Coach Rauch Led Raiders to Super Bowl II
John Rauch is often overlooked when it comes to the history of the Oakland-Los Angeles-Las Vegas Raiders, but he coached the Silver and Black to their first appearance in the Super Bowl to the climax of the 1967 season.
Rauch was a Raiders assistant coach for three seasons before he had the unenviable task of taking over the head coaching position in 1966 from Al Davis, who left to become commissioner of the American Football League during the Pro Football War with the National Football League.
When Davis returned to the Silver and Black as Managing General Partner, Rauch would always be in AD’s shadow, but he made the most of it for as long as he could.
"Any time you follow Mr. Davis as head coach, everybody will have all eyes on you watching what you can do,” Raiders Hall of Fame cornerback Willie Brown said. “John did quite well, no question about it.
“He had 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. We all stood behind him and played hard for him.”
Rauch led the Raiders to an 8-5-1 record in 1966, but after the Raiders acquired quarterback Daryle Lamonica from the Buffalo Bills, they went 13-1 before routing the Buffalo Bills, 40-7, in the AFL Championship Game at the Oakland Coliseum.
However, the Raiders lost to the Green Bay Packers, in their last game under legendary coach Vince Lombardi in Super Bowl II, 33-14, at the Orange Bowl in Miami.
“(Rauch) was a stern taskmaster and didn’t have a great sense of humor,” Raiders defensive end Ben Davidson said. “And it was a brutal couple of years in training camp with Rauch, with two months of two-a-days.
“(But) I liked John, and we certainly thrived under his hard work. We were 13-1, then 12-2. He wasn’t real flamboyant or glib with the press. He was kind of an unsung guy. Al was really hands-on back then. He didn’t have his finger in the pot, he had his whole arm in. So John was under a lot of pressure.”
Rauch coached the Raiders to a 12-2 record in 1968, including eight consecutive victories to end the regular season before routing the Kansas City Chiefs, 41-6, in a divisional playoff game before losing to quarterback Joe Namath and the New York Jets, 27-23, in the AFC Championship Game.
Then Rauch suddenly resigned and became head coach of the Buffalo Bills.
“It’s tough anytime your head coach leaves,” Brown said. “It was tough. He did what he had to do. We knew that no matter who they put in that position it would be tough to follow the guy who just took us to the Super Bowl.”
Said Rauch in a 1999 interview: “I had a problem with management there. When I got an opportunity to go someplace else, I took it. Whether I made the right move remained to be seen. … I didn’t think Al and I were getting along. But Buffalo might not have been the smartest move I made.”
Even though the Bills drafted running back O.J. Simpson of USC with the first pick of the 1969 AFL Draft, Buffalo recorded records of 4-10 and 3-10-1, and Rauch resigned after a heated discussion with owner Ralph Wilson.
In his final head coaching stint, Rauch led the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League to a 7-5-2 record in 1973, but he was dismissed after a 3-4 start the following season.
After serving in different roles for the Atlanta Falcons, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Tampa Bay Bandits of the United States Football League over the next 10 seasons, Rauch retired from football and he passed away in his sleep in 2008 at the age of 80, possibly because of a heart condition.
“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 for the Raiders and they will never be forgotten and they should not be forgotten.”
Rauch compiled a 33-8 record with the Raiders and his winning percentage of .805 is the best in franchise history.
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