Ranking All 32 Head Coaches in the National Football League
There is no job tougher than being the head coach of a team in the National Football League.
You work 20 hours a day, and you sleep for four... if you're lucky. You receive all the credit when your team wins, but when they lose, you're the most hated man in the city, especially if you made a poor coaching decision that cost your team the game.
That being said, it's fairly obvious that some do a pretty good job. And others, well, let's just say that there's a sizable difference between the NFL's best coach and its worst.
In the next 32 slides, I have ranked every head coach in the NFL, from worst to best.
32. Chan Gailey, Buffalo Bills, 2010
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Gailey experienced moderate success with the Dallas Cowboys in the late 1990s, but he won just four games in his first season as the Buffalo Bills head coach.
He has a good track record with developing quarterbacks, as he showed last year with Ryan Fitzpatrick. However, Gailey needs to work wonders to win the AFC East. He is probably better suited as an offensive coordinator than a head coach.
31. Norv Turner, San Diego Chargers, 2007
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Ignore his record with the Chargers (41-23). He is just 3-3 in the postseason and consistently underachieves with massive amounts of talent.
The Chargers should have won (or at least reached) a Super Bowl over the past four seasons. His teams underachieve at the start of every season. By the time November starts, they're usually beginning a late season run that always seems to end in disappointment in the postseason.
He is far too conservative as a coach. He should be fired if the Chargers don't at least reach the AFC championship game next season.
30. Gary Kubiak, Houston Texans, 2006
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For some reason, Kubiak has not been able to take the Houston Texans to the playoffs, despite the NFL's best wide receiver in Andre Johnson, as well as playmaking-quarterback Matt Schaub and running back Arian Foster.
The Texans seem to implode every time they have a chance to reach the postseason; like last year, when they started 4-2 and lost eight of their next nine games.
Kubiak should be out of a job already, and if the Texans don't at least have a winning season in 2011, he probably will be.
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29. Mike Munchak, Tennessee Titans, 2011
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Munchak is one of the best offensive linemen in history. He earned nine Pro Bowl selections and was selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2001.
He then coached the Titans' offensive line for over a decade before his promotion to head coach. He is entering his 30th season with the team.
He needs to find a quarterback for the team, which actually scored 17 more than it allowed last year, despite a 6-10 record.
28. Hue Jackson, Oakland Raiders, 2011
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Jackson is one of six rookie head coaches for the 2011 season. He will work with an Oakland Raiders team that finished 8-8, its best record and first non-losing season since 2002.
Jackson was the team's offensive coordinator in 2010. He was the Baltimore Ravens quarterbacks coach in 2008 and 2009, where he helped develop Joe Flacco.
27. Marvin Lewis, Cincinnati Bengals, 2003
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Lewis had the Bengals looking like a contender with an 8-8 season in 2003, but they've never been close to a great team.
In eight seasons, Lewis has had only three losing seasons, but he's also reached the playoffs just twice, with no playoff wins. His franchise quarterback currently wants out of Cincinnati, and his team is starting to resemble the Bungles.
I'm not sure why he is still a head coach.
26. Jim Harbaugh, San Francisco 49ers, 2011
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His brother is John Harbaugh, the successful head coach of the Baltimore Ravens. So that's a good sign.
Harbaugh joins the 49ers after coaching Stanford University for four seasons. He's only been an NFL coach for two seasons, where, as the quarterbacks coach for league MVP Rich Gannon, he helped take the Oakland Raiders to the Super Bowl in 2002.
He needs to find a quarterback for the 49ers. And if he can win nine games next season, he might be a division champion. The NFC West is a great place for a coach to begin his NFL career.
25. Pat Shurmur, Cleveland Browns, 2011
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Shurmur did a great job as the quarterbacks coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, developing Donovan McNabb into a five-time Pro Bowler.
He also helped develop rookie quarterback Sam Bradford, who showed lots of potential in 2010.
Shurmur takes over the Cleveland Browns' head coaching position. His first priority will be to help develop young quarterback Colt McCoy.
24. Jim Schwartz, Detroit Lions, 2009
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Schwartz took over a Lions team that had won zero games in 2008. He won twice in 2009 and six times in 2010.
However, it's starting to appear that his potential franchise quarterback, Matthew Stafford, is having trouble staying healthy.
Schwartz could be out of a job if the Lions suffer through another disappointing season in 2011.
23. Tony Sparano, Miami Dolphins, 2008
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Sparano helped turn the Miami Dolphins from a one-win team in 2007 to an 11-win team in 2008—the NFL's largest one-season turnaround in history.
But since then, the Dolphins have finished 7-9 twice in a row. Neither Chad Pennington nor Chad Henne is the quarterback of the future.
Sparano needs to keep the Dolphins above .500 next season, or he is probably out of a job.
