Kansas City Chiefs Name New Coach

Marty Schottenheimer, one of the NFL’s winningest coaches for the last four years, was named head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs today.

Schottenheimer, 45, led the Cleveland Browns to the playoffs in the last four years before resigning in a dispute with Browns owner Art Modell. He becomes the seventh coach in Chiefs’ history.

“Marty Schottenheimer is without doubt the most qualified and proven coach available in the NFL today,” said Carl Peterson, Chiefs president.

“His availability at this time is both timely and fortunate for the Kansas City Chiefs.”

Succeeds Ganz

Schottenheimer was named to succeed Frank Gansz, whose firing Jan. 5 completed a clean sweep of the leadership of the Chiefs.

The Browns made the playoffs in the three years that Schottenheimer was coach, losing the AFC wild card game this year to the Houston Oilers. Cleveland had narrowly lost the AFC championship game the previous two years.

Gansz was hired to coach the Chiefs two years ago when John Mackovic was fired after taking Kansas City to its first playoff game in 15 years. Gansz turned in seasons of 4-11 and 4-11-1.

He was fired by Peterson, who became the chief executive officer of the Chiefs after President Jack Steadman resigned and General Manager Jim Schaaf was fired by owner Lamar Hunt.

Dispute Over Offense

Schottenheimer, who was defensive coordinator with Cleveland when he was elevated to head coach, quit the Browns after he and Modell disagreed over his coaching staff. The dispute centered on Schottenheimer’s insistence that he did not have to hire an offensive coordinator.

Schottenheimer, a former player with the Buffalo Bills, was hired by Modell in 1984 when the Browns were 1-7. Cleveland went 4-4 the rest of the way and won the AFC Central Division the next season with an 8-8 record.

The Browns were 12-4 the next year and 10-5 in 1987. They lost the conference championship game to Denver each year.