ATLANTA (AP) — Dan Reeves, who won a Super Bowl as a player with the Dallas Cowboys but was best known for a long coaching career highlighted by four more appearances in the title game with the Denver Broncos and Atlanta Falcons, died Saturday. He was 77.
A statement released by his family through former Falcons media relations director Aaron Salkin said Reeves died of complications from dementia. The statement said he died “peacefully and surrounded by his loving family at his home in Atlanta.”
“His legacy will continue through his many friends, players and fans as well as the rest of the NFL community,” the family said.
Reeves was a versatile player who played a key role in the Cowboys becoming an NFL powerhouse in the 1960s under Tom Landry, but his own coaching career — stretching over three teams and 23 seasons — is where he truly left his mark on the league.
Just 37 when he took over as coach of the Broncos in 1981, he built a team around quarterback John Elway that made three Super Bowl appearances over his 12-year tenure.
But Denver never won a title under Reeves, getting blown out in all three of its trips to the title game.
After a bitter parting from the Broncos, Reeves moved to New York to coach the Giants in 1993.
He was fired after four seasons but quickly caught on in 1997 with the Falcons, a homecoming for the Georgia native who grew up in Americus.
In just his second season with a franchise that had experienced little success, Reeves guided a team known as the “Dirty Birds” to a 14-2 record in the regular season and their first trip to the Super Bowl.
Reeves again came up short of a championship, losing to Elway and the Broncos to leave him with a 0-4 mark as a Super Bowl coach.
Reeves engineered a trade that brought Michael Vick to the Falcons and remained as coach until the 2003 season, when he was fired after the team won just three of its first 13 games.
He ended his coaching career with a record of 190-165-2.
Reeves remained in Atlanta after his retirement, most notably serving as an adviser to Georgia State when it launched a football program that now plays in the Sun Belt Conference.
Atlanta Falcons head coach Dan Reeves (L) gives his autograph to Japanese fans after the training session for the NFL pre-season game in Tokyo, 05 August 2000. Falcons will play against Dallas Cowboys at the Tokyo Dome stadium 06 August. (ELECTRONIC IMAGE) AFP PHOTO/Yoshikazu TSUNO (Photo by YOSHIKAZU TSUNO / AFP) (Photo by YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP via Getty Images) 
MIAMI, UNITED STATES: Atlanta Falcon’s Coach Dan Reeves holds the Vince Lombardi Super Bowl trophy after addressing the media in a press conference 29 January in Miami, FL. Reeves, still recovering from open heart surgery, talked about his team’s preparation against the defending Super Bowl Champions’ Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXXIII 31 January. (ELECTRONIC IMAGE) AFP PHOTO/Stephen JAFFE (Photo credit should read STEPHEN JAFFE/AFP via Getty Images) 
ATLANTA, GA – JANUARY 21: Dan Reeves, the new head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, speaks at a press conference 21 January in Atlanta. Reeves, the winningest active coach in the NFL, was fired last month by the New York Giants. (Photo credit should read STEVEN R. SCHAEFER/AFP via Getty Images) 
Atlanta Falcons head coach Dan Reeves (L) talks to his defensive coordinator Rich Brooks (R) 25 January during their first practice for Super Bowl XXXIII at the University of Miami practice center in Coral Gables, Florida. The Falcons will take on the Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl on 31 January. (ELECTRONIC IMAGE) AFP PHOTO/Jeff HAYNES (Photo by JEFF HAYNES / AFP) (Photo by JEFF HAYNES/AFP via Getty Images)