NFL Head Coaches

[Stennick]

This might be the strangest most unpredictable head coaching job in all of sports. That being said I love it. My two favorite things in football may be the NFL Draft and the yearly coaching shifts. You never know who's going to turn into a stud future hall of famer and who's going to get so much pub and hype only to fall down on the job completely and be a running joke for years.

 

I don't understand how hiring in that league works. First of all I think more head coaches get canned in the NFL than the NBA or MLB every year. Every year there is a new hot coordinator that is looking to make a splash and seems to be the man of the hour.

 

Last year you had Steve Spagnulo and Rex Ryan among others but those were two hot coordinators. Spags had the defense that destroyed the Patriots during the Super Bowl, Rex was well the Raven's D Coordinator who've had the best defense in the league or one of 'em for a decade now. Before that you had Mike Martz, Romeo Crennel, Eric Mangini, Mike Nolan. All of these guys had been coordinators and then had less than stellar head coaching jobs.

 

I think the thing that is most interesting is that when an NFL football coach retires if he's had any real success at all (sorry Herm Edwards) he never retires. He goes to work for network t.v or he gets a job with ESPN. He waits a year or two and then every desperate last place team in the league starts throwing crazy money at them to come in and turn around their team. Of course 99 percent of the time the team is in such bad shape that when the new coach comes in its like college it takes years of good drafts to get the team back in order since Free Agents in the NFL don't go to the highest bidder since most teams can bid about the same amount. By the time the coach has spent two or three years losing and destroying his legacy he usually gives up hope (or the owner cans them because he's given up hope). That being said we love old successful coaches from the 80's and now 90's as well. Dick Vermeil came back and actually got my St. Louis Rams to win a SuperBowl. Actually that was the best fit because you had a great game manger in Vermeil and a good play caller (for the team we had) in Martz. That team doesn't work with just one or the other. Then others followed suite and soon Joe Gibbs was out of retirement, Bill Parcells was in Dallas reffering to "The Player", Bill Callahan was brought back, heck even Ditka got a second run. Jimmy Johnson took three years off before he was courted back to the Miami Dolphins.

 

Here is something I don't understand about head coaches in the NFL. Sometimes an organization does everything they can to let a head coach stay as long as he wants and usually even offers him a spot in the front office after he leaves. Vermeil came out of retirement to coach the Rams for several losing years, he won a SuperBowl and retired again....or did he shortly after that he went on to get his brains beat in with the Chiefs for an equal amount of time. Mike Shannahan hasn't won anything in ten years after winning his Super Bowl yet the continued to give Mike a chance to go out on his own terms. Same thing with Holmgren, he was in Seattle for a while, he went to won Super Bowl and won what one other playoff game in his tenure there? Yet they refused to move on until Mike was ready to move on. THEN they offer him a position as president of the team close to Bill Parcells role and yet he rejects it to go coach.......CLEVELAND.

 

With guys like Shannahan, Holmgren, Gruden, and Cowher out there you know that we haven't seen the end of it. Really it just seems like an unpredictable job market. You never know who's going to be great, who's going to stay great and who's going to bomb. Who would have thought all of Bellicheks proteges would all fail miserably from Romeo, to Mangini, to Charlie Weis.

 

Thats why I love head coaching in the NFL you go from guru coordinator to joke, you go from hot upstart coach to old man refusing to let go of his job and everything in between. NFL coaches how I love thee

[MattitudeV2]

Holmgren is going to be in a Parcells role he isn't coaching my bets is he will keep Magini as he will work with on the draft picks as he turned plenty into stars

 

Examples

Lofa Tatupu

Matt Hasselback

Brett Farve

Shaun Alexander

Antonio Freeman

Steve Hutchinson

[Remianen]

You make good points but you have the Holmgren thing all wrong. What's the use of being team president when you report to an underling? He wanted to report directly to the owner and the Seahawks organization doesn't work like that. In Cleveland (where he's President, not coach yet), he reports directly to the owner. There are no underlings. That is exactly the same as Parcells' job (Bill reports to Steve Ross, no one else). I'd turn down the Seattle job too.

