Former NFL head coach Marty Schottenheimer died Monday after suffering from Alzheimer’s disease for several years. He was 77 years old.
Schottenheimer was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2014. He was transferred to a hospice near his home in Charlotte, North Carolina, on January 30 due to complications caused by progressive and irreversible brain disorder.
Schottenheimer coached for 21 seasons in the NFL, leading the Cleveland Browns, Kansas City Chiefs, Washington and Chargers.
He set a career record of 205-139-1, including the playoffs, which led his teams to the postseason 13 times. Although Schottenheimer coached three AFC championship games, two with the Browns and one with the Chiefs, he never reached a Super Bowl.
His NFL coaching career ended in 2006, after a 14-2 season with the Chargers and being eliminated in the playoffs.
LaDainian Tomlinson played Schottenheimer for five seasons with the Chargers and called him “the best coach I’ve ever had.”
“I never got into a game with Marty as a coach feeling like I wasn’t fully prepared to win,” Tomlinson said. “He really wanted you to understand every detail of the game plan. He considered him a real American man. He was a great father figure and I was lucky that my wife and I met him too [su esposa] Go beyond the typical player-coach relationship. He was a complete human being. He cared more about the man than the athlete. I will remember him more for the life lessons he taught me. “
Schottenheimer also played six seasons as a defender for the Buffalo Bills (1965-1968) and the Patriots (1969-1970).
He survived his wife, Pat, two children, Kristin and Brian, and four grandchildren.
Brian Schottenheimer recently struck a deal to become the Jacksonville Jaguars ‘air games coordinator, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter after he was the Seattle Seahawks’ offensive coordinator.
“We know he’s looking at us from the sky and he’s smiling,” his daughter said. “We are incredibly proud of the man he was and the way he lived his life.”