View source for Hank Stram

{{short description|American football coach (1923–2005)}}
{{More citations needed|date=November 2021}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2019}}
<!-- DO NOT CHANGE THIS -->{{Infobox NFL biography
| name = Hank Stram
| image = Hank Stram (cropped).jpg
| caption = Stram from the 1955 Purdue yearbook
| position = 
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1923|1|3}}
| birth_place = [[Chicago|Chicago, Illinois]], U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2005|7|4|1923|1|3}}
| death_place = [[Covington, Louisiana]], U.S.
| high_school = [[Lew Wallace High School|Lew Wallace]] ([[Gary, Indiana]])
| college = [[Purdue Boilermakers football|Purdue]]
| pastcoaching =
* [[Purdue Boilermakers football|Purdue]] (1948–1955)<br>Backfield coach
* [[SMU Mustangs football|SMU]] (1956)<br>Backfield coach
* [[Notre Dame Fighting Irish football|Notre Dame]] (1957–1958)<br>Backfield coach
* [[Miami Hurricanes football|Miami (FL)]] (1959)<br>Backfield coach
* [[Kansas City Chiefs|Dallas Texans / Kansas City Chiefs]] ([[1960 AFL season|1960]]–{{NFL Year|1974}})<br/>Head coach
* [[New Orleans Saints]] ({{NFL Year|1976}}–{{NFL Year|1977}})<br/>Head coach
| highlights =
* [[List of Super Bowl champions|Super Bowl champion]] ([[Super Bowl IV|IV]])
* 3× [[AFL Championship|AFL champion]] ([[1962 American Football League Championship Game|1962]], [[1966 American Football League Championship Game|1966]], [[1969 American Football League Championship Game|1969]])
* 2× [[National Football League Coach of the Year Award#AP AFL Coach of the Year|AP AFL Coach of the Year]] (1966, 1968)
* [[UPI NFL Coach of the Year|UPI AFL Coach of the Year]] (1968)
* [[Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame]]
| coachregrecord = 131–97–10 ({{winpct|131|97|10}})
| coachplayoffrecord = 5–3 ({{winpct|5|3}})
| coachrecord = 136–100–10
({{winpct|136|100|10}})
| pfrcoach = StraHa0
| HOF = hank-stram
}} 
'''Henry Louis Stram''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|t|r|æ|m}}; January 3, 1923 – July 4, 2005) was an American [[American football|football]] coach.  He is best known for his 15-year tenure with the [[Kansas City Chiefs|Dallas Texans / Kansas City Chiefs]] of the [[American Football League]] (AFL) and [[National Football League]] (NFL).

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&ndash;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.

==Early life==
Stram was born in [[Chicago]] as Henry Louis Wilczek<ref name ="Pula">Drobnicki, John. (2011). "Stram, Hank," in ''The Polish American Encyclopedia''. Ed. [[James S. Pula]]. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 506.</ref> on January 3, 1923.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.upi.com/Top_News/2019/01/03/UPI-Almanac-for-Thursday-Jan-3-2019/1811546209344/|title= UPI Almanac for Thursday, Jan. 3, 2019|work=[[United Press International]]|date=January 3, 2019|access-date=September 3, 2019|archive-date=January 3, 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190103223323/https://www.upi.com/Top_News/2019/01/03/UPI-Almanac-for-Thursday-Jan-3-2019/1811546209344/|url-status=live|quote=football Hall of Fame Coach Hank Stram in 1923}}</ref> His Polish-born father, Henry Wilczek, a tailor, had wrestled professionally under the name Stramm, the German word for "sturdy," and the family's surname was eventually changed to Stram.<ref name="Pula" /> He later grew up in [[Gary, Indiana]], and graduated from [[Lew Wallace High School]] class of 1941. (The football stadium press box was renamed in his honor.) He earned seven letters playing football and baseball and joined the [[Sigma Chi]] fraternity at [[Purdue]] in the 1940s, playing in 1942 and again in 1946 and 1947. Stram served in the [[United States Army Air Forces]] during World War II, interrupting his university career.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-jul-05-me-stram5-story.html|title=Hank Stram, 82; Won More Games Than Any Other Coach in the AFL|work=Los Angeles Times|last=Farmer|first=Sam|date=2005-07-05|access-date=2020-02-02}}</ref>

