The Greatest Head Coaches in NFL History

As we prepare for the opening of what is sure to be another magnificent football

season, let us take time to reflect on the generals of the grid iron. I am talking about the

coaches, the select men who prepare these gladiators for battle every Sunday for what has

come to be an American tradition. A good football team begins with the head coach; he

lays the foundation for success with organization, discipline, a good game plan, and

execution. The buck stops with head coaches, who are ultimately held accountable for the

success and failures of their respective teams. Coaching is the ultimate intellectual

challenge in the world of professional sports; he must inspire, motivate, discipline,

nurture, and cultivate the talents of each individual on his roster. It takes a very special

person to succeed at such a demanding profession and very few hold the distinction of

being considered great.

Three names will always enter the conversation when you talk about great

coaches of the sport, Vince Lombardi, Don Shula, and Bill Walsh. Each of these men

defined their era with some of the best teams to ever lace up a pair of cleats. Their

contribution to the game of football places them in legendary status. Though their

approach differed they are bound by the common thread of victory.

Vince Lombardi set the standard by which all coaches are judged. In 1959 he

inherited a Green Bay Packers team who had a 1-10-1 record the previous season. In his

first year with the Packers he guided the team to a respectable 7-5 record. The next

season he would go on to build a dynasty winning 6 division titles, 5 NFL

championships, and the first two Super Bowls. Lombardi was a winner in every sense of

the word; it defined him and the teams that he led. He once said, "If you can accept

losing, you can't win" for the Green Bay Packers losing was not an option.

Perhaps the greatest attribute that Vince Lombardi possessed was his ability to

motivate others. He demanded perfection and was able to convince his players that they

were capable of achieving it. He laughed and cried, praised and punished as he pushed

his men beyond their limits. When all was said and done he had not only had earned the

respect of his team, but the respect of the football world in general. In 1971 a year after

his death he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, that same year the Super

Bowl Trophy was named in his honor.

Hall of Famer Don Shula is the winningest coach in the history of professional

football. In 33 seasons of coaching Shula won 347 games. As head coach of the

Baltimore Colts he compiled a record of 71-23-4 in seven seasons, and coached his team

to a NFL championship game as well as Super Bowl III. In 1970 he took over as head

coach of the Miami Dolphins, over the next 26 seasons he would guide the Dolphins to 5

Super Bowls winning two of them. The Dolphins would become a model of consistency

posting winning records in 24 of Shula's 26 seasons.

Every coach strives for perfection for their football team; Don Shula's 1972

Dolphins are the only team in NFL history to hold that title. The perfect 17-0 season was

culminated with a Super Bowl VII victory over the Washington Redskins. Arguably the

best team in football history dominated the grid iron with a punishing ground attack, and

a stellar "no name" defense. To date no other team has been able to complete the regular

and post season without a flaw on their record, putting Shula's Dolphins in a class of

their own.

Bill Walsh is considered by many the greatest football mind in the history of the

game. His tenure with the San Francisco 49ers earned him the distinct title of the

"Genius". Though a humble Walsh always downplayed such a label, those who studied

under him always found the title fitting. Walsh changed the game of football, the way it is

coached, the way it is played and the way it is viewed. Watching Walsh's 49er teams in

the 1980's was like watching a perfectly choreographed ballet. Walsh was not an

authoritarian who yelled and ruled the sidelines with an iron fist; he was more of a Yoda

like figure who understood the finer points of the game and stressed efficiency.

When Walsh was hired by the 49ers in 1979 they had been amongst the worst

teams in the league for a number of years. In his first year with the team they managed

only a dismal 2-14 record, but he stayed the course. The following season he was able to

improve their record to 6-10 incorporating his young protégé Joe Montana into the

offense. In 1981 the Niners would rise from the abyss to the top of the mountain winning

their first Super Bowl in team history. Walsh would go on to win a total of three Super

Bowls, three NFC Championships, and six division titles; he finished with 102-63-1

record. He was named coach of the year twice following the 1981 and 1984 seasons; in

1993 he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The greatest contribution that Bill Walsh left to the game is what has come to be

known as the West Coast Offense. The "Genius" defied traditional thinking of a run first,

vertical pass attack of a customary offense. The 49ers would utilize a scheme that

featured a short horizontal passing attack that kept defenses off balance; consequently

running lanes were opened for the backs to exploit. The result was an era of the most

prolific offensive football the world has ever seen. Many coaches of today use variations

of the West Coast Offensive that Walsh constructed nearly thirty years ago, making him

one of the single most influential figures in the history of the game.