John Rauch, who led the Raiders to an appearance in Super Bowl Two, passed away yesterday at his home in suburban Tampa, Florida. He was 80. Rauch came to the Raiders as an assistant in 1963 while the team was a member of the American Football League. He assumed the head coaching position in 1966 when Al Davis took the job as league commissioner.
In his second season as head coach, the Raiders won the AFL title and eventually lost to the NFL champion Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl Two at the Orange Bowl in Miami. Rauch, who compiled a 33-8-and-1 record in three seasons with the Raiders, was replaced after the 1968 campaign by John Madden. Rauch went on to serve as head coach of the Buffalo Bills for two seasons before finishing his coaching career as an assistant with Philadelphia and Atlanta.