The Most Obscure Super Bowl Coaches

Reaching a Super Bowl should be the pinnacle of a NFL coaches career. If you should happen to win the game you will go down in history with a great team, and you will talked about forever.

A coach that reaches a Super Bowl can put that accomplishment on a resume and think of it as a feather in their cap. Top NFL head coaches don't just appear out of thin air, they work hard over the years, honing their craft hoping to reach the big game one day, much like players do.

It turns out some Super Bowl coaches are more recognizable than the Vice President of The United States, see Mike Ditka, Vince Lombardi, or John Madden. Let's take a look at some of the Super Bowl coaches you might have forgotten about.

John Rauch - Oakland Raiders, Super Bowl II - When asked most people think it was John Madden who led the Oakland Raiders to the AFL Championship and a place in Super Bowl II. The truth is the coach was the unheralded John Rauch. A former player and college assistant coach, Rauch was named head coach of the Raiders in 1966 by Al Davis. Rauch guided the Raiders to an 8-5-1 mark and a spot in The Super Bowl against the Packers. The Raiders were outclassed, and so was Rauch. Rauch's career went into a downward spiral when he left the Raiders in 1968, He briefly was the head coach of the Buffalo Bills in 1969 and 1970, but was fired for going 3-10-1. He also is remembered for wanting to use a running back by the name of O.J. Simpson as a blocking back. Rauch shunned the spotlight, although he held various assistant coaching positions in the NFL and Canada until his death in 2008.

Red Miller - Denver Broncos, Super Bowl XII - Red Miller was the coach of the Denver Broncos before Dan Reeves. He honed his coaching skills in the Midwest with stops at various high schools and Carthage College in Kenosha, WI. He was then a longtime NFL assistant before being named coach of the Broncos. He led the famed, "Orange Crush Defense" to the Super Bowl in 1977 where they lost to the Cowboys 27-10. He was fired after going 8-8 in 1980. He coached the Denver Gold in the USFL before retiring and never coaching again.

Mike Martz - St. Louis Rams, Super Bowl XXVI - Many fans forget that after Dick Vermeil retired in 2000 after winning Super Bowl XXVIV, it was Martz who took over as head coach of the Rams. His "Greatest Show on Turf" went 14-2 and made it to Super Bowl XXXVI. The Rams lost to the Titans, but Martz had success the next couple seasons as well. He took a leave of absence in 2005 with a heart problem and didn't return to the Rams. The last couple years he served a offensive coordinator of the Detroit Lions and San Francisco 49ers. He was out of football in 2009.

Bobby Ross - San Diego Chargers, Super Bowl XXXIX - Currently retired, Bobby Ross was a successful college and pro coach for over 30 years. Many people overlook his career which included good runs at Maryland and a share of a national title at Georgia Tech. He left Georgia Tech and headed to San Diego to coach the Chargers. They surprised the NFL by making the Super Bowl in 1994. Ross left the Chargers after 5 seasons to coach the Detroit Lions. He had little success in Detroit and ended his career coaching at Army.

Sam Wyche Cincinnati Bengals, Super Bowl XXIII - Sam Wyche was known as quite an innovator in the NFL. He is credited with adopting the "no huddle offense", which is fairly common today. He played almost a decade in the NFL before he turned to coaching. He came within 34 seconds of beating the might 49er's in Super Bowl XXIII. Wyche was an outspoken and emotional coach, but he hasn't coached since he was the head man with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1995. Seems like an eternity since Wyche roamed the sidelines.

Don McCafferty Baltimore Colts, Super Bowl V - Unlike all the other coaches on this list that were Super Bowl losers, McCafferty won a Super Bowl. Coaching the Baltimore Colts, McCafferty won Super Bowl V. McCafferty replaced Don Shula in Baltimore and made the Super Bowl in his first season as head coach. He was fired from the Colts when he refused to bench Johnny Unitas on orders from the general manager. He became head coach of the Detroit Lions in 1973, but died while mowing his lawn in 1974. His coaching career ended prematurely, and he was largely forgotten in NFL lore.