22. Ron Rivera, Carolina Panthers, 2011
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Rivera has never been an NFL head coach. Taking over for the NFL's worst team will be no easy job, but the No. 1 draft pick should help.
Rivera has an impressive track record as a defensive coordinator and linebackers coach with the Philadelphia Eagles, Chicago Bears and San Diego Chargers. He helped the Bears reach the Super Bowl after the 2006 season.
21. Jason Garrett, Dallas Cowboys, 2010
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Under Garrett's coaching late last season, the Cowboys finally began playing like they should have at the beginning of the season.
Garrett won five of eight games as Dallas's head coach and could have easily won a few more if not for some bad breaks. Now he needs to turn the Cowboys back into winners. He projects to be a solid head coach.
20. Leslie Frazier, Minnesota Vikings, 2011
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Frazier has a pretty impressive resume and looks like he could be a successful NFL head coach.
He coached Pro Bowlers Brian Dawkins, Troy Vincent and Bobby Taylor as the defensive backs coach for the Philadelphia Eagles. He earned a Super Bowl ring as the defensive backs coach of the Indianapolis Colts. And he showed potential as the Vikings defensive coordinator.
He won three of six games as interim coach last season. His first challenge is moving on from Brett Favre and finding a quarterback for the future.
19. Steve Spagnuolo, St. Louis Rams, 2009
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Spagnuolo's first season was pretty forgettable, as the Rams won just one game.
But he chose wisely in April 2010, drafting quarterback Sam Bradford with the No. 1 overall pick.
The Rams remained competitive throughout the entire 2010 season, losing a do-or-die prime-time season finale with the Seattle Seahawks, who captured the NFC West with a brutal 7-9 record.
Spagnuolo needs to take the Rams from competitive to contenders in 2011. Thankfully, none of the other NFC West teams are particularly intimidating.
18. John Fox, Denver Broncos, 2011 (2002)
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After nine somewhat successful seasons as the head coach for the Carolina Panthers, Fox was fired. He was selected as the Broncos head coach.
With the Panthers, Fox reached one Super Bowl and won three division titles. He won at least seven games every season, before the Panthers won just two in 2010.
He is too conservative, however. He rode quarterback Jake Delhomme to a Super Bowl in 2003, but he should have gotten rid of Delhomme before he did.
17. Jim Caldwell, Indianapolis Colts, 2009
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Caldwell is one of the more difficult head coaches to rank.
He did win his first 14 regular season games and probably could have gone 16-0 if he wanted in 2009. He has the highest winning percentage out of all current coaches, and he took the Colts to the Super Bowl in 2009.
But he's also been brutally outcoached (by Sean Payton and Rex Ryan) in his two playoff losses. And even Caldwell knows that his team would finish 5-11 (or worse) without Peyton Manning.
16. Pete Carroll, Seattle Seahawks, 2010
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Pete Carroll joined the Seahawks in 2010 after nine seasons and two national championships (let's just ignore the scandal) at USC.
He won the NFC West in his first season, but it's difficult to give him much credit. The Seahawks, at 7-9, became the first division winner in NFL history with a losing record.
However, Carroll and the Seahawks pulled off one of the biggest upsets in league history, defeating the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints, 41-36, in the wild-card game.
15. Jack Del Rio, Jacksonville Jaguars, 2003
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Del Rio is a good enough head coach to keep the Jaguars competitive most seasons, but he's not going to be able to get them past the Colts in the AFC South.
In eight seasons, he's won two more games than he's lost. He's finished in second five times in eight seasons. He reached the postseason in 2005 and 2007, winning one of three postseason games.
He wasn't able to develop Byron Leftwich, and it's looking like David Garrard isn't going to help take the Jaguars to the next level either.
14. Ken Whisenhunt, Arizona Cardinals, 2007
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Whisenhunt helped turn the Cardinals from the laughingstock of the league into a competitive team over the past four seasons. He also helped resurrect the career of quarterback Kurt Warner. (Then again, he should also be blamed for quarterback Matt Leinart turning into a bust.)
In 2008, the Cardinals won the NFC West with a mediocre 9-7 record and plus-one point differential. But they rode one of the greatest Cinderella stories in NFL history to the Super Bowl, where they came within a miracle throw by Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger of winning their first Super Bowl title.
The Cardinals won 11 games and another NFC West title in 2009 but won just five in 2010. Whisenhunt needs to find a quarterback and prove that he can win without Kurt Warner.
13. Todd Haley, Kansas City Chiefs, 2009
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Haley deserves a lot of credit for the turnaround shown by the Kansas City Chiefs. He doubled their win total in 2009 (two to four) and won six more games, including the AFC West title, in 2010.
He helped turn Matt Cassel from a question mark into a Pro Bowler. And he's one of the most aggressive coaches in the league, especially on fourth downs.
