Week Nine's FootballGenerals Head-Coach Ranking

The Associated Press bestows a well-known annual Coach of the Year award based on the opinions of a panel of 50 broadcasters and writers, but there's no statistical analysis to back up what is a "conventional wisdom" award based largely on wins, losses, and playoff performance.

FootballGenerals' Coach Ranking is the first unbiased statistical analysis based on the performance of each head coach. Here is the commentary supporting the ranking for Week 10.

Top of the List

Jeff Fisher continues his impressive run in 2008 and remains the top ranked head coach in the FootballGenerals.com head coach ranking with a score of 450.18 after Week 10.

Fisher was able to break a 7-7 tie after halftime, as his in-game adjustments paid off against the Chicago Bears and the Titans ended up winning 21-14. Fisher has a +55 point differential after halftime, good for second in the league.

John Fox and Tom Coughlin flip-flopped positions this week, as Fox is now ranked second behind Fisher in the ranking. Fox’s Carolina Panthers won a sloppy game in Oakland, in which the teams combined for seven turnovers but still managed to come out with the victory. The Panthers are now ranked 7-2 and are in a prime position to win their division.

Big Movers

John Harbaugh and Eric Mangini were the big movers this week, and are now ranked sixth and seventh respectively. Both coaches saw their teams dominate in turnover differential to help them climb up the ranking. 

In Week 10, Harbaugh’s Baltimore Ravens dominated with a plus-four turnover margin while Mangini’s New York Jets enjoyed a plus-five turnover ratio. Both coaches will need to continue winning the turnover battles in order to continue their assent up ranking.

Losers

With the Cincinnati Bengals on a bye, Rod Marinelli had an opportunity to pull a fast one on Marvin Lewis and take the bottom slot in the FootballGenerals ranking.  And of course, he did not disappoint. 

With yet another blowout loss (the third game the Lions have lost by 21 points or more) Marinelli now holds the honor of being the lowest ranked head coach. 

The Lions’ poor red-zone performance helped Marinelli fall in the ranking, as they only scored two touchdowns in their four red zone appearances while they gave up five touchdowns and a field goal in their opponents’ seven trips to the red zone.