NFL Six Pack: The Greatest Head Coaches of All-time
Throughout the annals of NFL history, there have been an almost immeasurable number of head coaches that have been so masterful at their chosen profession that compiling a list of the greatest NFL coaches ever – and then ranking them in order – was similar to having a nagging wisdom tooth pulled – without any anesthesia.
Having said that, no matter how tough the assignment is, I usually manage to get the task at hand accomplished – especially since my two children, Tia and Emmanuel, who are nine and three-years-old respectively, routinely eat like two full-fledged adults who are coming off an extreme six-week diet.
Family diet aside, here is my personal six-pack of the NFL’s greatest head coaches of all-time.
George Halas
After reading a column I wrote on the NBA’s greatest postseason performers of all-time, a fellow employee who didn’t agree with my selection of Bill Russell as the number pick on my list, asked, “How far back did you have to go to come up with that one?”
Although I didn’t have to go back that far to make Russell my selection, I have to admit that I did have to go back further to come up with this selection. However, as with my selection of Russell, I am firmly secure with my selection of Halas as the greatest head coach in NFL history.
Halas, who was associated with the Chicago Bears and the National Football League from the time of their inception in 1920 until his death in 1983, may be the most beloved man in the annals of NFL history.
During his legendary career, Halas was an owner, manager, player, and promoter. It was, however, as a coach that he excelled and was best known. Although Halas coached his Bears for an unbelievable 40 seasons and amazingly, stepped away from the coaching ranks three times – 1930-1932, 1942-1945 (to serve in the military), and 1956-1957.
Each time a rejuvenated Halas returned to the sidelines to coach and won an NFL championship. Twice, in 1934 and 1942, Halas’ teams had undefeated regular-season records. His 318 regular-season wins and 324 total victories were long-standing NFL records until broken by Don Shula in 1993 and his Chicago Bears teams won six NFL titles. Halas’ Bears also won three other divisional titles and finished second another 15 times.
As a head coach, Halas was the first coach to hold daily practice sessions, utilize films of opponents’ games for study and to have his team’s games broadcast on radio.
Halas was also an “old school” teacher who didn’t tolerate disobedience and insubordination. Halas also perfected the T-formation and used its destructive force to propel the Bears to their stunning 73-0 NFL title win over Washington in the 1940 NFL Championship That game literally sent every other team in the league scurrying to copy the Halas system.
I don’t care how far back I had to go to make this selection. It’s a no-brainer that Halas is the greatest head coach in NFL history.
Paul Brown
Brown is another selection I had to “Go far back to come up with.” However, I am fairly certain that every current NFL coach would select Brown to be on their “top five” list of greatest coaches of all-time. Brown’s contributions were just that important.
Brown, perhaps more than any other person, is responsible for making NFL coaching the exact science that it is today. When Brown organized the Cleveland Browns in the new All-America Football Conference in 1946, he started doing things no other pro coach had tried at that point.
When Brown was given his first pro assignment with the new team that was located in Cleveland, he immediately, he hired a full-time staff on a year-round basis and instituted a system for scouting college players on a level never before imagined by other professional teams.
He was also the first coach to use intelligence tests as a hint to a player’s learning potential, use notebooks and classroom techniques extensively and set up complete film clip statistical studies. Brown also initiated the practice of grading his own players based on film study. Brown, always a firm disciplinarian and was the first coach ever to keep his players together at a hotel the night before both, home – and away – games.
From a strategic standpoint, Brown started the practice of calling plays from the sideline by utilizing alternating guards as messengers. He also developed detailed pass patterns for offense and then, incredibly, devoted his efforts to perfecting the kind of a defense that could counteract a pattern passing attack.
Brown built a pro football dynasty in Cleveland, posting a 167-53-8 record, four AAFC titles, three NFL crowns and only one losing season in 17 years. In the four seasons the Browns operated in the AAFC, they lost just four games. When the Browns joined the NFL in 1950, they continued their winning ways playing in the next six championship games and winning the title in 1950, 1954, and 1955. I know it seems like a long time ago, but, were it not for Paul Brown’s contributions to the game, who knows how advanced pro football would be right now. Brown is undeniably one of pro football’s greatest coaches of all-time.
Vince Lombardi
When I first began thinking of the names that would go on this list, I immediately thought of Lombardi, whose name is synonymous with football coaching excellence. Most people remember Lombardi as the mastermind behind several powerful Green Bay Packers teams of the 1960s, however, the season before Lombardi arrived, the Packers were an atrocious 1-10-1.