==Coaching career==
===Early jobs===
He was an assistant football coach for the [[Purdue Boilermakers football|Boilermaker]]s from 1948 to 1955 and the head baseball coach from 1951 to 1955. In 1996, Stram and [[Len Dawson]] were inducted into the Purdue Athletic Hall of Fame. After coaching at Purdue, Stram was an assistant at [[Notre Dame Fighting Irish football|Notre Dame]], [[SMU Mustangs football|Southern Methodist University]], and [[Miami Hurricanes football|Miami]]. Stram was Miami's backfield coach and credited with installing the [[multiple offense]] that helped lead the team to a 6–4 record in [[1959 Miami Hurricanes football team|1959]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Coach Stram Moves On |url=https://digitalcollections.library.miami.edu/digital/collection/asu0053/id/1353/ |access-date=30 January 2022 |work=The Miami Hurricane |date=January 5, 1960}}</ref>

===Dallas Texans / Kansas City Chiefs===
In 1959, [[Lamar Hunt]] recruited Stram to coach his Dallas Texans in the new AFL, which commenced play in [[1960 AFL season|1960]].  Hunt had previously been a bench player at SMU when Stram had been coaching there and the Texans' position had been turned down by Oklahoma Sooners head coach [[Bud Wilkinson]] and [[New York Giants]] defensive coordinator [[Tom Landry]]. The Texans played their first game in the new AFL in September 1960 and proved to be successful from the beginning.

In 1962, the Texans won the AFL Western Division and the AFL championship. The Texans won the championship against the [[1962 Houston Oilers season|Houston Oilers]] 20–17 in what was the longest professional football championship game ever played. [[Tommy Brooker]] kicked a field goal at 17:54 of overtime to win the game for the Texans and stop the Oilers from winning their third straight title.

The Dallas Texans became the Kansas City Chiefs in 1963 and continued their success. In 1966, they won the AFL title again on the back of one of the best defensive teams in the history of professional football featuring three hall of famers and eight all star players. The Chiefs defeated the [[1966 Buffalo Bills season|Buffalo Bills]] 31&ndash;7 in Buffalo. The Chiefs played the [[1966 Green Bay Packers season|Green Bay Packers]] in [[Super Bowl I]] with the Packers winning 35&ndash;10. To overcome the Chiefs' defense, Packers' coach [[Vince Lombardi]] used a short passing game which proved successful, with quarterback [[Bart Starr]] becoming the first Super Bowl MVP.

In a 1968 game against the [[1968 Oakland Raiders season|Oakland Raiders]] in Kansas City, the Chiefs entered the game without a healthy wide receiver ready to play.  Stram went in to pro football's past and resurrected the [[T formation]].  The Chiefs won the game 24–10 running the ball 60 times for over 300 yards while passing only three times for 16 yards.

The Kansas City Chiefs won the AFL championship again in 1969. In [[Super Bowl IV]], his ingenious innovations, the "moving pocket" and the "triple-stack defense", dominated the [[1969 Minnesota Vikings season|Minnesota Vikings]] on both sides of the ball.  In the Super Bowl, Stram became the first professional football coach to wear a [[wireless microphone|microphone]].  Stram's recorded comments from that game have become classics: ''"Just keep matriculatin' the ball down the field, boys."'', ''"How could all six of you miss that play?"'' ''"65 Toss Power Trap"'', ''"[[Karl Kassulke|Kassulke]] was running around there like it was a Chinese fire drill"'', and his assessment of the Vikings' confusion and ineffective play: ''"They look like they're flat as hell."''.  In the clip where he asks an official ''"How could all six of you miss that play?"'' the official's response, not about the play, but about Stram not being allowed on the field during a game, leads the confused Stram to mutter, ''"No.  What?"'' The Super Bowl victory was the second straight by a team from the AFL and added credibility to the newer league, which would complete a planned merger with the NFL the following season.

In 1971, the Chiefs won the [[AFC West]] championship. The [[1971 Miami Dolphins season|Miami Dolphins]] defeated the Chiefs on Christmas Day 1971. The teams played the longest game in the history of professional football. After that, the Chiefs did not enjoy the same success, resulting in Stram leaving the franchise. Stram's tenure in Kansas City ended with a 35&ndash;15 loss at home to the same [[1974 Minnesota Vikings season|Viking]] team the Chiefs defeated in Super Bowl IV.

Following a 5–9 finish in the 1974 season, which was at the time the worst record in franchise history (and only the third losing season it had suffered), Stram was fired.

