John Rauch John " Johnny " Rauch ( August 20 , 1927 – June 10 , 2008 ) was an American football player and coach . He was head coach of the Oakland Raiders in the team ' s loss to the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl II in 1968 . Early life . Rauch ' s football playing career almost ended before it began . At the age of 14 , he was diagnosed with a heart murmur and instructed to give up the sport . Ignoring the dire warnings , Rauch was a three - sport star at Yeadon High School , then put together an outstanding college football career . Earning the starting quarterback slot for the University of Georgia as a true freshman in 1945 , he led the Bulldogs to a 36 - 8 - 1 record . Included in these victories are four straight bowl game appearances , as well as an undefeated record in 1946 . On an individual level , he won first team All American accolades following his senior year , and left the school as college football ' s all - time passing leader with 4 , 044 yards . Professional Football playing career . Rauch was drafted by the Detroit Lions , as the number two pick in the 1949 NFL Draft , but then sent to the transplanted New York Bulldogs in exchange for the rights to Southern Methodist University ' s Doak Walker . During his first season with the Bulldogs in 1949 , Rauch saw action on both sides of the ball , throwing for 169 yards and one touchdown , while also intercepting two passes . The following year , he saw action in eight contests , throwing for 502 yards and six touchdowns , then split time with New York and the Philadelphia Eagles in 1951 , combining for 288 yards and one touchdown pass . In 1952 , rather than accept a trade to the Pittsburgh Steelers to become a player / coach , he accepted an offer from University of Florida Coach Bob Woodruff to join his staff in Gainesville . College coaching career . In 1952 , Rauch began his coaching career with the first of two seasons at the University of Florida . After spending the 1954 season at Tulane University , he returned to his alma mater , Georgia , the next year as an assistant for four seasons . In 1959 , he headed to West Point , NY as an Army assistant . Three years later , he went back to Tulane for the 1962 campaign . Professional football coaching career . In 1963 , Rauch moved to the Professional level to begin a three - year stint with the American Football League ' s Oakland Raiders . Working under Al Davis , Rauch was the heir apparent and was promoted to head coach on April 8 , 1966 , when Davis became commissioner of the AFL . After leading the Raiders to an 8 - 5 - 1 mark in his first year , Rauch ' s squad lost just once during the 1967 regular season and faced the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl II . For his efforts , Rauch was named the AFL Coach of the Year . In 1968 , the team again flourished during the regular season with a 12 - 2 mark , defeated the Kansas City Chiefs in a Western Division Playoff Game , but lost the AFL championship game to the New York Jets . During his term as head coach , Davis ' frequent interference with the day to day coaching role became a source of aggravation for Rauch . On January 16 , 1969 , Rauch dealt with the problem by resigning from his championship team to become head coach of the Buffalo Bills . The shift meant going from one of the sport ' s top teams to the team that finished with the worst record . However , with the first pick in the AFL - NFL Common Draft , the Bills selected Heisman Trophy - winning running back O . J . Simpson . Rauch then caused controversy by expecting Simpson to become more than the one - dimensional running back he was at the University of Southern California . He expected Simpson to become an all - around running back , necessary in Professional Football , by also blocking and receiving passes out of the backfield , as Rauch had coached successfully at Oakland . Simpson refused to do these added things and friction began . The media , unaware that Simpson often refused to take extra passing drills , viewing them as ' punishment ' , began a campaign that Rauch was using Simpson as a decoy , which did not explain the indecisiveness in Simpson ' s style . Having several aging and many very young players , Buffalo improved by only two games to finish with a 4 - 10 record in 1969 . Following a 3 - 10 - 1 record in 1970 , Rauch avoided being dismissed , and was seemingly prepared to handle the reins for the upcoming year . However , on July 20 , 1971 , he abruptly resigned following a heated discussion with team owner Ralph C . Wilson , Jr . The source of the argument stemmed from Rauch ' s comments about former Bills ' players Ron McDole and Paul Maguire . Wilson , without any consultation with Rauch , had traded McDole to the Washington Redskins . Maguire who had become a problem with excessive lack of decorum on the practice field , was not offered a contract for the 1971 season by Rauch . On Rauch ' s first television show of the 1971 season prior to opening training camp , when asked about McDole , he stated , in loyalty to Wilson , that they traded McDole " while they could get something in return " due to his age . When asked why he did not offer Maguire a contract , he commented that all Maguire cared about was " how to get out of work and when ' s the next party " . Training camp opened the next day and later in the week Wilson arrived at camp and indicated that he would issue a statement of support for the players ( in spite of the fact that Wilson himself had traded McDole ) . Rauch said " if you do that , you can have my resignation " . Wilson accepted . After briefly serving as a scout for the Packers , Rauch was hired on October 10 as quarterback coach of the Eagles . He served in that capacity until the entire staff was fired on December 18 , 1972 . Less than three weeks later , Rauch was hired as head coach of the Canadian Football League ' s Toronto Argonauts , leading the team to a playoff berth in his first year . After the team was sold to a new owner and a slow start to begin the 1974 season , Rauch was dismissed on September 4 , 1974 . Returning to the NFL the following year , Rauch served as backfield coach for the Atlanta Falcons , but then resigned on February 18 , 1976 , to become offensive coordinator of the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers . That tenure would prove to be short after Rauch had repeated conflicts with head coach John McKay , over McKay ' s demand to only utilize the I - formation that Rauch felt could not be successful in the NFL . After a successful 334 total yards game against the Dolphins with Rauch and quarterback , Steve Spurrier , calling the plays . McKay commented that there wasn ' t anything they did in the game that they couldn ' t have done out of the I - formation . McKay called the plays the next week out of the I with no success but complained about the offenses performance . Rauch had had enough with McKay and resigned . The same day he resigned from Tampa , Rauch returned to Atlanta to work under interim coach Pat Peppler , but the staff was not retained after the team won three of its final nine games . Desiring to live in the Tampa area , Rauch was intent on at least " semi - retirement " in 1977 . Later in the same year , Rauch became aware of problems with the football program at a local school , Admiral Farragut Academy in St . Petersburg , Florida . He contacted the school and offered to help find a coach for the then - struggling program . When his search proved fruitless , Rauch felt an obligation to the school , and accepted the position as head coach for one season , on September 10 , 1977 ; during that time , a successor was found . He also served as director of the short - lived Canadian - American Bowl , a postseason all - star game . Rauch also served as a part - time writer for the " St . Petersburg Independent " , a local newspaper that had him cover his old team , the Raiders , when they reached Super Bowl XV . Upon the arrival of the United States Football League , Rauch returned to professional football as the Tampa Bay Bandits ' director of operations . In 2003 , Rauch was honored for his stellar career in the college ranks when he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame . Death . Rauch died in his sleep , possibly due to a heart problem , on June 10 , 2008 at his home in Oldsmar , Florida .