the UFL Coach of the Year. He resigned from the UFL shortly after, and the league went out of business in 2012.
Schottenheimer leaves behind his wife, two children, and two grandchildren. BGMSportsTrax would like to extend our condolences to Schottenheimer’s family, friends, and fans.