Stram's 129 victories were the most in Chiefs history until 2023 when [[Andy Reid]] surpassed him with his 130th win.<ref name="d937">{{cite web | last=Grathoff | first=Pete | title=Andy Reid passes Hank Stram for most wins as Chiefs coach, makes NFL history | website=Yahoo! News | date=2023-11-27 | url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/andy-reid-passes-hank-stram-011143727.html | access-date=2025-02-17}}</ref>

===New Orleans Saints===
Stram became the head coach of the [[New Orleans Saints]] in 1976, but posted losing records in his two seasons, 4&ndash;10 and 3&ndash;11. Hampering Stram's efforts to rebuild the typically struggling Saints was a severe elbow injury to quarterback [[Archie Manning]], who missed the entire 1976 season and parts of the 1977 campaign. Stram also had to deal with continuous discipline problems caused by his leading rusher, [[Chuck Muncie]], who was in the early stages of a [[cocaine]] addiction which would lead to his trade in 1980 from New Orleans to the [[San Diego Chargers]].

Perhaps the biggest highlight of his New Orleans tenure was a 27&ndash;17 win over his former team, the [[1976 Kansas City Chiefs season|Kansas City Chiefs]], at [[Arrowhead Stadium]] in 1976, Stram's first victory with the Saints.  The 1977 campaign culminated in an historic home loss to the previously winless [[1977 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season|Tampa Bay Buccaneers]] who were riding a 26-game losing streak over two seasons. Stram took the loss hard, burning the game film.<ref>{{cite web |title=Buccaneers vs. New Orleans Saints Sunday December 11, 1977 - Away Game |url=https://www.buccaneersfan.com/Pages/TeamZone/Gameday/Saints/1977-12-11.htm |website=BuccaneersFan.com© |access-date=12 June 2024}}</ref> He was fired after the final game of the season.

===Legacy===
Stram was an innovator, a shrewd judge of talent, and an excellent teacher.  He helped develop [[Hall of Fame]]rs [[Len Dawson]], [[Bobby Bell]], [[Buck Buchanan]], [[Curley Culp]], [[Willie Lanier]], [[Jan Stenerud]], [[Emmitt Thomas]], and [[Johnny Robinson (safety)|Johnny Robinson]], and others like [[Ed Budde]] and [[Otis Taylor (American football)|Otis Taylor]]. He would take players that had been unsuccessful on other teams, such as Len Dawson, who had failed to catch on with both the Steelers and the Browns, and help them develop their potential. Stram recruited heavily from historically black colleges, so his teams were always diverse, and he also instituted weight-training and off-season mini-camps.<ref name="Pula" /> He was also the first coach in professional football to use [[Gatorade]] on his sidelines and run both the [[I formation]] and two-tight end offense, still used in professional football today.  On defense, the Chiefs employed a triple-stack defense, hiding the three linebackers behind defensive linemen.

He was considered a motivational genius, and his emphasis on the Chiefs' wearing of a [[Ten-year AFL patch|patch]] commemorating the AFL in Super Bowl IV was one of his typical ploys, extracting maximum effort from players who had been derided by proponents of the NFL. Stram was inducted into the [[Pro Football Hall of Fame]] in 2003, nine years ''after'' [[Bud Grant]], the man whose team he had convincingly defeated in Super Bowl IV, had been enshrined.  At the Hall of Fame ceremonies, Stram was so weakened by the effects of [[diabetes]] that Len Dawson pushed his former coach onto the stage in a wheelchair. Stram's induction speech was then played from a previously recorded videotape.

Stram was the only head coach who lasted the entire history of the AFL (1960 – 1969).<ref name="Pula" />

==Broadcasting career==
Following his retirement from coaching, Stram enjoyed a long and successful career as a [[color commentator]] on [[CBS Sports|CBS]]' [[NFL on CBS|television]] and [[NFL on Westwood One|radio]] broadcasts of NFL games. Stram began broadcasting games for CBS in [[1975 NFL season|1975]], originally calling games with [[Frank Glieber]]. After a brief hiatus so he could return to coaching, Stram returned to call games with [[Gary Bender]] in 1978. His other broadcast partners were [[Jack Buck]], [[Vin Scully]], [[Curt Gowdy]], [[Dick Stockton]], [[Al Michaels]], [[Tim Brant]], [[Steve Zabriskie]], [[Jim Henderson (sportscaster)|Jim Henderson]], [[Sean McDonough]], and [[Jim Nantz]], along with various others.  From 1979 through 1989 he called the [[Tampa Bay Buccaneers]]' preseason football games for [[WTOG-TV]] in Tampa, Florida, and from 1993 through 1996 he called preseason [[Las Vegas Raiders|Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders']] games for [[KCAL-TV|KCAL]].

