The National Football League has seen great coaches in its more than 90-year history. The league was formed in 1920, and the coach of one of its original franchises, George Halas of Decatur Staleys, purchased the team in 1921, relocated it to Chicago, and renamed it Chicago Bears in 1922. The team won the league championship. in 1921, and they were easily the dominant team during the league’s early years. For the next 40 years, Halas was the guiding force for the team, leading them to six championships, the last in 1963. His all-time record, 324-151-31, ranks second in most wins.
The most winning coach of all time is Don Shula (347-173-6), who won two championships with the Miami Dolphins, and his 1972 team remains the only NFL team to complete a full season with a record. unbeaten. Shula also holds the record for the most Super Bowl appearances by a coach with six. The league’s most-winning coach of all time by percentage (.740) is the legendary Vince Lombardi, after whom the trophy awarded to the Super Bowl-winning team is named. Lombardi led the Green Bay Packers to the first two Super Bowl titles and is considered one of the greatest motivators in NFL history. Chuck Noll of the Pittsburgh Steelers won four Super Bowl titles, the most of any coach. Noll’s prowess was on the defensive side of the ball, and he is credited with developing the famous “Steel Curtain” defense of the late 1970s. Three coaches, Bill Belichick, Joe Gibbs and Bill Walsh, have each one three Super Bowl titles. Belichick is still active (New England) and is generally considered the best coach in the league today. Gibbs led the Washington Redskins to three Super Bowl titles under three different quarterbacks. Walsh, the genius behind the powerful West Coast offense, was considered perhaps the most innovative offensive coach of all time.
There are currently 22 coaches who have been inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame, including legendary figures such as George Allen, Paul Brown, Al Davis, Bud Grant, Tom Landry, John Madden and Hank Stram. These coaches have a combined total of eight Super Bowl appearances between them, with four championships.
The retired coaches likely to soon be inducted into the Hall of Fame are such illustrious names as Tony Dungy, Bill Cowher and Dick Vermeil, each of whom led their teams to at least one Super Bowl championship.
Among the current crop of NFL coaches, several have shown enormous potential to one day be included in the conversation of the “best” coaches of all time. In addition to Belichick, they include Mike Tomlin of Pittsburgh, Lovie Smith of Chicago, Andy Reid of Philadelphia and Tom Coughlin of the New York Giants. Tomlin became the most outstanding head coach to win a Super Bowl in 2009.
