Hank Stram

Lore & Background

Stram won three AFL championships, more than any other coach in the league's history. He then won Super Bowl IV with the Chiefs. He also coached the most victories (87), had the most post-season games (7) and the best post-season record in the AFL (5–2). Stram is largely responsible for the introduction of Gatorade to the NFL due to his close association with Ray Graves, coach at the University of Florida during Gatorade's development and infancy. Stram never had an offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, or special teams coach during his career with the Chiefs.

Reader's Guide

Stram was born in Chicago as Henry Louis Wilczek on January 3, 1923. He grew up in Gary, Indiana, and graduated from Lew Wallace High School class of 1941. He earned seven letters playing football and baseball at Purdue, joined Sigma Chi, and served in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. He was an assistant football coach for the Boilermakers from 1948 to 1955 and head baseball coach from 1951 to 1955.

After coaching at Purdue, he was an assistant at Notre Dame, Southern Methodist University, and Miami. In 1959, Lamar Hunt recruited Stram to coach his Dallas Texans in the new AFL. The Texans won the AFL championship in 1962. The team became the Kansas City Chiefs in 1963.

They won the AFL title in 1966 and played in Super Bowl I. In a 1968 game against the Oakland Raiders, Stram resurrected the T formation, and the Chiefs won 24–10. The Chiefs won the AFL championship again in 1969 and Super Bowl IV. Stram became the first professional football coach to wear a microphone in that Super Bowl. In 1971, the Chiefs won the AFC West championship.

Stram was fired after the 1974 season. He became head coach of the New Orleans Saints in 1976, posting records of 4–10 and 3–11, and was fired after the 1977 season. Stram helped develop Hall of Famers Len Dawson, Bobby Bell, Buck Buchanan, Curley Culp, Willie Lanier, Jan Stenerud, Emmitt Thomas, and Johnny Robinson. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2003.

Stram was the only head coach who lasted the entire history of the AFL (1960–1969). After coaching, he worked as a color commentator for CBS, including a near-20-year stint on CBS Radio broadcasts of Monday Night Football.