As a broadcaster, Stram is best remembered for his near-20-year stint (beginning in [[1978 NFL season|1978]] and lasting through the [[1995 NFL season|1995 season]]) with Jack Buck on CBS Radio broadcasts of ''[[Monday Night Football]]'' games. Stram's key broadcasting trademark was his habit of predicting the next play before it happened.

On January 10, 1982, Stram, along with [[Vin Scully]], called the famous [[NFL playoffs, 1981-82#NFC: San Francisco 49ers 28.2C Dallas Cowboys 27|NFC Championship Game]] between the [[1981 San Francisco 49ers season|San Francisco 49ers]] and the [[1981 Dallas Cowboys season|Dallas Cowboys]]. The game in question was immortalized by [[Dwight Clark]]'s [[The Catch (American football)|touchdown catch]] which elevated the 49ers into their first [[Super Bowl XVI|Super Bowl]] appearance (the first of four during the 1980s).

During a [[1988 NFL season|1988]] broadcasting trip to [[Indianapolis, Indiana|Indianapolis]] for a [[1988 Chicago Bears season|Chicago Bears]]&ndash;[[1988 Indianapolis Colts season|Colts]] game, Stram collapsed with a severely blocked aortic valve and underwent open heart surgery. He was hospitalized in Indianapolis for a week and later resumed his career with CBS.

He remained a part of CBS' television broadcast team until [[1993 NFL season|1993]]. His last game as a broadcaster was [[Super Bowl XXX]] for CBS Radio in 1996.

==Personal life==
Stram married Phyllis Marie Pesha in 1953 and they stayed together as husband and wife until his death due to complications from diabetes in 2005. They had six children, four sons and two daughters, including actor [[Henry Stram]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 4, 2005 |title=Hall of Fame Coach Hank Stram Dies at 82 |url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/hall-of-fame-coach-hank-stram-dies-at-82 |access-date=January 27, 2019 |website=FOX News |publisher=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref>

===Later life and death===
Stram made a guest appearance as himself on the TV show ''[[Coach (TV series)|Coach]]''. In the episode, Stram was attending a coaching convention with fellow coaches [[Barry Switzer]] and [[George Allen (American football coach)|George Allen]].  Hayden Fox, the fictional protagonist of the show, also attended the conference.

Hank Stram retired to [[New Orleans]], [[Louisiana]], where he built a home in the town of [[Covington, Louisiana|Covington]].  He died at St. Tammany Parish hospital in Covington, from complications due to [[diabetes]], on July 4, 2005.

