Before current head coach Andy Reid started winning championships for the Kansas City Chiefs, there was Marty Schottenheimer, who was announced today as one of nine NFL coaches to make the Hall of Fame ballot, in an AP piece via ESPN. 

The big name among the group was former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, but Schottenheimer’s achievements are more than noteworthy. He won 205 games during a career that featured stints with the Chiefs, Cleveland Browns, San Diego Chargers and the Washington team that is now the Commanders. 

Schottenheimer played as a linebacker in the old AFL, and he was a backup on the Buffalo Bills squad that won the AFL title in 1965 before coming an All-Star for the Bills the following year. He played for several other teams, including the Boston Patriots, Pittsburgh Steels and the then-Baltimore Colts. 

He made his biggest mark as a coach, starting in Cleveland with the Browns. Schottenheimer spent the middle years of the 1980s as Cleveland’s coach, and Chiefs general manager Carl Peterson hired Schottenheimer to coach Kansas City in 1989. 

The new coach quickly had success, and in 1991 Schottenheimer led the Chiefs to their first playoff win at Arrowhead as the Chiefs beat the then-Los Angeles Raiders, 10-6. The Chiefs became perennial playoff contenders after that, and it was Schottenheimer who coached quarterback Joe Montana during the latter’s brief stint in Kansas City. That resulted in a memorable playoff victory, of course, as Montana led a comeback against the Steelers that resulted in a 27-24 overtime win in 1994. 

Despite his success, Schottenheimer was never quite able to get the club over the hump in the playoffs. He resigned in 1999, and during his ten-year stint in Kansas City, Schottenheimer posted a record of 101-47-1. His achievements included three division titles, seven playoff appearances and a trip to the AFC Championship game in 1993 as the Chiefs lost to the Bills that year. 

The coach also had a tumultuous two-year stint in Washington working for former owner Daniel Snyder, and he went on to coach the then-San Diego Chargers after that. He initiated the memorable Philip Rivers era as the quarterback led the Chargers to multiple playoff appearances during his long, successful career. 

Schottenheimer passed in 2021, but the family name is still familiar to NFL fans, of course, with his son Brian currently coaching the Dallas Cowboys. His coaching “tree" includes the likes of championship winners Bill Cowher and Tony Dungy, but to get into the Hall of Fame, Marty Schottenheimer will have to survive the cutdown to single name from the list announced today, which also includes Tom Coughlin, Mike Shanahan and George Seifert.