Like many coaches on this list, Marty Schottenheimer had a playing career before becoming a coach. Schottenheimer played linebacker in the AFL for the Buffalo Bills and Boston Patriots. He would go on to have a stellar coaching career, although he will always be remembered for his teams’ near misses.
As a coach,
Schottenheimer was a culture-changer. Before being named head coach of the
Cleveland Browns, Kansas City Chiefs and San Diego Chargers, those franchises
were extremely bad. Within a season, he turned the teams around and led them to
playoff contention. He encouraged his players, drove his players and most
importantly loved his players.
Photo Courtesy of Cleveland Plain Dealer (File Photo)
His playoff losses were
often heart-breaking. “The Drive” and “The Fumble” with the Browns in 1986 and
1987 was only the beginning of the heartbreak. While other playoff games didn’t
get named, it doesn’t mean that the anguish was any less. Missed field goals
and timely turnovers cost him playoff wins with the Chiefs and Chargers. With
the one constant being Schottenheimer and his affinity to play a prevent
defense which would be referred to as “Martyball.”
Photo Courtesy of Paul Sancya, AP
When talking about
coaches we often look at their coaching tree and Schottenheimer’s tree is
excellent. Some of the coaches who worked under Schottenheimer include Super
Bowl champions like Bill Cowher, Tony Dungy and Mike McCarthy. Offensive
innovators like Bruce Arians, Cam Cameron and Rob Chudzinski. As well as
defensive gurus like Wade Phillips, Gunther Cunningham and Herm Edwards. He
gave his assistants opportunities to become the great coaches they were.
Schottenheimer’s regular-season record of 200 – 126 – 1 is quite impressive and like some of the other coaches on our list, he deserves to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Sadly, Schottenheimer has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease so hopefully, the Hall of Fame can give him his day in the sun and bring back “the gleam” that he often spoke about.