Now Haley needs to keep the Chiefs ahead of the Chargers (and Raiders) in the AFC West.
12. Tom Coughlin, New York Giants, 2004
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As the Giants' head coach, Coughlin has experienced a .500 season or better in each of the past seven seasons. The highlight of his career was obviously the 2007 season, in which the 10-6 Giants embarked on a historic Cinderella postseason run, culminating with an upset of the undefeated Patriots in Super Bowl XLII.
He also deserves credit for helping running back Tiki Barber cut down on his fumbling problems. And he's developed Eli Manning into a borderline Pro Bowl quarterback.
But Coughlin has done nothing with the Giants before or since his Super Bowl title. The team has reached the postseason several times (2005, 2006, 2008), but it's been one-and-done each time, twice at home.
And for four of the past five seasons, the Giants have collapsed down the stretch. They started 6-2 in 2006 and finished 8-9. They started 11-1 in 2008 and finished 12-5. They started 5-0 in 2009 and finished 8-8. And they started 6-2 in 2010 and ended 10-6.
I'm surprised that Coughlin still has a job. If the NFL's oldest head coach (65) doesn't reach the playoffs in 2011, he'll likely be fired.
11. Lovie Smith, Chicago Bears, 2004
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Smith has had a lot of ups and downs in his seven seasons, but the bottom line is that he keeps the Bears in contention every year. He's won 63 games and lost 49, including division titles in 2005, 2006 and 2010.
He helped lead the Bears to the Super Bowl in 2006, and he's shown patience with quarterbacks, notably Kyle Orton, Rex Grossman and Jay Cutler.
He might have saved his job in 2010 with a deep postseason run, but he needs to show continued success to remain the team's head coach.
10. Raheem Morris, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 2009
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Morris should have won NFL Coach of the Year honors in 2010, as he led the NFL's youngest team to a 10-6 record.
He made a great call with Josh Freeman, who looks like a young Donovan McNabb.
Morris is charismatic and can motivate his players better than almost every coach in the league. He isn't afraid of pressure either, as he boldly stated that the Buccaneers were the best team in the NFC last season (the Bucs were 4-2 at the time but had been outscored 128-98).
He needs to prove that 2010 was not a fluke, by taking Tampa Bay into the postseason next year, which will be difficult in the competitive NFC South.
9. Mike Shanahan, Washington Redskins, 2010
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There was talk before the 2010 season that Mike Shanahan might be able to do with Donovan McNabb what he did with John Elway, which, of course, was win a Super Bowl.
Nope. Not even close. Shanahan was probably the worst head coach in the NFL during the 2010 season.
He benched McNabb in the closing minutes of a must-win game against the Detroit Lions, rewarded his quarterback with a six-year, $78 million contract two weeks later and will now probably go a different direction at quarterback in 2011. He needs to move past the drama he created with Donovan McNabb, as well as the problem with defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth.
The Redskins were 6-0 in 2010 and could be right back in the playoff hunt next season if Shanahan gets his act together.
His ranking on this list is purely based on his track record with the Denver Broncos.
8. Mike Smith, Atlanta Falcons, 2008
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Smith took over the Atlanta Falcons after their brutal four-win season in 2007. He immediately drafted Matt Ryan, who helped fans forget all about Michael Vick.
The Falcons won 11 games in 2008, their first postseason appearance in 2008. They slipped to nine wins in 2009 but rebounded to finish with the NFC's best record in 2010 (13-3).
Smith is 0-2 in postseason games and needs a deep postseason run to become one of the NFL's top coaches.
7. John Harbaugh, Baltimore Ravens, 2008
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All Harbaugh has done in his three seasons is win, win and win.
He took over a Baltimore Ravens team that won just five games in 2007 and immediately saw a six-win improvement, made even more impressive by the fact that he was using a rookie quarterback.
He helped the Ravens register a big postseason upset over the New England Patriots in 2009. In his three seasons, the Ravens have won 32 games in the regular season and four more in the postseason (all on the road).
To become an elite coach, Harbaugh needs to find a way to beat the Steelers in the postseason.
6. Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints, 2006
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In his first season as the Saints' head coach, Payton helped reunite the team from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The underdog Saints won over their fans, advancing to the NFC championship game.
In 2009, Payton led the Saints to a 13-0 start and the first Super Bowl title in franchise history. He turned in one of the gutsiest coaching decisions in the history of the NFL, using a successful onsides kick to begin the second half of Super Bowl XLIV. The Saints recovered, scored a touchdown to take the lead and won 31-17.
Payton has won 49 games in five seasons as a head coach. He is an offensive genius and has helped transform quarterback Drew Brees into a sure-fire Hall of Famer.