==Head coaching record==
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%; text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan="2"|Team !! rowspan="2"|Year !! colspan="5"|Regular season !! colspan="4"|Postseason
|-
!Won!!Lost!!Ties!!Win %!!Finish!! Won !! Lost !! Win % !! Result
|-
![[1960 Dallas Texans season|DAT]]||[[1960 American Football League season|1960]]
||8||6||0||.571||2nd in AFL West|| — || — || — || —
|-
![[1961 Dallas Texans season|DAT]]||[[1961 American Football League season|1961]]
||6||8||0||.429||2nd in AFL West|| — || — || — || —
|- ! style="background:#FDE910;"
![[1962 Dallas Texans season|DAT]]||[[1962 American Football League season|1962]]
||11||3||0||.786||'''1st in AFL West'''|| 1 || 0 || 1.000 || <Small>'''[[AFL Championship#1962 Championship|AFL]] champions'''</Small>
|- 
![[1963 Kansas City Chiefs season|KC]]||[[1963 American Football League season|1963]]
||5||7||2||.417||3rd in AFL West|| — || — || — || —
|-
![[1964 Kansas City Chiefs season|KC]]||[[1964 American Football League season|1964]]
||7||7||0||.500||2nd in AFL West|| — || — || — || —
|-
![[1965 Kansas City Chiefs season|KC]]||[[1965 American Football League season|1965]]
||7||5||2||.583||3rd in AFL West|| — || — || — || —
|-! style="background:#fdd;"
![[1966 Kansas City Chiefs season|KC]]||[[1966 American Football League season|1966]]
||11||2||1||.846||'''1st in AFL West'''|| 1 || 1 || .500 || <small>'''[[AFL Championship#1966 Championship|AFL]] champions'''. '''Lost to [[1966 Green Bay Packers season|Green Bay Packers]] in [[Super Bowl I]]'''</small>
|-
![[1967 Kansas City Chiefs season|KC]]||[[1967 American Football League season|1967]]
||9||5||0||.643||2nd in AFL West|| — || — || — || —
|-! style="background:#fdd;"
![[1968 Kansas City Chiefs season|KC]]||[[1968 American Football League season|1968]]
||12||2||0||.857||'''1st in AFL West'''|| 0 || 1 || .000 || <Small>'''Lost to [[1968 Oakland Raiders season|Oakland Raiders]] in [[AFL Championship#Western Division playoff|AFL Division Playoff]]'''</Small>
|- ! style="background:#FDE910;"
![[1969 Kansas City Chiefs season|KC]]||[[1969 American Football League season|1969]]
||11||3||0||.786||'''2nd in AFL West'''|| 3 || 0 || 1.000 || <Small>'''[[AFL Championship#1969 Championship|AFL]] champions'''. '''[[Super Bowl IV]] champions'''</Small>
|- 
![[1970 Kansas City Chiefs season|KC]]||[[1970 National Football League season|1970]]
||7||5||2||.583||2nd in AFC West|| — || — || — || —
|-! style="background:#fdd;"
![[1971 Kansas City Chiefs season|KC]]||[[1971 National Football League season|1971]]
||10||3||1||.769||'''1st in AFC West'''|| 0 ||1 || .000 || <Small>'''Lost to [[1971 Miami Dolphins season|Miami Dolphins]] in [[NFL playoffs, 1971-72|AFC Divisional Game]]'''</Small>
|-
![[1972 Kansas City Chiefs season|KC]]||[[1972 National Football League season|1972]]
||8||6||0||.571||2nd in AFC West|| — || — || — || —
|-
![[1973 Kansas City Chiefs season|KC]]||[[1973 National Football League season|1973]]
||7||5||2||.583||2nd in AFC West|| — || — || — || —
|-
![[1974 Kansas City Chiefs season|KC]]||[[1974 National Football League season|1974]]
||5||9||0||.357||3rd in AFC West|| — || — || — || —
|-
! colspan="2"|DAT/KC total||124||76||10||.620||||5||3||.625||
|-
![[1976 New Orleans Saints season|NO]]||[[1976 National Football League season|1976]]
||4||10||0||.286||3rd in NFC West|| — || — || — || —
|-
![[1977 New Orleans Saints season|NO]]||[[1977 National Football League season|1977]]
||3||11||0||.214||4th in NFC West|| — || — || — || —
|-
! colspan="2"|NO total||7||21||0||.250||||0||0||.000||
|-
! colspan="2"|Total<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/StraHa0.htm|title=Hank Stram Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks|website=Pro-Football-Reference.com}}</ref>||131||97||10||.575||||5||3||.625||
|-
|}

==See also==
* [[List of American Football League players|American Football League players, coaches, and contributors]]
* [[List of Kansas City Chiefs head coaches]]
* [[List of National Football League head coaches with 50 wins]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
*Hank Stram with Lou Sahadi, ''They're Playing My Game'', Morrow, New York 1986 {{ISBN|0-688-06080-3}}
*Edward Gruver, ''The American Football League: A Year-by-Year History 1960–1969'' McFarland & Company 1997 {{ISBN|0-7864-0399-3}}
*Brad Adler, ''Coaching Matters: Leadership & Tactics of the NFL's Ten Greatest Coaches'' Brassey's Inc 2003 pages 56–57 {{ISBN|1-57488-613-4}}
*"Stram gets Texan post", ''Dallas Morning News'' December 21, 1959
*"Texans now rule AFL kingdom", Dallas Morning News December 24, 1962
*MacCambridge, Michael (2005), ''America's Game''. New York:Anchor Books. {{ISBN|978-0-307-48143-6}}

==External links==
* {{Profootballhof|id=205|name=Hank Stram}}
* {{Find a Grave|37451902|Hank Stram}}

{{Purdue Boilermakers baseball coach navbox}}
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{{Navboxes
| title = Hank Stram—championships, awards, and honors
| list1 =
{{1960 Dallas Texans}}
{{1962 Dallas Texans}}
{{1966 Kansas City Chiefs}}
{{Super Bowl IV}}
{{Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame}}
{{2003 Football HOF}}
{{Pro Football Hall of Fame members}}
}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Stram, Hank}}
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