Rich Kotite

Richard Edward "Rich" Kotite (born October 13, 1942) is a former National Football League player and coach.

Playing career
Kotite was born in Brooklyn, New York. He was a tight end who played collegiately at Wagner College on Staten Island. Kotite was drafted in the 18th round of the 1965 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings. After playing for his hometown New York Giants in 1967, Kotite saw action for the Pittsburgh Steelers the next year before returning to the Giants for a four-year stint beginning in 1969.

Coaching career
Following the end of his playing career, Kotite spent much of the next two decades serving as an assistant coach in the NFL, including a lengthy stint as Offensive Coordinator of the New York Jets.

Philadelphia Eagles
Kotite was offensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles during the 1990 season. After head coach Buddy Ryan was fired, Kotite was elevated to replace him.

During his first two years, Kotite led the squad to 10 and 11-win seasons in 1991 and 1992 respectively. In his first game as coach, the Eagles lost Randall Cunningham for the season when he tore his anterior cruciate ligament. His 1991 defense, coached by Bud Carson, led the league in total defense, run defense, and pass defense. In 1992, the Eagles finished 8-0 at home and earned a wild card berth. In 1994, the Eagles began the year with a 7-2 mark; Kotite told the media that he was going to investigate his options following rumors that new team owner Jeffrey Lurie was not going to renew his contract. The timing proved disastrous, with the Eagles losing all seven of their remaining games. After the season, Kotite was fired.

New York Jets
After his dismissal by the Eagles, Kotite returned to the New York area, where he was hired as head coach of the New York Jets, who had just fired Pete Carroll after one season and a 6-10 record. Kotite led the Jets to four wins over two seasons, going 3-13 in 1995 and 1-15 in 1996.

In both of his seasons as head coach, the Jets had the worst record in the NFL. Two days prior to his last game as Jets coach in 1996, Kotite announced he was stepping down and has never returned to the NFL sidelines in any coaching capacity.

Post NFL
In his post-coaching career, Kotite has been seen in a promotional commercial for USA Network's coverage of the US Open Tennis championships, and in an AmeriTrade commercial that aired during the Super Bowl XXXIV pre-game show. The latter advertisement casts him as a father of a son who surprises his dad by saying that he wants to be a Broadway dancer.

Kotite has remained involved in the NFL, as a regular contributor for NFL Films programming on NFL Network, in particular NFL Top 10.