Sporting News: 50 Greatest Coaches of all Time

[ThePlaymaker14]

Joe Torre shouldn't be on the list.. He pretty much just sleeps..

 

[UnoDallas]

Greenie said the first guy he would take out would be Schembechler and the first guy he would put in would be Larry Brown. I could see an argument for Jimmuh, but Switzer, no way.

Switzer 157–29–4 (College)

3 National Championships
(1974, 1975, 1985)
12 Conference Championships

22 years he lost only 29 games


Jimmey Johnson at OKSU an Maimi 81-34-3 in 10 years

 

[masomenos]

I didn't check, but is Jason Garrett on there?

 

[THUMPER]

The only saving grace for this list is that they got #1 right. The "Wizard of Westwood" is by far the greatest head coach of all-time!

Lombardi is overrated IMO and should be below Paul Brown, George Halas, & Tom Landry. He inherited most of his best players and as others have said, was not an innovator, just a master motivator. Not saying he wasn't a great coach, just that he wasn't the greatest HC in NFL history. That honor goes to Paul Brown IMO.

Vince only coached for 9 years in the NFL and built one team or set of players. Yes he had amazing success with that team, which is why he belongs in the top-10 but guys like Brown, Landry, Halas, & Shula built a number of teams over the years and had success with them. They also coached for a long time.

Brown, Halas, & Landry were innovators who changed the way the game was played and had a lasting effect on football. Lombardi left no legacy of any kind. His plays were simplistic and efficient but nothing every other team wasn't already doing, they just did them better.

Joe Gibbs over Landry? No way!

Back to the list, I don't think baseball managers compare in any way with football or basketball coaches. You look at what a football coach has to do as opposed to what a baseball manager does and it is a joke how vast the difference is!

There are no plays to draw up, just pick your players, set the batting order and then sit around in your uniform (how lame is that!) and scratch yourself while spitting tobacco juice on the ground.

I could into it more but George Carlin did it so much better than I ever could. If you don't know what I'm talking about, just Google George Carlin football and listen to how he compared football with baseball. It is hilarious and true!

 

[RoadRunner]

Apparently, longevity makes you a "better" coach than winning does.

And I agree with Zaxor. Being an innovator apparently wasn't even a consideration.

Yep. No love for Jimmy Johnson, the first coach to win the NCAA championship and the Super Bowl. He should be on that list even with a short career because there is no denying the guy was the best coach in the world for a few years.

 

[peplaw06]

Switzer 157–29–4 (College)

3 National Championships
(1974, 1975, 1985)
12 Conference Championships

22 years he lost only 29 games


Jimmey Johnson at OKSU an Maimi 81-34-3 in 10 years

And were it not for Jimmy, Switzer would have never won a Super Bowl. Jimmy basically won three of those and a National Championship.

You're not really arguing Switzer was a better coach than Jimmy are you?

 

[MC KAos]

Sweet.......Pop made the list, though he should not be behind Cox, IMO. Pop has led the Spurs to the best winning % of all 4 major sports, as well as 4 Championships, over the last 11 years.

Cox, while leading to Braves to many successful years, had a bunch of postseason chokefests....and only won 1 WS. He does belong on the list, but not ahead of Pop.

Flip those 2 and I am happy with the list.

Oh and one more thing, Landry should be ahead of Gibbs. Yes Gibbs has 1 more trophy, but Landry is by far the superior coach.

pop should have been higher than chuck daly, and a lot closer to pat riley, but not above him.

way too many NFL coaches ahead of landry IMO

 

[rangers71]

Phil Jackson is way too high having 4 of the best nba players of all time.

 

[SkinsandTerps]

My biggest problem with this list is that Morgan Wootten is not on it.

The winningest coach in basketball, excluded...

 

[SkinsandTerps]

How many did Red have ? 9 or 10 ?

And personally, I don't see Pippen as a top 50 player in the NBA.

 

[Chief]

Greenie said the first guy he would take out would be Schembechler and the first guy he would put in would be Larry Brown.

Yeah, I posted yesterday about Larry Brown. Him not even making the list makes the list a joke.