Lombardi insisted on a five-year contract when the Packers approached him about filling their head coaching vacancy and set his plan in motion to bring Green Bay a winner at his very first team meeting when he told his players, “I have never been on a losing team, gentlemen, and I do not intend to start now!” The Packers immediately improved from 1-10-1 in 1958 to 7-5 in 1959.
The next eight years, the Packers were the best team in professional football, winning six divisional and five NFL championships and achieving victories in Super Bowls I and II.
Although Lombardi would succumb to cancer only a decade later, after coaching the Washington Redskins for one season, his legacy as one of the greatest head coaches in NFL history had been firmly set – and nearly unmatched.
Bill Walsh
Although Walsh was 47-years-old in 1979 when got his first job as the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, it didn’t take the creator of the “West Coast Offense” long to show the world that he was a legend in the making.
The Niners had won just 31 of their last 86 games and were 2-14 in 1978 and were looking for someone just to get the franchise back to respectability. What they found was a genius that, not only would lead them to their first Super Bowl title in just three seasons, but would spawn a legion of head coaches that would follow in footsteps decades later.
In his 10 seasons as head coach of the 49ers, Walsh compiled an impressive 102-63-1 record that included an amazing 10 wins in 14 postseason games.
The 49ers also won six NFC Western Division championships and NFC titles in 1981, 1984, and 1988. Those NFC titles were followed with victories in Super Bowls XVI, XIX, and XXIII.
In seven of Walsh’s last eight seasons, the 49ers won 10 or more games and appeared in the NFC playoffs every season. Walsh was named the NFL Coach of the Year in 1981 and NFC Coach of the Year in 1984.
Records aside, Walsh has firmly established his legacy as one of the NFL’s greatest head coaches of all-time and possibly the greatest offensive minds the game has ever seen in any era. It is certainly a testament to his greatness that, so many current coaches throughout the league are disciples of Walsh’s now legendary “West Coast Offense.”
Don Shula
I know Don Shula’s record as the head coach of the Baltimore Colts from 1963 to 1969 and the Miami Dolphins from 1970 to 1995 is unmatched in NFL history and that in 1995, he retired following his 33rd season as the winningest NFL head coach ever with a career mark of 347-173-6 (.665). I also know that, of all the NFL coaches to have walked the sidelines for their respective teams throughout the annals of NFL history, that only Shula and the immortal George Halas attained 300 victories. However, numbers would never fully tell the story of Shula – one of the classiest individuals to ever work in the NFL.
Under Shula, the Colts enjoyed seven consecutive winning seasons and in 26 years with the Dolphins, Miami experienced only two losing seasons. Shula’s teams reached the playoffs 20 times in 33 years and his teams won at least 10 games 21 times. Shula also holds the NFL record for having coached in six Super Bowls although his teams won only twice. In Super Bowl VII, the 1972 Dolphins completed their historic 17-0-0 campaign – the only perfect season in NFL history – and defeated the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl VIII the following season to culminate a two-season span when the Dolphins won 32 of their 34 games. When I initially sat down to pen this column, I was sure Shula would be ranked much higher and being a lifelong Dolphin fan, I’m surprised my heart didn’t sway my judgment, which, can certainly happen to anyone, whether a sports columnist or not. One thing I am certain of though is that, whether ranked fifth on my list or not, Shula is undoubtedly one of the greatest NFL head coaches of all-time.
Chuck Noll
I couldn’t leave Noll off of this list no matter how hard I tried. As the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers for 23 seasons from 1969 until 1991, Noll led the Steelers from a miserable 1-13 season in his first season to the highest level ever attained by an National Football League team.
Noll led the Steelers to four Super Bowl championships in a six-year period starting with a 16-6 win over Minnesota in Super Bowl IX and culminating with a 31-19 win over the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl XIV. Pittsburgh also defeated Dallas twice in classic struggles, 21-17 in Super Bowl X and 35-31 in Super Bowl XIII.
I also believe that Noll, who took over a Pittsburgh team that had never won a championship of any kind in almost 40 years of National Football League play, is one of the game’s best evaluators of talent. Through several shrewd drafts Noll helped team owner Art Rooney and the Steelers shed their “lovable losers” image by quickly establishing a building program with an emphasis on the annual college draft.
The program turned out to pay bigger dividends than either Noll or Rooney ever expected. Altogether, Noll’s team won nine AFC Central Division championships and they had winning records in 15 of his last 20 seasons with the Steelers. He retired with an impressive 209-156-1 record in all games, including a 16-8-0 postseason record.
Simple and plain, this list would not have been complete without Chuck Noll – one of the greatest head coaches in NFL history.
