ATLANTA — Dan Reeves’ talents off the field were recognized early on by Tom Landry.

Reeves was still suiting up for the Dallas Cowboys when Landry made him a player-coach.

At 37, Reeves landed his first head coaching job, pulled off a trade to acquire John Elway, and built the Denver Broncos into a powerhouse that reached the Super Bowl three times in a four-year span.

At the final stop of nearly four uninterrupted decades in the NFL, Reeves guided the Atlanta Falcons to their first Super Bowl.

The only blemish on his record: four blowout losses in the big game.

Reeves, who did win a ring as a player with the Cowboys but will be remembered mostly for a long, largely successful coaching career marred by those four defeats, died Saturday of complications from dementia. He was 77.