Walter Martin Corey (May 9, 1938 – October 23, 2022) was an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player and coach. He played as a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

for seven seasons in the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...

(AFL) before coaching in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) for 28 seasons. Corey played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...

, and then played for the Dallas Texans / Kansas City Chiefs of the AFL from 1960 to 1966. He was an AFL All-Star in 1963 and a member of the AFL champions in 1962 and 1966. Corey then served as

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

of the

Omaha Mustangs The Omaha Mustangs were a professional American football team based in Omaha, Nebraska. They began as an independent, semi-pro team in the early 1960s before joining the Professional Football League of America, a newly formed league based on remna ...

, a defensive coach at the collegiate level for the University of Miami and

Utah State University Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah's ...

, for the Chiefs,

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

, and

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

of the NFL, as well as the

Memphis Maniax The Memphis Maniax were an American football team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The team was part of the XFL begun by Vince McMahon of World Wrestling Entertainment and by NBC, a major television network in the United States. Home games were playe ...

of the

XFL XFL may refer to: Sports * XFL (2001), a defunct American football league that played its only season in 2001 * XFL (2020), a professional American football league Vehicles * Bell XFL Airabonita, a 1940 U.S. Navy experimental interceptor aircra ...

Early life

Corey, the youngest of 16 children, was born in

Latrobe, Pennsylvania Latrobe is a city in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, in the United States and part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The city population was 8,338 as of the 2010 census (9,265 in 1990). It is located near Pennsylvania's scenic Chestnut Rid ...

, on May 9, 1938. He attended Derry Township High School in nearby

Cooperstown Cooperstown is a village in and county seat of Otsego County, New York, United States. Most of the village lies within the town of Otsego, but some of the eastern part is in the town of Middlefield. Located at the foot of Otsego Lake in the C ...

. He then studied at the

, where he played linebacker for the

Miami Hurricanes The Miami Hurricanes (known informally as The U, UM, or The 'Canes) are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic A ...

. Undrafted in the

1960 NFL Draft The 1960 National Football League Draft in which NFL teams take turns selecting amateur college American football players and other first-time eligible players, was held at the Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia on November 30, 1959. Many players, in ...

, Corey signed as a rookie free agent with the

Dallas Texans Dallas Texans may refer to: American football *Dallas Texans (NFL), 1952 team in the National Football League *Dallas Texans (AFL), 1960–1962 team that is now the Kansas City Chiefs * Dallas Texans (arena), 1990–1993 Arena Football League team ...

of the

(AFL).

Playing career

Corey signed with the Dallas Texans (now known as the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

) as undrafted free agent. With the team, he was an

AFL All-Star The American Football League All-Star game was the annual game which featured each year's best performers in the American Football League (AFL). The game was first played in 1961 and the final AFL All-Star game occurred in 1969, prior to the leagu ...

for the 1963 season. In the 1966 season, the Chiefs appeared in

Super Bowl I The first AFL–NFL World Championship Game (known retroactively as Super BowlI and referred to in contemporaneous reports, including the game's radio broadcast, as the Super Bowl) was an American football game played on January 15, 1967, at the ...

. Corey announced his retirement after the 1966 season to begin a coaching career.

Coaching career

Corey was hired as the

with the

of the

Professional Football League of America The Professional Football League of America (PFLA) was an American football minor league that operated in the Midwest region of the United States from 1965 through 1967. With franchises based in the Midwest, the league played three seasons before ...

. Before the 1967 season, he was hired to the defensive coaching staff for

. In 1968, he represented Utah State as a defensive backs coach at the

North–South Shrine Game The North–South Shrine Game was an annual postseason college football all-star game played each December from 1948 to 1973 in Miami, and a final time in 1976 in Pontiac, Michigan. The game was sponsored by the fraternal group Shriners Interna ...

. Corey was hired to be the Miami Hurricanes' defensive coordinator in 1970 and to coach the offensive backfield in 1971. In 1971, the

hired Corey as a defensive coach. After the 1974 season, the

hired Corey as their linebacker and strength coach. After three seasons with Cleveland, Corey returned to the Chiefs as their linebacker coach for the 1978 season. After coaching Kansas City's defensive line for two years, he became their defensive backs coach. In 1983, new Chiefs head coach

John Mackovic John Mackovic (born October 1, 1943) is an American football coach. He is currently the head coach of the Italy national American football team, which was formed to compete in the EFAF European Championship. Previously, Mackovic served as the ...

named Corey his first hire for his coaching staff, assigning him to coach the defensive line. In 1986, Mackovic promoted Corey to defensive coordinator. Corey followed former Chiefs head coach

Marv Levy Marvin Daniel Levy (; born August 3, 1925) is an American former football coach and executive who was a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for seventeen seasons. He spent most of his head coaching career with the Buffalo Bills, lea ...

to the

in 1987. He coached there until the 1994 season, when the Bills finished a disappointing 7–9, and Corey was fired. Corey was Buffalo's defensive coordinator for Buffalo's four consecutive

AFC Championship The AFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the American Football Conference (AFC) and one of the two semi-final playoff games of the National Football League (NFL), the largest professional American football league in the world. ...

teams from 1990 to 1993. He was also the defensive line coach for the

under head coach

Mike Ditka Michael Keller Ditka (born Michael Dyczko; October 18, 1939) is an American former football player, coach, and television commentator. A member of both the College (1986) and the Pro (1988) Football Halls of Fame, he was UPI NFL Rookie of Year i ...

, from 1997 to 1999. He was the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach of the

of the

in 2001, its only season.

Personal life

Corey and his wife, Jane, had two children. Corey died on October 23, 2022, at age 84.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Corey, Walt 1938 births 2022 deaths American Football League All-Star players American Football League players American football linebackers Buffalo Bills coaches Dallas Texans (AFL) players Kansas City Chiefs players Kansas City Chiefs coaches New Orleans Saints coaches Miami Hurricanes football players Memphis Maniax coaches National Football League defensive coordinators People from Latrobe, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania Sportspeople from the Pittsburgh metropolitan area

Early life

Playing career

Coaching career

Personal life

See also

References