Ed Ulinski Edward Franklin Ulinski ( – ) was a professional American football guard who played four seasons for the Cleveland Browns in the All - America Football Conference ( AAFC ) and went on to a career as an assistant coach for the Browns that lasted more than three decades . Ulinski grew up in Pennsylvania and attended Marshall University in West Virginia , where he starred as a blocker and end . He then served for four years in the U . S . Air Force during World War II , playing for military football teams in 1944 and 1945 . He signed with the Browns in 1946 and played as a guard as the team won four straight AAFC championships . He retired after the 1949 season to begin a coaching career , working first at Santa Clara University for three years before taking an assistant coaching job at Purdue University . Paul Brown , the head coach of the Browns , hired Ulinski in 1954 to work with the team ' s linemen . Ulinski changed to the Browns ' linebackers coach in 1963 after Brown was fired and Blanton Collier replaced him . He later served as an administrative coaching aide and the Browns ' film coordinator before retiring in 1984 . The Browns won three National Football League championships during Ulinski ' s coaching career , in 1954 , 1955 and 1964 . He was inducted into Marshall ' s athletics hall of fame in 1986 . Ulinski died in 2006 after a bout with Alzheimer ' s disease . Early life and college career . Ulinski was born in Pittsburgh and attended Ambridge Area High School in Ambridge , Pennsylvania . After graduating , he went to Marshall University in West Virginia , where he played as a blocking back and an end on the school ' s football team opposite Frank Gatski , later a teammate on the Cleveland Browns . Ulinski was named to an all - West Virginia team in 1940 , and was selected as a little All - America n in 1941 . He joined the U . S . Air Force in 1942 during World War II and played for the Second Air Force Super - Bombers football team as a blocking back in 1944 . He was shifted to guard in the middle of that season , where he played for the remainder of his career . Ulinski played for a Fourth Air Force football team in 1945 . Professional career . John Brickels , an assistant coach for the Cleveland Browns in the new All - America Football Conference ( AAFC ) , noticed Ulinski when he was playing at Marshall . Brickels had been a high school coach in Huntington , West Virginia , where Marshall is located , and saw him in action again when he played for the Super - Bombers . At Brickels ' urging , Ulinski signed with the Browns in 1946 . The Browns finished that season with a 12 – 2 record and went on to win the first AAFC championship . Ulinski was named a second - team All - Pro . Cleveland won the AAFC championship again in 1947 , when Ulinski began playing middle linebacker on defense in addition to his role on the offensive line . Paul Brown , the coach of the Browns , called him the best offensive guard in the AAFC , and said the team " discovered he is about as good a middle line backer as we have on the team " . Cleveland had a perfect season in 1948 , winning all of its games , and Ulinski again was named a second - team All - Pro . The Browns repeated as the league ' s champions for a fourth year in a row in 1949 , Ulinski ' s last season in professional football . Coaching career . College . Ulinski retired after the 1949 season and began a coaching career , accepting a job working under former Browns teammate Mike Scarry at Santa Clara University in California . Scarry had left a job at Cleveland ' s Western Reserve University to take the head coaching job at Santa Clara . In 1953 he was hired as an assistant line coach by Purdue University in Indiana . Professional . The following year , Brown hired Ulinski to replace Weeb Ewbank as the team ' s tackles coach after Ewbank resigned to become head coach of the Baltimore Colts . " We ' ve looked forward to the day when Ulinski would return to our organization as a coach , " Brown said after the signing , calling him a " fine student of football " and a player who could teach the game well . The Browns , who by the time Ulinski joined as a coach had moved to the National Football League ( NFL ) , won championships in both of Ulinski ' s first two years as an assistant under Brown . Paul Brown was fired 1963 , two years after Art Modell took ownership of the team , but Ulinski stayed on the staff . Under his successor , former assistant Blanton Collier , worked primarily as a linebacker s coach . The Browns won another championship while Ulinski was with the team in 1964 . Ulinski continued as the linebackers coach and worked as an administrative coaching aide until 1971 , when he was named the team ' s film coordinator . He held that position until he retired in 1984 , having spent more than 30 years with the Browns as a player and coach . During his time in Cleveland , Ulinski coached numerous offensive linemen and linebackers who were fixtures of the Browns ' successful teams of the 1950s and 1960s , including Gatski , Lou Groza , Dick Schafrath , Abe Gibron , Mike McCormack and Gene Hickerson . Gatski , Groza , McCormack and Hickerson were all later inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame . Later life and death . Ulinski was inducted into Marshall University ' s athletic hall of fame in 1986 and the Beaver County , Pennsylvania sports hall of fame in 1990 . He suffered from Alzheimer ' s disease in his later years and died in 2006 at a nursing home in Chardon , Ohio .