This copied from the "Remember the AFL" Facebook page:
September 23, 1943 – Marty Schottenheimer Born
Happy Heavenly Birthday to Marty Schottenheimer who was born on this day in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. Schottenheimer was a top-notch athlete at Fort Cherry High School in McDonald, Pennsylvania. A star in football and basketball, Schottenheimer played football collegiately at the University of Pittsburgh as a linebacker.
It was on spring break after his senior season at Pittsburgh that he would meet his wife Pat. The two met at the beach one day and Marty Schottenheimer asked her to dinner which she accepted. When Marty went to pick her up, he forgot what she looked like and was fooled into thinking that she was her roommate. The two would eventually marry and have two children together, daughter Kristen and son Brian.
After finishing his career at the University of Pittsburgh, Marty Schottenheimer was selected by the Baltimore Colts of the National Football League and the Buffalo Bills of the American Football League. Schottenheimer would sign with Buffalo and played four seasons including the 1965 season that ended with the Bills winning their second-straight AFL title over the San Diego Chargers. Following the 1968 season, Schottenheimer was released and spent two seasons with the Boston Patriots before bouncing between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Colts in the 1971 preseason. Not able to catch on with either the Steelers or Colts, Schottenheimer retired and pursued a career in real estate.
After a career in real estate fizzled, Marty Schottenheimer turned to the only other career path that he could even consider. Marty Schottenheimer became an assistant coach with the Portland Storm for the 1974 season. He would join the New York Giants and serve as the linebackers coach and defensive coordinator over three seasons. After a housecleaning following the 1977 season, Schottenheimer became the linebackers coach of the Detroit Lions for the 1978 and 1979 seasons.
The coaching odyssey of Marty Schottenheimer led him to Cleveland where he became the defensive coordinator of the Cleveland Browns in 1980. That year, the Browns appeared in their first playoff game since 1972 and were on the brink of winning the game thanks to an outstanding defensive effort that held the Oakland Raiders to just 14 points. However, the game was remembered for the infamous Red Right 88 in which quarterback Brian Sipe threw an interception at the end of the game and the Browns lost 14-12.
Just eight games into the 1984 season and sitting at 1-7, the Cleveland Browns fired head coach Sam Rutigliano and wanted to hire Marty Schottenheimer on an interim basis. Schottenheimer told owner Art Modell and general manager Ernie Accorsi that he would only accept the job if he were given a three-year contract. Schottenheimer proved his worth finishing the season with four wins in the final eight games and an AFC Central title in 1985. In the divisional playoff game against the Miami Dolphins, the Browns led 21-3 but lost 24-21 as Dolphin quarterback Dan Marino engineered a comeback.
The Cleveland Browns were even better in 1986 and 1987 as the Browns went 12-4 and 10-5 respectively and won the AFC Central both seasons. Both years would end in playoff heartbreak as the Browns would lose in the AFC Championship Game to the Denver Broncos in both seasons with The Drive in 1986 and The Fumble in 1987.
The 1988 season would prove to be the last for Marty Schottenheimer in Cleveland and proved to be one of his best coaching jobs. Four different quarterbacks started for the Cleveland Browns that year and the Browns still managed a wild card berth. However, the Browns would fall to the Houston Oilers and their season would end in another disappointment. After the season, Schottenheimer became embroiled in a dispute over the team’s coaching staff with team owner Art Modell. Schottenheimer would resign as head coach and head to his next rebuilding job.
The Kansas City Chiefs had just two playoff appearances from 1970 to 1988, both playoff games ending in losses. Wanting a coach who could turn a team around, team owner Lamar Hunt and newly-hired president/general manager Carl Peterson hired Marty Schottenheimer to turn the Chiefs around. It was in Kansas City where Schottenheimer’s reputation for tough, physical football would be showcased. With their new-found approach that would come to be known as “Marty Ball”, the Chiefs would go 101-58-1 in ten seasons.
However, it was in their rivalry with the Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders where Marty Schottenheimer would develop a reputation in Kansas City. Every time the Chiefs played the Raiders, the entire Kansas City Chiefs organization was fully engaged during “Raider Week”. During the Schottenheimer years in Kansas City, the Chiefs owned their arch rivals going 18-3 including the Chiefs first playoff win since Super Bowl IV, a 10-6 win against the Raiders in the first-ever playoff game played at Arrowhead Stadium in 1991.
The peak of the popularity of the Kansas City Chiefs under Marty Schottenheimer came in 1993. One such example of the popularity of the team and its coach was a song by a Kansas City-area novelty band The Step Brothers called “The Schottenheimer Polka”. It became a big hit in Kansas City much like the Chiefs. That year, veterans Joe Montana and Marcus Allen led the Chiefs to the 1993 AFC Championship Game that they eventually lost to the Buffalo Bills in Buffalo.
