Michael Anthony Munchak (born March 5, 1960) is an American former professional football player and coach. After playing college football for the Penn State Nittany Lions, Munchak played as a guard for the Houston Oilers of the National Football League (NFL), from 1982 until 1993 and was a nine-time selection to the Pro Bowl. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2001.
 Munchak in 2019 | |||||||||
| No. 63 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Guard | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | March 5, 1960 Scranton, Pennsylvania, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 263 lb (119 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Scranton | ||||||||
| College: | Penn State (1978–1981) | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1982 / round: 1 / pick: 8 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| As a player: | |||||||||
| As a coach: | |||||||||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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| Head coaching record | |||||||||
| Career: | 22–26 (.458) | ||||||||
| Record at Pro Football Reference | |||||||||
After his retirement, Munchak continued his association with the Houston franchise by becoming an assistant coach. He joined the staff in 1994 as an offensive assistant and quality control coach and stayed with the franchise after it moved to Tennessee and became known as the Tennessee Titans, eventually becoming its offensive line coach in 1997 and serving in that position for 14 years.
Munchak became the Titans head coach in 2011 but was fired after the 2013 season, ending his 31-year association with the franchise. Munchak then served as offensive line coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers for five years before becoming the offensive line coach for the Denver Broncos until 2021.
College career
editMunchak was an offensive lineman for Penn State from 1978 to 1981. During this time, he was a starter for the 1979 and 1981 seasons; however, Munchak missed the 1980 season due to a knee injury. During his senior year, Munchak was named a second-team All-American.[1]
Professional playing career
editDuring the 1982 NFL draft, Munchak was chosen as the Houston Oilers' first round draft pick (8th overall), making him the first offensive lineman drafted that year. In his rookie season, Munchak quickly earned a starting position at the left guard position. He remained in that position for 12 seasons. During that time, Munchak garnered nine Pro Bowl nominations, twice first-team All-Pro, seven All-AFC, and six second-team All-Pro selections. He was also selected for the 1980s All-Decade Team. Munchak's 12-year tenure tied for the second most seasons played with the Houston Oilers.[2]
Coaching career
editHouston / Tennessee Oilers / Titans
editIn 1994, only a year after retiring as a player, Munchak joined the Houston Oilers staff as an offensive assistant/quality control coach. In 1997 Munchak was named offensive line coach of the newly relocated Tennessee Oilers, a position he held for the next fourteen seasons. Following Jeff Fisher's departure as head coach, Munchak was named head coach of the Titans on February 7, 2011. The 2011 season marked his 30th season with the organization. The 2013 season, Munchak's third as head coach, yielded a record of 7–9. That offseason, franchise CEO Tommy Smith and general manager Ruston Webster requested Munchak to replace at least six assistant coaches. Munchak disagreed with some of these requests and refused to fully enact those changes in his staff.[3] Munchak was consequently relieved of his position on January 4, 2014.[4]
Pittsburgh Steelers
editThe 2014 season marked the first season since 1982 that Munchak had no involvement (as a player or coach) with the Oilers/Titans franchise. He eventually became the offensive line coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers. In a 2015 NFL playoff game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Munchak yanked Bengals player Reggie Nelson's hair, drawing a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Munchak was subsequently issued a $10,000 fine by the NFL for the incident that was later rescinded after it was determined that the incident was inadvertent.[5]
Denver Broncos
editAfter being a finalist for the Denver Broncos' head coach position, the team hired Munchak to be their offensive line coach on January 14, 2019.[6] Munchak missed the team's Week 8 game in 2020 against the Los Angeles Chargers due to COVID-19 protocols.[7][8] On February 2, 2022, it was announced that the Broncos would be parting ways with Munchak.[9]
Head coaching record
edit| Team | Year | Regular season | Post season | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Ties | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| TEN | 2011 | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 2nd in AFC South | – | – | – | – |
| TEN | 2012 | 6 | 10 | 0 | .375 | 3rd in AFC South | – | – | – | – |
| TEN | 2013 | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 2nd in AFC South | – | – | – | – |
| TEN Total | 22 | 26 | 0 | .458 | – | – | – | – | ||
| Total | 22 | 26 | 0 | .458 | – | – | – | – | ||
Honors
editMunchak was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2001, along with Nick Buoniconti, Marv Levy, Jackie Slater, Lynn Swann, Ron Yary, and Jack Youngblood.[10]
In June 2003, Munchak was inducted into the National Polish American Sports Hall of Fame.[11]
The street in front of Scranton High School is named for Munchak.
The United Way of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania has a charity golf tournament named after Munchak. Each year, the tournament is held the last week of June at The Country Club of Scranton in Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania.
Personal life
editMunchak and his wife, Marci, have two daughters: Alex and Julie.
References
edit- ^ Black Shoe Diaries Retrieved on 11-Feb-2011
- ^ "Hall of Famers » MIKE MUNCHAK". Profootballhof.com. Retrieved February 11, 2011. Named 16th head coach at Penn State.
- ^ "Mike Munchak: Firing assistants wasn't right move". NFL.com.
- ^ Kuharsky, Paul (January 4, 2014). "Titans fire coach Mike Munchak". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 4, 2014.
- ^ Fowler, Jeremy (March 14, 2016). "Steelers' Munchak says NFL rescinds $10K fine". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 7, 2024.
- ^ DiLalla, Aric (January 14, 2019). "Broncos agree to terms with Mike Munchak as offensive line coach". denverbroncos.com. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
- ^ Alper, Josh (October 28, 2020). "Mike Munchak away from Broncos due to COVID-19 protocols". NBCSports.com. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
- ^ Newman, Kyle (November 10, 2020). "Broncos offensive line looks to improve in second half of 2020 despite injuries, COVID issues: "There are no excuses."". DenverPost.com. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
- ^ Robinson, Sam (November 13, 2023). "O-line coach Mike Munchak, Broncos likely to part ways". Yardbarker. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
- ^ "Hall of Famers by Year of Enshrinement". Profootballhof.com. Retrieved February 11, 2011.
- ^ "Mike Munchak – NPASHF". Archived from the original on October 21, 2013.
External links
edit- Pittsburgh Steelers bio Archived July 23, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
- Tennessee Titans bio
- Mike Munchak at the Pro Football Hall of Fame
Media related to Mike Munchak at Wikimedia Commons