Longtime NFL head coach Marty Schottenheimer died on Monday at the age of 77 after battling Alzheimer’s disease for multiple years.
Schottenheimer was a professional football player briefly before getting into coaching, and served as head coach of the Cleveland Browns and Kansas City Chiefs before a one-year stint at the helm in Washington and five seasons with the Chargers franchise.
ESPN’s Chris Mortensen first reported the news of Schottenheimer passing away.
Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal posted a statement released by Schottenheimer’s family:
Schottenheimer was known for building his teams around a run-first offensive identity and defense, which was ultimately a winning formula in the regular season. A few bad breaks in the playoffs kept Schottenheimer from furthering his epic football legacy.
Nevertheless, with the exception of his 8-8 lone season for Washington, there’s no denying Schottenheimer managed to win in every stop on his NFL head-coaching journey.
Beginning with the Browns in 1984, Schottenheimer guided Cleveland to consecutive AFC Championship Games after going 12-12 in his first season and a half. The Browns lost to the Denver Broncos each time, and after a 10-6 record and Wild Card loss the following year in 1988, Schottenheimer moved on to the Chiefs.
During Schottenheimer’s decade with Kansas City, he posted winning records in each of his first nine seasons, leading the team to six straight postseason berths and seven overall.
Despite a rocky couple of years to begin his time with the Chargers, Schottenheimer rebounded to guide his group to records of 12-4, 9-7 and 14-2 in his final three years as an NFL head coach.
Schottenheimer compiled an impressive 200-126-1 regular-season record in the NFL. His final coaching gig was in the United Football League, as his Virginia Destroyers went 4-1 and defeated the Las Vegas Locomotives in the league championship.
Many across pro football sent their condolences and honored Schottenheimer’s illustrious coaching career once news of his death surfaced on Tuesday.
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