Gunther Cunningham (June 19, 1946 – May 11, 2019) was an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

head coach. He served as the Kansas City Chiefs head coach for two seasons. He also had two stints as the Chiefs' defensive coordinator. He served as an assistant coach for five other

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) teams and four college teams. He coached football for 47 consecutive seasons without taking any years off.

Early life

Cunningham was born in 1946 in war-torn Munich, Germany to an American serviceman and a German mother before moving to the United States at age ten. He attended the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

, where he played

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

and

placekicker In gridiron football, the placekicker (PK), or simply kicker (K), is the player responsible for attempts at scoring Field goal (football), field goals and extra points. In most cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist ...

before embarking on a coaching career that spanned almost fifty years.

Coaching career

In 1995, Cunningham was hired by the Chiefs as the defensive coordinator after spending the previous four seasons as a coach with the Los Angeles Raiders. During his original tenure as defensive coordinator, Cunningham's defenses allowed an average of only 16.4 points per game, the best mark in the NFL and had a turnover margin of +30, tops in the AFC. Under his lead, a number of players excelled, including stars such as Neil Smith, James Hasty, Dale Carter, and

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional football (gridiron), professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, 1963, the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of profes ...

linebacker Derrick Thomas. Cunningham's defenses led Kansas City to an overall record of 42–22. After the Chiefs missed the playoffs in 1998, head coach Marty Schottenheimer resigned, opening the door for Cunningham's promotion to the head coach position. In his first season, the Chiefs finished 9–7, but were eliminated from playoff contention on the final day of the season when the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

's Joe Nedney kicked a field goal as time expired. After the Chiefs regressed to 7-9 a year later, Cunningham was fired and replaced by Dick Vermeil. The move was controversial at the time as Cunningham claimed he was never informed by management that he was to be fired and only found out about it after discovering the article regarding his termination on the Chiefs website after he showed up to work one morning. Cunningham went on to become a successful linebackers coach for the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

. Cunningham was hired again in 2004 to revitalize a defense that had finished near or at the bottom of the overall rankings since Schottenheimer and Cunningham departed. For the 2008 season, Cunningham coached the Chiefs' linebackers as well as serving as the defensive coordinator. Cunningham was hired as the Detroit Lions defensive coordinator on January 21, 2009, about a week after the Lions hired new head coach Jim Schwartz, who he worked with on the Titans from 2001 to 2003.

Personal life

He became a naturalized U.S. citizen on April 6, 2010. Cunningham and his wife had two children. Cunningham died on Saturday, May 11, 2019, from cancer.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cunningham, Gunther 1946 births 2019 deaths Arkansas Razorbacks football coaches Baltimore Colts coaches California Golden Bears football coaches Detroit Lions coaches Hamilton Tiger-Cats coaches Indianapolis Colts coaches Kansas City Chiefs coaches Kansas City Chiefs head coaches Los Angeles Raiders coaches NFL defensive coordinators Oregon Ducks football players Oregon Ducks football coaches San Diego Chargers coaches Stanford Cardinal football coaches Tennessee Titans coaches Sportspeople from Munich Emigrants from West Germany to the United States Phi Delta Theta members