Lou Rymkus

Louis Joseph Rymkus (November 6, 1919 – October 31, 1998) was a football player and coach in the National Football League who was a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1988 and also served as the first head coach of the American Football League's Houston Oilers for 1960, winning the league's first championship, but being fired by Oilers owner Bud Adams after a slow start in 1961.

Early life
Rymkus was born in Royalton, Illinois, the son of a coal miner who also owned a small grocery store in the town. After his father was shot and killed outside the grocery store a few years later, Rymkus and his family moved to Chicago. With family finances tight, he took a number of odd jobs, including working as a laborer, delivering newspapers and groceries. One of the homes on Rymkus' grocery route was the residence of future Chicago mayor, Richard J. Daley.

Player
In high school, Rymkus attended Tilden Tech (now known as Tilden High School) and began to display his football talent as a powerful lineman. His success led to a scholarship to the University of Notre Dame, where he played under Frank Leahy from 1940-1942. During his junior year, he earned All-America honors, and after his final season in which he won team Most Valuable Player accolades, was drafted by the National Football League's Washington Redskins. He played one season in the nation's capital before entering the war effort for the next two years.

When World War II ended, Rymkus decided to cast his lot with the new Cleveland Browns of the fledgling All-America Football Conference. Under head coach Paul Brown, Cleveland won all four AAFC championships, then captured the 1950 NFL title, with Rymkus' sound fundamental skills helping lead the way up front. During the summer of 1948, Rymkus served as an umpire in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.

Coach
After the Browns dropped the 1951 title game to the Los Angeles Rams, Rymkus retired and accepted an assistant coaching position with Indiana University. In 1953, he headed north to work under former Rams head coach Bob Snyder with the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League. One year later, he returned to the NFL as an assistant with the Green Bay Packers, spending four seasons in Wisconsin as offensive line coach. While there, he worked with future Hall of Famers Forrest Gregg and Jim Ringo.

On January 9, 1958, Rymkus accepted an assistant coaching position with the Rams, the move coming just days after fellow Packer assistant Ray McLean was given the Packers' head coaching position. Rymkus worked under Sid Gillman for two seasons, and was now being looked at as a potential head coach. The new American Football League's Los Angeles Chargers considered him, with Rymkus' former coach, Leahy, serving as the team's general manager. However, the Chargers selected Gillman instead, and Rymkus soon accepted the head coaching position of the Oilers.

His rapport with players was such that after Houston dismantled the Denver Broncos in the team's first exhibition game on August 20, Rymkus was awarded the game ball. That chemistry would continue throughout the season, with Houston winning the first AFL championship on January 1, 1961 by defeating Gillman's Chargers. Rymkus was named AFL Coach of the Year, and to celebrate, ordered thousands of drinking glasses with his likeness on them and gave them to friends and acquaintances.

The celebratory mood continued into the next preseason, with team owner Bud Adams sending the team for two weeks of training camp in Hawaii. Upset by the distractions caused by the decision, Rymkus' criticisms became louder when the team got off to a slow start, which resulted in his dismissal on October 14. The Oilers soon regrouped under new head coach Wally Lemm to win their second consecutive title.

Rymkus found himself out of football for the first time in a quarter century, and accepted a regional public relations position with the Los Angeles-based Global Marine Exploration company on November 1. He did stay connected to the sport by serving as a Southwest Conference scout for the Chicago Bears.

On December 26, 1964, he returned to coaching and the Oilers when former Redskin teammate Hugh Taylor hired him as the team's offensive line coach. That tenure would only last one season, but Rymkus' popularity in Houston remained strong when over 250 people attended a testimonial for him on January 16, 1966. Three weeks later, he accepted a similar position with the Detroit Lions.

When Harry Gilmer was fired as Lions' head coach after the 1966 NFL season, Rymkus was once again out of work, but resurfaced as head coach and general manager of the Akron Vulcans of the Continental Football League. That position would only last one year, with Rymkus then taking a steep pay cut to serve as head coach of Many High School in Many, Louisiana. The job, in rural west-central Louisiana, paid him only $9,200 a year to coach football, teach three history classes and run the school's summer recreation program. Rymkus was drawn by the tough conditions the players endured, with many of his athletes missing practice to work on family farms. Predictably, the team failed to win a game that season, but Rymkus stayed connected to the professional level as a scout with the Kansas City Chiefs.

After football
In 1969, he was out of coaching, serving as a sales representative for a Chicago trucking company, but returned to the NFL in 1970 as an assistant coach for the Baltimore Colts under Don McCafferty. However, after just three regular season games, he was replaced by George Young and transferred to the team's scouting department. Rymkus did receive a Super Bowl ring that year when the Colts defeated the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl V.

Rymkus later went on to a number of jobs outside of football, including selling cars in Houston, where he spent his remaining years. He died of a massive stroke in a local hospice.