What he did at UCLA and Kansas was outstanding, and in the NBA, every team he coached got dramatically better. He got the very best out of his teams. I think he's better than Phil Jackson, but just a shade under Auerbach.

 

[Biggems]

pop should have been higher than chuck daly, and a lot closer to pat riley, but not above him.

way too many NFL coaches ahead of landry IMO

Daly gets the nod cause of his length of service, his record, 2 NBA Championships, and his Olympic accomplishments, although I am sure a monkey could have coached that team to a gold medal.

I have no issues with Daly being ahead of Pop

 

[Teague31]

Pinko commie rag

 

[UnoDallas]

And were it not for Jimmy, Switzer would have never won a Super Bowl. Jimmy basically won three of those and a National Championship.

You're not really arguing Switzer was a better coach than Jimmy are you?

yep in College he was

Switzer in 15 year Switzer 157–29–4 (College)

3 National Championships
(1974, 1975, 1985)
12 Conference Championships

Jimmy Jnhnson

at OKSU an Maimi 81-34-3 in 10 years

the reason Jimmy drafted so well was that he was just out of college - new the players

an if Jimmy was so great why didn't the Dolphins win a SB I mean he had Marino

8-8
9-7
10-6
9-7 to get schooled by Jasksonville 62 - 7
Jacksonville's 62 points and 55-point margin are the second most ever in NFL playoff history,

 

[THUMPER]

9-7 to get schooled by Jasksonville 62 - 7
Jacksonville's 62 points and 55-point margin are the second most ever in NFL playoff history,

Well now don't leave out the #1 beatdown of all-time!

1940 NFL Championship game Chicago Bears 73 - Washington Commanders 0

Yes that's right, the Commanders lost the NFL title game 73-0. The worst beatdown in NFL history!

The Bears scored 11 TDs: 7 rushing, 1 on a pass, & 3 on INT returns. They missed 4 XPs. The refs requested that they not kick any more XPs because they were running out of footballs (the fans could keep them back in those days, no net to stop them from going into the stands) so they passed for the last 2 XP tries. They converted one but missed the other one. They were only worth 1-point back then no matter how you did it.

The Commanders threw 8 INTs and gave up 519 total yards to the Bears offense, including 381 yards on the ground!

 

[UnoDallas]

Well now don't leave out the #1 beatdown of all-time!

1940 NFL Championship game Chicago Bears 73 - Washington Commanders 0

Yes that's right, the Commanders lost the NFL title game 73-0. The worst beatdown in NFL history!

The Bears scored 11 TDs: 7 rushing, 1 on a pass, & 3 on INT returns. They missed 4 XPs. The refs requested that they not kick any more XPs because they were running out of footballs (the fans could keep them back in those days, no net to stop them from going into the stands) so they passed for the last 2 XP tries. They converted one but missed the other one. They were only worth 1-point back then no matter how you did it.

The Commanders threw 8 INTs and gave up 519 total yards to the Bears offense, including 381 yards on the ground!

couldn't happen to a better team

Dang to bad George Allen was not coaching then

I hated him for hating on Tom

 

[Birdlives]

Vince Lombardi won 5 Championships in 10 years. No one else in the history of the NFL has ever done that. The toughest sport, the hardest to maintain consistency, and 40 years ago he creates an unbreakable record. Innovate all you want. If you dont have titles and trophies, you've contributed, nothing more.

 

[peplaw06]

yep in College he was

I'm sure glad you qualified that. Because otherwise, I would have just lol'd

 

[alancdc]

My first impulse was to slightly slam the list, but acknowledging that Tom Landry is one of the top twenty coaches of all-time is a high honor. However, it's also hard to overlook some of the slotting of the list.

Don Shula over Red Auerbach? Please.

Bo Schembechler is way too high.

There are 31 slots separating Pat Summit and Geno Auriemma. You've got to be kidding.

No way Shula should be ahead of Landry.

 

[RoadRunner]

No way Shula should be ahead of Landry.

Especially since Landry beat Shula head to head in their only championship meeting. It was also the harshest defensive domination of any team in any SB. No TD allowed still stands to this day.

Another bit of trivia about that game; The Dolphins did actually lose one game in the calendar year of 1972, and it was SB 6 to the Cowboys.