Former NFL coach, Miami Hurricanes linebacker Walt Corey passes away at 84

Former NFL defensive coordinator and Miami Hurricanes linebacker Walt Corey passed away Sunday, NBC’s Pro Football Talk reported. He was 84.

Corey was the defensive coordinator for the Buffalo Bills from 1987-94, helping lead the team to four straight AFC championships from 1990-93. Prior to that, he spent nine seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs in a variety of roles as a defensive coach.

The Chiefs, whom Corey also played for from 1960-66, released a statement Tuesday on his death.

“My family and I are saddened by the news of Walt Corey’s passing,” Chiefs Chairman and CEO Clark Hunt said. “An original Dallas Texan who joined the club in 1960, Walt was part of the formative years of the franchise. After his seven-year playing career, he went on to spend an additional 12 years coaching for the Chiefs. He remained invested in the Kansas City community as an Ambassador once he left the sideline and will be remembered for his determination and humility. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family during this difficult time.”

Corey went undrafted after graduating from Miami before signing with the Dallas Texans, who became the Chiefs in 1963. He earned Pro Bowl honors that same season and was a part of AFL championships in 1962 and 1966.

After his playing career was over, Corey returned to Miami in 1970 as the defensive coordinator, later taking over as the running backs coach in 1971. He then joined the Chiefs in 1972 as a linebackers coach, going on to spend the next 26 years as an NFL coach.

After the Bills, Corey went on to work under Mike Ditka as the New Orleans Saints defensive line coach from 1997-99. His final season as a coach came with the XFL’s Memphis Maniax in 2001.

“It was my great privilege to have first met – and then hired – Walt, at that time a former star player with the Kansas City Chiefs, when I was hired as coach of the Chiefs in 1978,” former Bills head coach Marv Levy said in a statement. “His work ethic, his knowledge of the game, his caring about his fellow staff members, about the players he was coaching, about the fans, and about the game we all loved were just some of Walt’s fine qualities.

“When I was hired as head coach of the Buffalo Bills, it was Walt Corey whom I hired to be the Defensive Coordinator of those Buffalo Bills teams that he helped propel to those four consecutive Super Bowl appearances in the early 1990’s. Walt Corey will be missed, and he will always be fondly remembered.”