Is Marty a Hall of Famer?

By STEVE KING

Does the late, great Marty Schottenheimer belong in the Pro Football Hall of Fame?
Bill Cowher thinks so and said as much after Schottenheimer passed away on Tuesday at the age of 77 due to complications from Alzheimer’s disease. 
The former Browns special teamer and assistant coach, who is a Hall of Famer, was close with Schottenheimer after playing for him, coaching with and then coaching under him with the Browns, and then under him again in Kansas City before moving on to become head coach of his hometown Pittsburgh Steelers. As such, he may be a bit biased, but on the other hand, a case could also certainly be made for Schottenheimer to be a Hall of Famer.
Schottenheimer coached 4 1/2 seasons in Cleveland, from the midway point of 1984, when he replaced Sam Rutigliano, through 1988, when he got fired/resigned, and was 46-31. He is the eighth-winningest coach in NFL history after going 200-126-1 in 21 seasons, also including stints with the Chiefs, Washington and San Diego Chargers. He had only two losing records during that time.
That’s impressive indeed.
But what hurts his cause is that he was just 5-13 overall in the playoffs, including 2-4 with the Browns.
A national story about Schottenheimer’s passing stated that he is best known for his time with the Chiefs. That’s wrong. He is best known for his time with the Browns, when he made the playoffs four straight times and got to the AFC Championship in back-to-back years, losing in gut-wrenching fashion on both occasions. His Cleveland teams were outscored by a combined total of just 12 points in their four playoff defeats.
Nonetheless, a postseason defeat is a postseason defeat, and it means more than regular-season wins the way the HOF voters look at it. That’s the thing that, for the most part, kept former Browns linebacker Clay Matthews out of the Hall this year and is keeping other top Browns from that era, like cornerbacks Hanford Dixon and Frank Minnifield. from getting in as well. One trip to the big stage of the Super Bowl, especially in 1986 in that first AFC title game appearance when the stars seemed to be all aligned in just the right way for the Browns to make it, likely would have resulted in Schottenheimer and Matthews both being Hall of Famers.