who spent 11 total years in some capacity with the Chiefs, was 7

Cunningham Darwin Thompson Kansas City Chiefs Jerseys , 2." />Skip to main contentclockmenumore-arrownoyesHorizontal - WhiteArrowhead PrideArrowhead Pride | Kansas City Chiefs Schedule, News, Roster and StatsLog In or Sign UpLog InSign UpSeriesLatest NewsFanpostsFanshotsCommunityAboutStubHubMoreAll 322 blogs on Horizontal - WhiteSeries Stagner ThingsLottery Tickets ’19Summer of SpagsDixon’s MailbagLatest News Fanposts Most recentMost activeFanshots Community Community GuidelinesContactAbout StubHub ✕Former Chiefs head coach Gunther Cunningham has diedNew,38commentsCunningham, who spent 11 total years in some capacity with the Chiefs, was 72.CDTShareTweetShareShareFormer Chiefs head coach Gunther Cunningham has diedFormer Kansas City Chiefs head coach Gunther Cunningham has died.Cunningham died over the weekend after a bout with cancer.He was 72.An NFL coach for more than three decades, Cunningham had two coaching stints with the Chiefs.He served as defensive coordinator (and then head coach) from 1995 through 2000, and then returned as defensive coordinator from 2004 through 2008.Born in Munich, Germany, just after World War II — his father an American serviceman and his mother a German citizen — Cunningham came to the United States at the age of 10.He spoke no English when he arrived and had to endure bullying from schoolmates over his German accent and heritage.He found a passion in playing American football in Lompac Kansas City Chiefs Jerseys Stitched , California, and won a scholarship to the University of Oregon, where he was a placekicker and linebacker under George Seifert, who would eventually win a Super Bowl with the San Francisco 49ers.Seifert encouraged Cunningham to become a coach, and he took his first coaching job (as defensive line coach) with the Ducks in 1969.After stints with Arkansas, Stanford and California, he spent a year with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the CFL before taking his first NFL coaching job with the Baltimore Colts in 1982, when he followed head coach Frank Kush from Hamilton to Baltimore.Starting in 1984, Cunningham spent 17 years coaching in the AFC West — first as a position coach for the San Diego Chargers and Los Angeles Raiders, and then becoming defensive coordinator of the Chiefs in 1995.Through 1998, Cunningham’s defenses allowed an NFL-best 16.4 points per game.When Marty Schottenheimer resigned as head coach after the 1998 season Discount Darwin Thompson Jersey , Cunningham was named head coach.Cunningham remained head coach for two seasons, compiling a record of 16-16.But Chiefs general manager Carl Peterson — despite expressing public confidence in Cunningham — felt the Chiefs could do better. He coaxed Super Bowl-winning head coach Dick Vermeil out of retirement to take over the team after the 2000 season.The famously short-tempered Cunningham heard of his dismissal not from Peterson himself, but from news reports.In 2001, an Arrowhead source told me that when he heard the news, Cunningham punched a hole in the hallway wall outside the stadium’s coaching offices.Cunningham spent three seasons as linebackers coach of the Tennessee Titans under head coach Jeff Fisher before being asked to return the Chiefs as defensive coordinator in 2004, after three years of poor defensive performances under Vermeil’s first defensive coordinator Greg Robinson.Vermeil told the Lawrence Journal-World that Cunningham was his first choice to replace Robinson and that he worked hard to make Cunningham’s return easy on him.“He’s only human,” Vermeil said. “I think it takes a heck of a man to respond like he did, to accept an opportunity to come back and not be over-sensitive about it.It also shows the organization has a lot of respect for him.”It took some time, but Cunningham eventually restored the Chiefs defense to respectability, if not greatness; the team ranked 11th in points allowed in 2006.And the players were happy to have “Gun” back.“He’ll scream at you, but for a reason Super Bowl Darwin Thompson Jersey ,” Eric Hicks told the Journal-World.“There’s definitely sincerity there. When he’s cussing you he really means it. But when he’s putting his arm around you, he means that, too.”“This is about coaching players,” Cunningham said upon his return to Kansas City. “That’s what I am, a football coach. I’m glad that I’m back. I missed this place, and I missed these people.”But by 2008 under head coach Herm Edwards, the Chiefs defense had again fallen to near the bottom of the league, and the team finished the season 2-14.The front office and coaching staff were all turned over, and Cunningham moved on to become defensive coordinator of the Detroit Lions, in which capacity he would serve for five seasons before becoming a senior defensive assistant there from 2014 through 2016.It was during this time with the Lions that Cunningham would begin to see the value of advanced analytics.He told ESPN that it was Lions staff counsel Jon Dykema introduced him to the data compiled by analytics site Pro Football Focus, and he became a believer in its approach.”I’m an NFLer for life — that’s the best way I can say it Darwin Thompson Jersey nfl draft ,” Cunningham told ESPN. “Until they put me in the ground, I’ll still be a part of the NFL.I’ll never be separated from that life, and I think PFF was the closest thing that I could find that would keep me involved in the NFL.”As it turned out, the tough coach with the yellow-tinted aviator glasses was right.Cunningham is survived by his wife Rene’ Michel— with whom he would have celebrated his 50th anniversary next month — and by his son Adam, daughter Natalie Firman, her husband Lee and their son Grant.Chiefs owner Clark Hunt issues a statement on the passing of Gunther CunninghamTwitter reacts to the passing of Gunther Cunningham Chiefs headlines for Monday, April 22."The latestDrafting Patrick Mahomes: How the Chiefs outmaneuvered the NFL | ESPNChad Reuter 2019 seven-round NFL mock draft: Round 1 | NFL2019 NFL Mock Draft: Kansas City Chiefs choose Nasir Adderley | Bleeding Green NationEntering NFL draft, Chiefs’ offseason already defined by radical defensive changes | Kansas City StarNFL draft: Ranking every quarterback class of this millennium | NFLFirst-round trades that have worked out in the past | Pro Football FocusAround the leagueNFL Draft 2019 Rumors: Kyler Murray Won’t Be Taken at No. 1 by Cardinals | Bleacher ReportSource: Seahawks want 1st-rounder for DE Clark | ESPNBen Watson having second thoughts about retirement | NBC SportsKareem Jackson plays safety during Broncos camp | NFLNiners LT Joe Staley ‘not worried’ about contract year | NFLThe Eight Most-Telling NFL Team Draft Tendencies | The RingerFive NFL General Managers Under the Most Pressure on Draft Day | Sports IllustratedIn case you missed it at Arrowhead Pride25 Days of Draftmas: Montez Sweat is the long, strong DE prototype KC likesReport: The Raiders are obsessing over security prior to this week’s NFL draftSelecting the pool of players from which the Chiefs might draftNFL Mock Draft: a scenario in which the Chiefs go offense firstFollow Arrowhead Pride on Social MediaAP Facebook Page: Click here to like our pageAP Instagram: Follow @ArrowheadPrideAP Twitter: Follow @ArrowheadPrideAP Editor-in-Chief: Pete Sweeney: Follow @pgsween610 Sports Twitter: Follow @610SportsKC