The Case For and Against Marty Schottenheimer as Bills' New Coach

With the end of another disappointing season, the Buffalo Bills now begin their search for a new head coach. According to BuffaloBills.com lead journalist Chris Brown, one potential candidate is Marty Schottenheimer.

The mere mention of Schottenheimer is likely to invoke a broad range of opinions regarding his coaching skills. As such, we present the case for and against for the former head coach.

For:

Schottenheimer is fifth on the all-time list for regular-season wins by a head coach (200). Only Don Shula, George Halas, Tom Landry, and Curly Lambeau sit ahead of him, which makes for impressive reading.

Wherever Schottenheimer has coached, he has had success, including the Cleveland Browns, Kansas City Chiefs, and San Diego Chargers. The only exception was with the Washington Redskins (8-8), but given how often Daniel Synder changes head coaches, this shouldn’t be held against him.

Overall, in 20 full seasons as a head coach, Schottenheimer has won eight division titles and been to the playoffs 13 times. On 11 occasions, he won at least 10 games and only has two losing records to his name.

Interestingly, the 2004 Coach of the Year has a good relationship with the Bills' new GM, Buddy Nix. This friendship was forged during their time together in San Diego, and Nix would surely give a favourable reference to his former work colleague. 

Also, Ralph Wilson appears to favour the hiring of people he is familiar with.  Schottenheimer played for the Bills in the old AFL between 1965 and 1968.

With the recent breaking news that the Bills have fired the entire coaching staff, a major overhaul is obviously taking place in Buffalo. Schottenheimer has a good reputation within the coaching fraternity, and this could act as a draw for some of the big name coordinators around the league.

One last thing to note is that Schottenheimer is known as a strict disciplinarian. This could be advantageous for a player such as Marshawn Lynch, who may need a firm hand to guide him in the right direction.

Against:

For all that Schottenheimer has achieved as a head coach, the biggest black mark against him is his playoff success, or lack thereof. His 5-13 playoff record makes for grim reading.

He also holds the dubious distinction of having the most wins in the NFL since 1966 without leading a team to the Super Bowl. The closest he ever got was three AFC Championship games, the last of which was, ironically, against the Bills.

Critics sum up this lack of success with the expression "Marty Ball," a derisive term used to describe Schottenheimer's conservative approach to play-calling during crunch time in the season.

Look no further than the Kansas City Chiefs in 1995 and 1997, as well as the San Diego Chargers in 2006 as evidence of this. 

On each occasion, the teams had secured home-field advantage in the AFC for the postseason. Yet, despite having two weeks to rest and prepare a game plan, the end result was three losses in the divisional round of the playoffs.

Finally, Schottenheimer's age (67) has to be a concern. The NFL is now unquestionably a year-round business and the working hours are long, especially during the season. 

Does he have the ability to put himself through the day-to-day grind at an age when most people are retired and leading a more relaxing lifestyle? 

Conclusion:

There is no doubt that Schottenheimer is a passionate man (his emotional introductory press conference as head coach for the Kansas City Chiefs in 1989 was a sight to behold) who understands and appreciates the history of the game.

Overall, Schottenheimer is someone who can get you into the postseason, but ultimately fall short. 

However, given that the Bills haven’t been to playoffs for a decade, they could do worse than pick a man who, despite his public stance, reportedly still has a passion for coaching.