5. Andy Reid, Philadelphia Eagles, 1999
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Andy Reid is the only coach in the league, besides Bill Belichick, who has won consistently, year in and year out, for the past decade. In 12 seasons, he has led the Eagles to nine postseason appearances, six division titles, five NFC championship game appearances and a berth in Super Bowl XXXIX.
He's one of three coaches who has almost complete control of football operations, the others being Belichick and Mike Shanahan.
The longest-tenured coach in the league has made a living out of gutsy decisions. Drafting Donovan McNabb over Ricky Williams with his first ever pick? The season opening onside kick against Dallas in 2000? Drafting Lito Sheppard and Sheldon Brown in the first and second round in 2002 when the team had Pro Bowl cornerbacks Troy Vincent and Bobby Taylor? Starting Jeff Garcia over fan-favorite AJ Feeley when McNabb went down in 2006? Benching Donovan McNabb in a must-win game in 2008? Trading McNabb within the division after 2009? Signing Michael Vick in 2009 and promoting him to starter in 2010? They all paid off. All of them.
Reid's entire reputation could hinge on his stunning decision to promote offensive line coach Juan Castillo, who has never been a defensive coach in college or the NFL, to fill the team's defensive coordinator position. Reid's poor game management and countless good but not great seasons are getting old quickly. If the Eagles don't win a Super Bowl in the next two to three years, Reid could be gone.
4. Rex Ryan, New York Jets, 2009
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You either love Rex Ryan or you hate him. I love him. I think he's the most entertaining coach in the league.
As a rookie head coach in 2009, he took a rookie quarterback and a relatively different franchise from 2008 and reached the AFC championship game. In 2010, he led the Jets to an 11-5 record, which included the NFL's top ranked defense. He has helped turn Darrelle Revis into arguably the best defensive player in the NFL.
He talks the talk, and he walks the walk. The playoff win against the Patriots this year was incredible. I picked the Jets to win that game, placing all of my faith in Rex, and I said the outcome of that game will make or break my opinion on Rex Ryan. He came through, as he usually does.
I don't think there is any coach in the NFL who wants to win more than Rex Ryan. I don't know if there is anybody in the world who wants to win more than Rex Ryan. With that being said, he guaranteed a Super Bowl victory for the Jets in 2011. He needs to deliver. And if he doesn't deliver, he needs to stop talking. It's time for Rex to walk the walk again.
3. Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers, 2007
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Tomlin isn't even 40, and he's won a Super Bowl and appeared in another. He's had a winning season in all four years as a head coach, and his .672 career winning percentage is incredible.
He's kept the Steelers ahead of the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC North, knocking them out of the postseason in 2008 and 2010. He's a brilliant motivator, knows how to relate to his players, and didn't panic when he lost Ben Roethlisberger for the first four games of the 2010 season.
The only knock against Tomlin: Many say, and they're probably right, that he wouldn't be experiencing the same success without legendary defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau. He also inherited a team that was just two years removed from a Super Bowl title.
2. Mike McCarthy, Green Bay Packers, 2008
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McCarthy has won 48 games in just five seasons, including three postseason appearances. He led the Packers to the NFC championship game in 2007 and earned his first Super Bowl title with a memorable postseason run this past January.
He held the team together this season despite several key injuries. And he worked through the awkward transition from Brett Favre to Aaaron Rodgers like it was nothing.
McCarthy has his team in position to make a run at a dynasty.
1. Bill Belichick, New England Patriots, 2000
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They say that opinions can't be wrong. Well if you don't think that Bill Belichick is the best coach in the NFL, you are wrong. Flat out wrong. He is miles and miles above any other coach in the league.
Belichick has almost complete control of everything that happens in the Patriots organization. His decisions as a coach are almost never wrong. He turned Tom Brady into one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history. He utilized Troy Brown as a defensive back. He knew when to sign Randy Moss and when to let him go. He made Wes Welker the best slot receiver in league history. He was able to turn Danny Woodhead into a star running back.
He shut down Kurt Warner and Marshall Faulk in Super Bowl XXXVI. His teams are 5-0 against regular season MVPs in the postseason. In 11 seasons, Belichick has won 126 games and lost just 50, including the first 16-0 season in NFL history. He turned the Patriots into the first dynasty of the new millennium, winning eight division titles and three of four Super Bowl appearances.
If not for defensive collapses late in the 2006 AFC championship game against the Colts and Super Bowl XLII against the Giants, Belichick's Patriots would undoubtedly have five Super Bowl titles. (Let's be honest. They would have crushed Rex Grossman and the Bears in Super Bowl XLI.)
Bill Belichick is a top-10 coach in league history. He could turn me into a Pro Bowl quarterback and you into a Pro Bowl defensive end. If he wins another Super Bowl, he will probably be considered the best coach in history. In my book, he is already the greatest ever.
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