Longtime NFL head coach, and former Buffalo Bills linebacker Marty Schottenheimer has died, it was reported on Tuesday.
The former Cleveland Browns, Kansas City Chiefs and San Diego Chargers head coach was 77, and passed away with his family at his side, according to Chris Mortensen of ESPN.
Schottenheimer, who also had a one-year stint with Washington and last coached in 2006 with the Chargers, was recently moved to hospice care near his home in Charlotte, N.C., his family revealed. He was in declining health amid a years-long battle with Alzheimer's, which he first revealed in 2016.
The Pennsylvania native had a brief playing career after being drafted by the Bills in the fourth round of the AFL Draft in 1965. Schottenheimer spent four seasons with the Bills before being moved to the Boston Patriots, where he played two seasons before retiring in 1971.
Schottenheimer compiled an impressive career record of 200-126-1 in parts of 21 seasons as the head coach of four teams.
He first took over as head coach with the Cleveland Browns in 1984, turning them into a perennial winner in his five seasons there.
Playoff heartbreak followed, but Schottenheimer left his mark as a premier program builder, and a motivator of players in Cleveland.
His inspirational pregame speech before the 1987 AFC Championship Game, a 23-20 overtime loss to the Denver Broncos at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, remains one of the most famous speeches captured by NFL Films in history.
“There’s a gleam, men,” Schottenheimer said. “There’s a gleam. Let’s get the gleam, alright? Let’s go.”
Schottenheimer and former Browns owner Art Modell agreed to mutually part ways following a 24-23 Wild Card game loss to the Houston Oilers in 1988 because Modell desired an offensive coach to continue to compete with up-and-coming teams.
Schottenheimer quickly landed with the Chiefs, a team he helped shape into a contender for 10 seasons throughout most of the 1990s. Still, seven playoff appearances -- including three division titles -- resulted in only one conference championship appearance, and no Super Bowl berths.
The disappointments in Cleveland and Kansas City prompted critics to wonder whether Schottenheimer could win the big one. But his impressive track record meant he would get additional opportunities.
After a brief stint as a football analyst with ESPN, Schottenheimer joined Washington in 2001 -- but was bizarrely jettisoned after only one year in favor of Steve Spurrier.
He then joined the Chargers in, what would be, the final run of his NFL career. San Diego claimed two division titles in that time, but was sent home from the postseason in bitter fashion, again without so much as a conference title game appearance. Schottenheimer was dismissed after guiding the Chargers to a 14-2 record in 2006, a dream season that ended in bitter disappointment with a home loss to the New England Patriots in the playoffs.
His son, Brian Schottenheimer, has served as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for several top college programs and NFL teams.
Some of the many prominent coaches who worked on Schottenheimer's staffs include Bill Cowher, Tony Dungy, Herm Edwards, Bruce Arians and Mike McCarthy.
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