1977 Kansas City Chiefs season


The 1977 Kansas City Chiefs season was the franchise's 8th season in the National Football League, the 15th as the Kansas City Chiefs, and the 18th overall. This season was the worst in franchise history until the 2008 season, with the Chiefs winning only two of fourteen games. After an 0–5 start, Head coach Paul Wiggin was fired following a 44–7 loss to Cleveland in week seven. Tom Bettis took over as interim head coach for the rest of the season. The team endured a six-game losing streak to conclude the season at 2–12.

Off-season

1977 NFL Draft

RoundSelectionOverallPlayerCollege
11010Gary GreenBaylor
2937Tony ReedUniversity of Colorado
31167Thomas HowardTexas Tech
4892Mark BaileyLong Beach State
41195Darius HeltonNorth Carolina Central
420104Eric HarrisMemphis State
611150Rick BurlesonUniversity of Texas
628167Andre HerreraSouthern Illinois
710177Chris GolubKansas
89204Ron OlsonoskiSt. Thomas
820215Waddell SmithKansas
93226Derrick GlantonBishop
911234Dave GreenNew Mexico
1010261Mark VitaliPurdue
119288Maurice MitchellNorthern Michigan
1211318Ray BurksUCLA

Roster

Regular season

An 0–5 start doomed the squad with a 44–7 loss at Cleveland effectively sealing Wiggin's fate. Despite the club's record Wiggin was still a popular figure in Kansas City, but was nonetheless relieved of his duties on Halloween, marking the only in-season coaching switch in team history. Wiggin concluded his tenure with an 11–24 record.
Defensive backs coach Tom Bettis was named interim coach and claimed a 20–10 victory vs. Green Bay in the franchise's initial contest under his direction, but it was the only victory of his brief head coaching tenure. The team endured a six-game losing streak to conclude the season at 2–12.
Bettis and the remainder of the coaching staff assembled by Wiggin were released on December 19, one day after a 21–20 loss at Oakland in the regular season finale. Marv Levy, the former head coach of the CFL's Montreal Alouettes, was named the fourth head coach in franchise history on December 20.
The heart and soul of the Chiefs once-vaunted defense departed when roommates Willie Lanier and Jim Lynch, who both joined the club together as second-round draft picks in 1967, retired following the ‘77 campaign. Baltimore later acquired Lanier's rights in a trade, but failed to lure him out of retirement.
By managing to win only twice in the 1977 season, the team was given the second pick in the 1978 NFL Draft.

Schedule

Standings