Marty Schottenheimer, one of the most successful head coaches in NFL history, passed away on February 8 at the age of 77.
Schottenheimer won 200 regular-season games over a 20-year career that included stints with four different teams, including the Browns (1984-1988), Chiefs (1989-1998), the now Washington Football Team (2001) and Chargers (2002-2006).
Former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher with his mentor, Marty Schottenheimer. Photo Credit:Charley Gallay, Getty Images
It was Schottenheimer’s tenure in Cleveland in the mid-to-late-’80s that drew the ire of a little Steelers fan in Pittsburgh. I’m talking about yours truly, of course. Right around the time Schottenheimer was turning the Browns into Super Bowl contenders in the mid-’80s, the Steelers, who had won four Lombardi trophies in the previous decade, were firmly in the throes of their post-dynasty malaise that would basically last through the final year of Chuck Noll‘s career in 1991.
It was Schottenheimer who would coach the Browns to their first-ever victory at Three Rivers Stadium in 1986. It was those same Browns who would lay to rest whatever slight playoff hopes Pittsburgh had thanks to a 37-31 overtime loss at Cleveland Municipal Stadium in the rematch late in the season.
Schottenheimer would go on to coach the Browns to three-straight AFC Central titles from 1985-1987. Meanwhile, the Steelers, following a stunning appearance in the AFC title game in 1984, were about to embark on their ugliest stretch since the pre-Noll days and wouldn’t win another division title until Noll retired and was replaced by Bill Cowher in 1992.
It wasn’t a fun time watching Schottenheimer’s Browns reign supreme in the AFC Central during those aforementioned three seasons, while Pittsburgh could only muster records of 7-9, 6-10 and 8-7, respectively.
- But time, they say it heals all wounds.
As I got older and learned a bit more about Schottenheimer, I realized he was not only a good and super-positive guy–someone who always got his players to respond to his message — but he was from the Greater Pittsburgh area, namely, Canonsburg, Pa. Furthermore, Schottenheimer was the only coaching boss Cowher ever had, as the fellow Pittsburgh area native cut his teeth on Schottenheimer’s staff in Cleveland as both a special teams coach and then a secondary coach.
Bill Cowher followed Schottenheimer to Kansas City and was the Chiefs’ defensive coordinator from 1989-1991. It was there that Cowher emerged as a bona fide head-coaching candidate and found himself on the Steelers’ radar during their very important search to replace the seemingly irreplaceable Emperor.
Many said Cowher was too much like his coaching mentor, which was to say he was too conservative on offense; instead, relying on defense and a sound running game
Hines Ward seals the win in Super Bowl XL. Photo Credit: Bill Frakes, Sports Illustrated
After several near-misses, Cowher finally got his ring in 2005 when the Steelers vanquished the Seahawks in Super Bowl XL. Many have said that the key was taking the handcuffs off Ben Roethlisberger, his second-year quarterback who had the “it” factor the organization seemed to be missing at the position since the days of Terry Bradshaw.
- Sadly, Cowher’s old boss never did win a ring.
Heck, Schottenheimer never even appeared in a Super Bowl, as many promising seasons in Cleveland, Kansas City and San Diego ended before they could even reach that coveted grand stage.
Some have called Schottenheimer’s coaching career tragic due to his playoff failures, but I don’t see it that way. If you’ve never seen the A Football Life episode about Schottenheimer’s football career, I highly recommend it. Schottenheimer had a nondescript playing career for both the Bills and Patriots in the 1960s before turning to a life in coaching. Unfortunately, Schottenheimer spent several years trying to get his foot in the door in both the college and professional ranks but struggled to even get an interview.
As he told it, Schottenheimer’s family was struggling financially and pretty close to seeing everything come crashing down when the Giants hired him to be their linebackers coach in 1975. During his A Football Life episode, Schottenheimer broke down in tears when discussing the break that he got in New York. It changed his life. It changed his family’s life.
No, there was nothing tragic about Schottenheimer’s coaching career. Did his teams often come up short on the biggest stages? Yes, but he got to live his dream.
- He got closer than many ever will to NFL’s Promised Land.
People think life is about the destination, but it’s really about the journey. I’d say Marty Schottenheimer had a great and memorable one.
Thank you, Marty Schottenheimer, not only for preparing Bill Cowher to be the Steelers’ next head coach after Chuck Noll but for being the kind of coach this man would have loved to play for if I had the talent to do so.
