Marty Schottenheimer
Marty Schottenheimer may have been the greatest coach in Browns history -- had it not been for Paul Brown. Marty started out with Cleveland as a defensive coordinator, but when Sam Rutigliano was fired half way through the '84 season, Marty took over a 1-7 team and and played .500 ball for the rest of the year. Each year after that, Schottenheimer's Cleveland teams made it to the playoffs, reaching the AFC title game twice in a row. Had it not been for Elway's "Drive" and Byner's "Fumble", He would have been a Super Bowl Coach twice. Most fans can still hear Marty tell his players that "There's a gleam..." in their heads like it was yesterday. The two weaknesses that he may have had, though, were his draft selections and his offensive scheme. During Schottenheimer's tenure, Mike "Mad Dog" Junkin and Clifford Charlton were big time first round busts, and although the Browns made it to the playoffs 4 years in a row, the offense often struggled after Lindy Infante left as offensive coordinator to become coach of the Packers. Cleveland's offensive scheme was referred to as "Marty Ball," and it usually didn't fare well, althought the defense was able to pull the Browns through. This was such a sticking point for owner Art Modell, that after the '88 season, Marty and Arty "mutually separated." This was how the Schottenheimer era was to end in Cleveland. Marty was still a hot prospect, though, and quickly signed on with the Kansas City Chiefs. Much like he did with the Browns, Marty missed the playoffs his first year in KC, but played .500 ball (actually a little better). Schottenheimer's Chiefs did make the playoffs 6 out of the next 7 years, however, and had winning records in all 7. Mary finally resigned from the chiefs in 1998, after the club fell apart and went 7-9. Schottenheimer accepted a post with ESPN as after his coaching days, but then returned to the rank of sideline general when he signd with the Washington Redskins. |
Yr:
|
Team |
W
|
L
|
T
|
Pct
|
Finish | Playoffs |
1984
|
Cleveland |
4
|
4
|
0
|
.500
|
3rd AFC C | - |
1985
|
Cleveland |
8
|
8
|
0
|
.500
|
1st AFC C | 0-1 |
1986
|
Cleveland |
12
|
4
|
0
|
.750
|
1st AFC C | 1-1 |
1987
|
Cleveland |
10
|
5
|
0
|
.667
|
1st AFC C | 1-1 |
1988
|
Clevlenad |
10
|
6
|
0
|
.625
|
2nd AFC C | 0-1 |
1989
|
Kansas City |
8
|
7
|
1
|
.531
|
2nd AFC W | - |
1990
|
Kansas City |
11
|
5
|
0
|
.688
|
2nd AFC W | 0-1 |
1991
|
Kansas City |
10
|
6
|
0
|
.625
|
2nd AFC W | 1-1 |
1992
|
Kansas City |
10
|
6
|
0
|
.625
|
2nd AFC W | 0-1 |
1993
|
Kansas City |
11
|
5
|
0
|
.688
|
1st AFC W | 2-1 |
1994
|
Kansas City |
9
|
7
|
0
|
.563
|
2nd AFC W | 0-1 |
1995
|
Kansas City |
13
|
3
|
0
|
.813
|
1st AFC W | 0-1 |
1996
|
Kansas City |
9
|
7
|
0
|
.563
|
2nd AFC W | - |
1997
|
Kansas City |
13
|
3
|
0
|
.813
|
1st AFC W | 0-1 |
1998
|
Kansas City |
7
|
9
|
0
|
.438
|
4th AFC W | - |
2001
|
Washington | ||||||
NFL
|
Totals |
145
|
85
|
1
|
.630
|
5-11 |
|