A longtime staple on the Denver Broncos' opponents sidelines, Marty Schottenheimer will be returning to the sidelines--just not in the NFL. Schottenheimer will be the head coach and general manager for the Virginia Destroyers in the UFL. With the NFL attempting to work out its labor disputes, the UFL route may be Schottenheimer's best chance to win a championship.
The Virginia Destroyers had been the Florida Huskers the previous two seasons, and their previous head coach, Jay Gruden, bolted to the NFL for a position with the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Denver Broncos first brought frustration to the ball coach's desires for a championship during the 1986 season when John Elway truly arrived on the NFL scene with perhaps the greatest series in NFL history, "The Drive" (video) in the AFC championship game against the Browns. Elway led the Broncos on a 98-yard drive to tie the game, which sent the game into overtime and an eventual Broncos victory. Elway and the Broncos would deny Schottenheimer's chances again in the 1987 AFC championship game. He would have one more loss with the Browns before heading to Kansas City for the next decade.
And there the Broncos continued to stymie Schottenheimer in the regular season and the postseason. On their way to victory in Super Bowl XXXII, the Broncos defeated the Chiefs, the AFC West champs, in the divisional round of the playoffs. After a one-year stint with the Washington Redskins in 2001, Schottenheimer returned to the AFC West as the head coach of the San Diego Chargers in 2002. He lost twice in the playoffs, but not to the Denver Broncos.