Following 1993, the Chiefs managed to stay near the top of the NFL and were perennial Super Bowl contenders. However, Schottenheimer was having the same problems in Kansas City that he had in Cleveland: he couldn’t win the big one. The Browns had become known for their playoff letdowns with Schottenheimer in charge and the Chiefs would follow the same trend. Following the loss to the Buffalo Bills, the Chiefs would make the playoffs in 1994, 1995, and 1997 and be one-and-done in the playoffs.
The 1998 season was the most trying for Marty Schottenheimer as the Kansas City Chiefs had the high expectations of getting to and winning the Super Bowl the year after going 13-3 and losing at home to the Denver Broncos in the AFC Divisional Playoffs. However, the season would be uncharacteristic of Schottenheimer-coached teams and it culminated in the infamous “Monday Night Meltdown” on November 16, 1998 against the Broncos. The Chiefs would lose eight of 11 games at one point and Schottenheimer suffered his first losing season as head coach. In what he called one of his biggest regrets in football, Schottenheimer announced his retirement following the 1998 season.
After being out of coaching for two years, Marty Schottenheimer decided to come back to coaching with the Washington Redskins in 2001. The Redskins started out 0-5, but won eight of their final 11 games to finish at 8-8 and narrowly miss the playoffs. Despite the turnaround, Redskin owner Dan Snyder decided to dismiss Schotteheimer in favor of University of Florida head coach Steve Spurrier.
The following season, Marty Schottenheimer was named the head coach of the San Diego Chargers. Tragedy would strike the team following the 2002 season when John Butler, the team’s general manager, died from cancer. Butler would be replaced by A.J. Smith with whom Schottenheimer clashed frequently. Keeping the peace was Chargers ownership in the form of Alex Spanos and his son Dean Spanos who were able to keep a productive and winning organization going despite the division in the ranks.
Despite the division, the Chargers would become one of the best teams in the NFL culminating with a 12-4 record in 2004 and a 14-2 record in 2006. Both season resulted in AFC West titles, but both seasons ended with heartbreaking playoff losses. The Chargers lost in 2004 when Nate Kaeding missed a game-winning kick in an overtime playoff loss to the New York Jets. However, nothing was more devastating than what happened in 2006.
Late in the fourth quarter of the 2006 AFC Divisional Playoff Game against the New England Patriots, Marlon McCree intercepted a Tom Brady pass that would have sealed the game, but he fumbled and the ball was recovered by Reche Caldwell of the Patriots. The Patriots would tie the game on the touchdown and a two-point conversion and win the game on the next drive with a field goal.
Following the playoff loss, all hell broke loose in San Diego.
The San Diego Chargers coaching staff was disintegrating as coaches were leaving for other jobs. Offensive coordinator Cam Cameron, defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, tight ends coach Rob Chudzinski, and linebackers coach Greg Manusky left to take other coaching opportunities. Marty Schottenheimer wanted to hire his brother Kurt as the team’s new defensive coordinator, a capacity he held in Kansas City in the two years that followed his departure from the Kansas City Chiefs. Not happy with the possibility of nepotism driving the potential hire of Marty’s brother, the Spanos family stepped in and fired Marty Schottenheimer.
Out of the NFL, Marty Schottenheimer found himself coaching the Virginia Destroyers of the United Football League in 2011. On October 21, 2011, Schottenheimer won his first championship as a head coach with the Destroyers as they beat the Las Vegas Locomotives 17-3 in the UFL Championship Game. While it was not a Super Bowl title that Schottenheimer had chased his entire coaching career, it would prove to be a fitting conclusion to his coaching career. With team owner William Hambrecht unable to pay his contractually-obligated salary, Schottenheimer resigned and sued the team for failing to pay the money that he had been promised.
Marty Schottenheimer finished his head coaching career in the NFL and UFL with a record of 203 wins, 127 losses, and one tie. Schottenheimer is the only head coach in NFL history to win 200 games and not win an NFL Championship, an AFL Championship, or a Super Bowl. He was also known for his inspirational pregame pep talks that were emotionally charged and inspirational no matter what the topic. However, Marty Schottenheimer will be remembered for getting the most out of his players and turning around teams that were down in the dumps and making them winners.
In 2016, it was reported that Schottenheimer was in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, something that had first been diagnosed in 2011. Despite this, he made an appearance at the Pro Football Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in August 2017 for former player and inductee LaDanian Tomlinson and recorded a congratulatory message for current Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid when Reid passed him on the all-time coaching wins list.
On February 8, 2021, Marty Schottenheimer died at the age of 77 in Charlotte, North Carolina. He was survived by wife Pat, daughter Kristen, and son Brian who has been an assistant coach with numerous NFL teams.
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