Hank Stram, known as one of the most imaginative coaches in pro football history and the dapper figure who paced the sideline during many of the Kansas City Chiefs' glory years, died yesterday at a hospital in New Orleans.

He was 82.

Mr. Stram's 17-season Hall of Fame coaching career was highlighted by the Chiefs' two Super Bowl appearances — a 35-10 loss to Green Bay in Super Bowl I and a 23-7 victory over Minnesota in Super Bowl IV.

"Hank was the most important coach in the history of the American Football League," said Chiefs founder-owner Lamar Hunt, who hired Mr. Stram as the team's original coach when it began play as the Dallas Texans of the AFL in 1960 before moving to Kansas City in time for the 1963 season.

Mr. Stram had been in declining health for several years and had been battling diabetes.

He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in August 2003.

"You talk about a blessing," one of his sons, Stu Stram, said of the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction. "It validated his entire life.

"Not that he needed the Hall of Fame to do that, but it was a validation of something he was so passionate about all his life, and he was very blessed to be there and receive the honor like that."

Mr. Stram had to be pushed onto the stage in a wheelchair and his induction speech was videotaped.

In an interview that year, Mr. Stram said he would accept another coaching job in a minute.

Mr. Stram, who lived in Covington, La., is survived by his wife, Phyllis; six children, Henry, Dale, Stu, Julia, Gary and Mary Nell; and a sister, Dolly.

His sons said a private memorial service was being planned for later this week.

Mr. Stram, known affectionately by his players as "The Mentor," served as the Texans/Chiefs coach from 1960 through 1974 and won more games than any coach in franchise history.

Mr. Stram, who wore his signature red vest while clutching a rolled-up game plan on the sideline, had a 124-76-10 regular-season record with the franchise — the second-best mark in pro football during that span — plus a 5-3 mark in the playoffs.

Mr. Stram was named AFL or AFC coach of the year in 1962, 1966, 1968 and 1970. He served as the New Orleans Saints' coach during 1976 and '77 and his record was 7-21.

During the AFL's 10-season history, Mr. Stram's Texans/Chiefs won more games than any other league team and he won more championships than any other coach (1962, 1966 and 1969). The Chiefs enjoyed nine straight winning seasons in Kansas City from 1965 through 1973.

Mr. Stram might be best known for wearing a wireless microphone during Super Bowl IV and barking instructions to his team and chiding referees as the underdog Chiefs shocked the Vikings in the last game before the merger between the American and National Football Leagues.

"The record shows he was the finest coach in the history of the American Football League," said Hunt, a founder of the league in 1960. "He was probably the most memorable coach because of things like the highlight film of the 1969 Super Bowl game, and he was innovative.

"His mind was constantly in motion."

Among his innovations was an offense featuring a moving pocket as a way to keep mammoth defensive linemen from reaching quarterback Len Dawson, and a Triple Stack defense — putting two tackles over the center — that seemed to confuse Minnesota in the Super Bowl.

"He knew how to win," Dawson said. "A lot of people thought we always had the best talent, but that wasn't always the case. He knew how to take advantage of our strengths and the opponents' weaknesses."

Dawson also said, "He was responsible for doing a lot of the things in the '60s that teams are still using now.

"His whole life was football. That's what he was born for, I think. He had a passion for it, not just a liking. He was really sincere when he talked about the team being a family. Everybody really loved him."

Willie Lanier, a Hall of Fame linebacker who played for the Chiefs under Mr. Stram, said, "All of us had a great joy in being able to experience the sport at the level we did because of his creative mind and the kind of personality that he put around you.

"That allowed everyone to perform at levels higher than they would have without him."

Mr. Stram was a shrewd evaluator of talent. Five of his players — Dawson, Lanier, linebacker Bobby Bell, defensive lineman Buck Buchanan and kicker Jan Stenerud — were voted into the Hall of Fame.

"I always felt if you were going to be successful, make sure you get good people," Mr. Stram said upon his election to the Hall of Fame. "You win with great players. Coaches don't win games. Players win games."

Hunt hired Mr. Stram, then a college assistant coach at Miami, after Oklahoma's Bud Wilkinson and Tom Landry, then an assistant with the New York Giants, turned down the Chiefs.

Mr. Stram was born Jan. 2, 1923, in Chicago and grew up in Gary, Ind., where his Polish-born father was a tailor and professional wrestler named Henry Wilszek, who performed for the Barnum & Bailey Circus. The circus changed his surname to Stram, though no one in the family knew why that name was selected.

Though his parents discouraged him from playing football, Mr. Stram became a standout athlete in football, baseball, basketball and track at Lew Wallace High School in Gary.

Mr. Stram enrolled at Purdue University on a football scholarship in 1941 and enlisted in the Army reserve in 1943. He remained in the service for three years, returning to Purdue in 1946 and earning his degree in 1948.

Mr. Stram worked briefly as an analyst for CBS Sports' NFL telecasts before moving into the radio booth calling games on Monday night for 16 seasons alongside legendary play-by-play man Jack Buck.