Longtime NFL coach Marty Schottenheimer has passed away at the age of 77 after a years-long battle with Alzheimer’s disease and a recent stint on hospice care. The man who racked up 200 regular-season wins over his 21 seasons as a head coach leaves behind a remarkable football legacy that is perhaps most striking when one considers the young coaches Schottenheimer hired and mentored who went on to themselves be listed among the game’s greats.
Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy is among them.
McCarthy’s first NFL gig came on Schottenheimer’s staff in Kansas City in 1993. Both Pittsburgh guys, Schottenheimer hired the 29-year-old, most recently a graduate assistant and collegiate wide receivers coach at Pitt, as the Chiefs’ offensive quality control coach. It’s a position that David Moore of the Dallas Morning News says didn’t even exist.
Marty Schottenheimer has died. He gave Cowboys HC Mike McCarthy his 1st job in NFL, a job that wasn’t even open at time of the interview.
“His passion is what I will always remember about him,” McCarthy said last week. “He impacted me personally and very much professionally.”
— David Moore (@DavidMooreDMN) February 9, 2021
After two seasons in that role, McCarthy was promoted by Schottenheimer to quarterbacks coach in 1995. He helped develop Rich Gannon, Elvis Grbac, and Steve Bono for Kansas City before moving to Green Bay to oversee the progression of Brett Favre.
McCarthy went on to win a Super Bowl, as have several Schottenheimer proteges. Bill Cowher, Tony Dungy, and Bruce Arians were also assistants on the Schottenheimer coaching tree.
Schottenheimer himself served as an assistant with the Giants, Lions, and Browns before taking over in Cleveland in 1984. After five seasons with the Browns, he was head coach in Kansas City for 10 years, Washington for one, and San Diego for five.
But he was nearly the man who followed Tom Landry in Dallas.
Cowboys broadcaster Brad Sham told SI’s Peter King:
“Either 1987 or 1988, in the spring, Landry had a press conference. [Cowboys general manager Tex] Schramm had Marty Schottenheimer in town, looking at houses. He thought he was going to hire Marty Schottenheimer to replace Tom Landry, who was going to retire. Landry comes and has a press conference, and that’s when Schramm finds out that Landry is not quitting.”
Even as recently as 2010, as the Wade Phillips era was coming to a disastrous end in the middle of Dallas’ season, rumors were rampant that Schottenheimer was being considered to replace him.
But a Cowboys stint was never to be. Schottenheimer ended up taking his teams to 18 postseason games, yet none of them made it to the Super Bowl. As a head coach, he endured just two losing seasons. His regular-season win total ranks him eighth all-time among NFL coaches.
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