File Picture: 17 Sep 1995: Head coach Ted Marchibroda of the Indianapolis Colts looks on from the sideline during the Colts 20-14 loss to the Buffalo Owner Art Modell reportedly named Marchibroda as the first coach of his new Baltimore franchise, 15 Feb
NFLBy Kevin McGuire on

On Saturday the football world said farewell to one of the game’s true innovators. Ted Marcibroda passed away at the age of 84, leaving behind a storied legacy as a football coach.

“We are extremely saddened and mourn the loss of Ted Marchibroda,” said Colts owner and CEO Jim Irsay. “He had a proud history not just with the Colts, but also as a player, coach and broadcaster for over half a century with the NFL. Ted was an innovator and turned the Colts into an instant playoff team when he took his first head coaching role in 1975. Ted was as humble as they come, and he represented the Colts and our community with class both off the field and on. He was beloved by many, and will be sorely missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Ann, and their family.”

Marchibroda may have had a career coaching record of only 87-98-1, but his impact on the game is unquestionable. News of Marchibroda’s passing led to an immediate outpouring of respect across the National Football League, demonstrating just how wide a reach and how great an influence he had on professional football. He left an uncommonly large imprint on the sport during his career.

Three years after playing his last down in the NFL with the Chicago Cardinals, Marchibroda began his long career as a coach by taking an assistant coaching role under Bill McPeak. Washington never had a winning season during that first run with Marchibroda, a tenure that concluded with the end of McPeak’s run in 1965.

Despite the failures on the field, Marchibroda left a positive mark on the franchise, which is part of the reason why he was welcomed back in 1971 to take on the role of offensive coordinator under George Allen. This happened after a few years as an assistant under Allen with the Los Angeles Rams from 1966 through 1970. This second four-year run with the Redskins was far more positive an experience with four consecutive playoff appearances, including one trip to the Super Bowl against the unbeatable Miami Dolphins in January of 1973. The Redskins pounded the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Championship Game, preventing Tom Landry from becoming the first coach to make three straight Super Bowls. Don Shula of the Miami Dolphins gained that distinction one year later.

Because of his successful run as an offensive coordinator under Allen in Washington, an offer to become a first-time NFL head coach — extended by the nearby Baltimore Colts — was more than justified. In 1975, the Colts made Marchibroda head coach, and he wasted no time getting to work. A year after going 2-12 for a third consecutive losing record among four different coaches (including Howard Schnellenberger for a stretch), the Colts were turned into instant winners under Marchibroda.

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With quarterback Bert Jones emerging as an MVP candidate and the dynamic Lydell Mitchell running the football while doing damage as a receiver, the Colts were off and flying under their new head coach. The Colts reached the playoffs each of their first three years under Marchibroda with 10-win seasons, but the engine in Baltimore lost steam after that.

Marchibroda lasted until the 1979 season as the head coach of the Colts. In a sense, his downward trending results were symbolic of the Colts’ run in Baltimore. Four years later, the Colts bolted for Indianapolis after four more losing seasons. As the Colts were switching cities, Marchibroda was staying in the game as an offensive coordinator, first for one year with the Chicago Bears and then two more with the Detroit Lions. He tacked on two more seasons as an offensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles before Buddy Ryan was hired as the head coach. As fate would have it, Marchibroda would soon land an offensive coordinator role that would prove he still had a few tricks up his sleeve.

In the middle of the 1986 season, the Buffalo Bills hired Marv Levy to take over as head coach. Following the midseason job change, Levy went to work assembling his staff for the 1987 season, and that included bringing Marchibroda on board as offensive coordinator. The Bills began to transform themselves into one of the most dominant franchises of the day, and they had Marchibroda’s offensive tactics — focusing on the hurry-up offense — to thank for that.

It helped he had Jim Kelly to work with in executing his signature K-Gun offense. Today we take the hurry-up offensive styles employed by coaches such as Chip Kelly — and by college programs such as Baylor and Oregon — for granted. Yet, the philosophy was first successful in Buffalo with Marchibroda designing the system that would lead Buffalo to four consecutive Super Bowl appearances and one other AFC Championship Game appearance (which is often forgotten). The Cincinnati Bengals under Sam Wyche did run a no-huddle offense of their own, but that was more about preventing defenses from substituting and thereby wearing them out. Marchibroda was the true father of the hurry-up offense designed to attack defenses while spreading the field and creating numerical advantages linebackers could not possibly handle.

Marchibroda was in Buffalo for the first two Super Bowl trips by the Bills (XXV and XXVI, in 1991 and 1992) before his opportunity to return as a head coach came from an old and familiar franchise.

Marchibroda returned to the Colts, now in Indianapolis after showing what he could do with an offense and a quarteback. During his four-year run in Indy, he had Jeff George and Jim Harbaugh to work with as he tried to bring elements of that hurry-up offense into the RCA Dome. It had its ups and downs with George, but started to show its promise with Harbaugh throwing the football and leading the offense alongside a young Marshall Faulk.

In the fourth year of Marchibroda’s second stint with the Colts, Indianapolis reached the AFC Championshiup Game and fell one play shy of topping the Pittsburgh Steelers on the road. (A Hail Mary was very nearly caught in the end zone for a walkoff touchdown.) That would be Marchibroda’s final game as head coach of the Colts. The Colts promoted Lindy Infante from offensive cooridnator to head coach. That led Marchibroda to wind up his storied coaching career back in Baltimore, where the Cleveland Browns were relocating and setting up shop as the Baltimore Ravens.

Following the move from Cleveland, the franchise looked to Marchibroda to recpature some of the old magic as football returned to Baltimore. With Vinny Testaverde as the aging starting quarterback, the results were limited at best for the Ravens in their first three seasons, but Marchibroda set up his successor, Brian Billick, for future success. The Ravens won it all just two seasons after Marchibroda left at the end of the 1998 campaign.

Over the course of four decades, Marchibroda grew quite a coaching tree. Bill Belichick would later produce a Hall of Fame career. Marvin Lewis continues to be the head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals and has made the playoffs five straight seasons. He was a Super Bowl-winning defensive coordinator with the Ravens. Eric Mangini and Jim Schwartz went on to become NFL head coaches, as did Ken Whisenhunt. College coaching names of note include longtime Fresno State head coach Pat Hill and Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz. Not every coach has continued the hurry-up style made famous by Marchibroda, but his impact has reached from coast to coast.

Bill Belichick. Jim Harbaugh. The only NFL team to make four straight Super Bowl appearances.

Ted Marchibroda influenced them all.

A football life in Baltimore, Buffalo, and many places in between was a life very well spent.

About Kevin McGuire

Contributor to Athlon Sports and The Comeback. Previously contributed to NBCSports.com. Host of the Locked On Nittany Lions Podcast. FWAA member and Philadelphia-area resident.

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