Longtime NFL head coach Marty Schottenheimer died Monday after a lengthy battle with Alzheimer’s. Schottenheimer was 77.
Schottenheimer coached 21 seasons in the NFL, compiling 200 regular season wins and a .613 career winning percentage. Schottenheimer is the only head coach in NFL history to win 200 games and not make the Hall of Fame.
Via ESPN:
Former NFL head coach Marty Schottenheimer died Monday after dealing with Alzheimer’s disease for several years. He was 77.
Schottenheimer was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2014. He was moved to a hospice facility near his home in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Jan. 30 because of complications from the irreversible, progressive brain disorder.
Schottenheimer was a head coach for 21 seasons in the NFL, leading the Cleveland Browns, Kansas City Chiefs, Washington and the Chargers.
He posted a 205-139-1 career record, including the playoffs, leading his teams to the postseason 13 times. Although Schottenheimer coached in three AFC Championship Games, two with the Browns and one with the Chiefs, he never made a Super Bowl.
His NFL coaching career ended in 2006 following a 14-2 season with the Chargers and a divisional-round exit from the playoffs.
Some of Schottenheimer’s former players released statements, including LaDanian Tomlinson, who won an MVP under Schottenheimer with the Chargers:
“I never went into a game with Marty as coach feeling like I wasn’t fully prepared to win,” Tomlinson said. “He really wanted you to understand every detail of the game plan. I considered him a true All-American man. He was a great father figure, and I was fortunate that my wife and I got to know he and [his wife] Pat beyond the typical player and coach relationship. He was a well-rounded human being. He cared more about the man than the athlete. I will remember him more for the life lessons that he taught me.”
Schottenheimer also played six seasons in the NFL. RIP, Marty.
[ESPN]
