Top 10 NFL Coaches

Left: The most important coach in NFL history.

Right: The greatest coach in NFL history.

Don't tell me that Bill Belichick, who was fired as head coach of the New England Patriots yesterday, is "the greatest coach in NFL history." He is not. Bill Belichick is a damn cheat. And without his biggest co-conspirator in cheating, Tom Brady, we saw the real Belichick, in Cleveland, 1991-95: 36-44. And in New England after Brady, 2020-23: 29-38.

And so, to everybody calling him the greatest coach in NFL history, I quote a great football coach, though not in American football, who never had to cheat, Brian Clough: "You lads are a bloody disgrace!

Top 10 Greatest NFL Coaches

10. Tom Landry. Dallas Cowboys, 1960-88. His greatest contribution may have come as defensive coordinator for the New York Giants, as he invented the 4-3 defense. As a head coach, he won 13 Division titles, reached 12 NFL or NFC Championship Games, and reached 5 Super Bowls, winning 2. Built not one but two great offenses, and not one but two great defenses. Won a Super Bowl against Shula's Dolphins.

I'd rank him higher, but the Cowboys did get a lot of breaks.

9. Weeb Ewbank. Baltimore Colts, 1954-62. New York Jets, 1963-73. A few coaches have won back-to-back NFL Championships, and he's one. But he's the only one to win titles in both the NFL and the AFL, and beat Shula's Dolphins in Super Bowl III.

8. Joe Gibbs. Washington Redskins, 1981-92, 2004-07. With Daniel Snyder as the team's owner the 2nd time around, he couldn't do much. With Jack Kent Cooke as the owner the 1st time around, he took the team to 4 Super Bowls in 9 seasons. Even more remarkable, and this is something no other coach in NFL history can claim, he won 3 Super Bowls, each with a different quarterback. Won a Super Bowl against Shula's Dolphins and an NFC Championship Game against Landry's Cowboys, and split 2 NFC Championship Games against Walsh's 49ers.

7. Bill Parcells. New York Giants, 1983-90. New England Patriots, 1993-96. New York Jets, 1997-99. Dallas Cowboys, 2003-06. Coaching in New York magnified his personality, and made him seem better than he was. But he turned 3 different franchises from horrible losers into winners.

He led the Giants to 2 Super Bowl wins, he got the Patriots into a Super Bowl and saved them from being moved -- at least out of Massachusetts to Connecticut, and possibly out of New England entirely -- and, in what has got to be his greatest achievement, he got the Jets to within a half of a Super Bowl. (Okay, Walt Michael and Rex Ryan also did that, and Ewbank took them all the way. Still.)

6. Don Shula. Baltimore Colts, 1963-69. Miami Dolphins, 1970-95. He won more games than any other NFL coaches, both if you count only the regular season and if you also count the postseason. He built 4 strong defenses: With the Detroit Lions as an assistant coach, in Baltimore, and in Miami in the early 1970s and again in the early 1980s.

He won 15 Division titles, and reached 7 NFL championship games, including 6 Super Bowls. His record in those games was 2-5, and they included a game he never should have lost, Super Bowl III, to Ewbank's Jets. Also lost one each to Landry's Cowboys, Gibbs' Redskins and Walsh's 49ers. But they also included Super Bowls VII and VIII, and VII finished the only undefeated NFL season since the NFL began having playoffs in 1932.

5. George Halas. Chicago Bears, 1920-29, 1933-42, 1946-55, 1958-67. Most NFL Championships, 8. Okay, he was owner for 8 and general manager for 8, but head coach for "only 6." But he never had to cheat. His 324 wins were the record until Shula. Also, unlike the guy at Number 1, an innovator, as he created the modern passing game.

Of course, his greatest innovations were not on the sideline, but in the boardroom, and not just because he founded the damn league.

4. Bill Walsh. San Francisco 49ers, 1979-88. Took a 2-14 team, and made them Super Bowl winners in 2 years. Built maybe the greatest offense in football history. Won 3 Super Bowls and had the team in place that would win 2 more.

Won a Super Bowl against Shula's Dolphins, an NFC Championship Game against Landry's Cowboys, and a Divisional Playoff against Parcells' Giants. Split 2 NFC Championship Games against Gibbs' Redskins.

3. Chuck Noll. Pittsburgh Steelers, 1969-91. Took the worst team in the NFL -- not just at the time, but historically -- and, in 4 seasons, built them into a team that would reach the Playoffs 8 straight years, winning 7 Division titles, reaching 4 Super Bowls, and winning them all, 2 of them against Landry's Cowboys. His offense was as good as any the NFL has ever seen. His defense was even better than that. Split 2 Playoff meetings with Shula's Dolphins.

2. Paul Brown. Cleveland Browns, 1946-62. Cincinnati Bengals, 1968-90. Also, Ohio State, 1941-43. The 1st man ever to coach both an NCAA and an NFL Champion. Won the title in the All-American Football Conference in all 4 seasons of its existence. Won 3 NFL titles. Reached his league's title game 10 straight seasons.

The greatest offensive genius the sport has ever known. Worth noting that Ewbank, Shula, Noll and Walsh either played for him or were on his coaching staff.

1. Vince Lombardi. Green Bay Packers, 1959-67. Washington Redskins, 1969. In 1958, the Packers were 1-10-1. 1st year: Got them over .500. 2nd year; Division title. 3rd year: NFL Champions. 4th year: NFL Champions. 5th year: Missed Playoffs. 6th year: Missed Playoffs. 7th year: NFL Champions. 8th year: NFL and World Champions. 9th year; NFL and World Champions. To win those 8th and 9th year NFL Championships, had to beat Landry's Cowboys.

Took a year off, a year in which the Redskins were 5-9. 1st year: Got them over .500. Developed cancer and died before his 2nd year with Washington. In what would have been his 4th year, George Allen, a former Halas assistant, got them into the Super Bowl, and came closer than anyone expected to beating Shula's Dolphins.

Top that, Belichick, and do it without cheating. You can't. No one ever has.