Former Raiders coach Rauch dies
ATLANTA – John Rauch, the former Georgia quarterback who coached the Oakland Raiders to a berth in the Super Bowl II, died Tuesday at his home in Oldsmar, Fla. He was 80.
Rauch’s wife, Jane, said Rauch died in his sleep, possibly due to a heart problem.
Rauch was 33-8-1 in three season as the Raiders coach from 1966-68. He also served as head coach of the Buffalo Bills for two years and was an assistant coach with Philadelphia and Atlanta.
“Our hearts go out to his family who we knew well,” the Raiders said in a statement. “John Rauch gave us several great years as an assistant and head coach for the Oakland Raiders and he took us to our first Super Bowl in 1967. They were memorable years and they will never be forgotten.”
Rauch was a Raiders assistant coach for three years before he was named to follow owner Al Davis as head coach after Davis became commissioner of the American Football League.
“Anytime you follow Mr. Davis as head coach, everybody will have all eyes on you watching what you can do,” said Raiders defensive backs coach Willie Brown, a Hall of Fame cornerback who played for Rauch in 1967-68.
“John did quite well, no question about it,” Brown said. “He learned from Mr. Davis the necessary things to be a coach. Mr. Davis was pleased with it, I was pleased with it. He took us to the Super Bowl. All the players loved him and played hard for him.”
Brown said Rauch proved he was willing to serve his players on and off the field.
“When I got traded to the Raiders, he was the head coach and my wife got sick,” Brown said. “This was training camp. I said, ‘Hey Coach. I have to go home. My wife is sick. She has nobody out here, she doesn’t have a car. I have the car.’
“So he called his wife and she took my wife to the hospital. It’s the little things like that that stick in my mind.”
Rauch, who had John Madden and Bill Walsh as assistant coaches, led the Raiders to a 13-1 record in 1967 and a berth in the Super Bowl, where they lost to Green Bay. Rauch was named AFC coach of the year.
He led the Raiders to a 12-2 record in 1968 but tensions with Davis were the apparent reason he left to coach the Bills in 1969, O.J. Simpson’s rookie season.