 

But I don't remember Romeo Crennel being a 'hot new coordinator'. Just like Charlie Weis, he benefited from being on a successful team. Romeo wasn't an X's and O's guy. That's obvious from Cleveland's poor defensive schemes under his watch. Lovie's defense has usually been good. Rex's defense, do we really need to say it? Romeo was basically the caretaker of Belichick's defense and fans in Cleveland learned that the hard way. He wasn't a good talent evaluator (like Belichick is), he was just a coach that the veteran players loved.

 

The problem with NFL head coaches nowadays is that many of them can only coach one aspect of the team. When you're a head man, you have to be able to do it all. Oh and you have to work for an owner who isn't insane (no Raiders coach is going to be successful while Al Davis lives). When your owner refuses to go with the sure thing and reaches in the first round (let's see, Crabtree has played a bit more than half a season....and still performed better than Heyward-Bey???), you're not going to have top tier talent to win with. Heck, just look at how funked up the Raiders salary cap is because of one player.

 

But I have to stick up for "The Ultimate Leader". His lack of success post-Elway was pretty common. You don't replace a Hall of Fame quarterback unless you're the 49ers (who did it with another Hall of Fame quarterback). He lost his three best offensive players pretty much at the same time (or rather, fast enough that he couldn't groom replacements). Jake didn't work because Jake wasn't as smart as John. He had a career year when he listened to what he was being told to do, but then reverted to form. Shanahan also was a great example of a coach who could only coach one side of the team. The biggest mistake McDaniels has made though, is getting rid of the one-cut. Knowshon could be TD 2.0 in that system. But McDaniels is a horrible talent evaluator so he's not likely to ever be successful (look at the second round of last year's draft. Darcel McBath ahead of ALL THOSE OTHER players who could've help plug holes?!?).

 

I'll give Jim Schwartz credit, he can do it all. Yes, he's a defensive guy but if you ask any of those guys on offense about him, they love him to death. It was Schwartz who insisted they go with Matthew Stafford and it was Stafford who earned that entire team's (and city's) respect at the end of the Browns game. Stafford to Johnson and Stafford to Pettigrew is going to become as common as Smith to Davis (and Smith to Crabtree) has this year.

 

I think the problem with NFL teams nowadays is they're stupid, by and large. They buy into hype too much and pay for it with poor dividends and years of bad cap situations as a result. Raheem Morris is a perfect example. The Bucs are trying to strike 'Mike Tomlin gold' and I don't think they're going to succeed at that. He's too green, he doesn't know what he wants or needs as a coach, and he's going to ruin a very good talent in Josh Freeman because of that. At least McDaniels has been a coordinator at the pro level! So you'll continue to see the bad get worse unless they get smart (like Atlanta and Baltimore did) and actually choose 'new' head coaches who have the chops to handle the job. I don't think Perry Fewell is ready for the top job yet either. But unless Ralph Wilson falls down and hits his head, Fewell isn't going to get the permanent job. Not with people like Gruden, Cowher, and Weis out there. They've already started talking to Shanahan, so I expect him to get the spot. The one-cut would suit Buffalo perfectly. Marshawn would flirt with 2k rushing yards if he's a full timer (unlikely), even with the Bills crap O-line.

 

EDIT: Mattitude, if Holmgren sticks with Mangini, he deserves the 2-14 season he's gonna get next year. Mangini is a horrible coach as his players tend to underperform for him, because he thinks he's a disciplinarian when he hasn't earned the right to be one. He's a freakin' joke and I'm glad he isn't muckin' up the second tier team here anymore. Odd how Rex comes in and lets almost all of "Mangini's guys" go to Cleveland and the Browns STILL SUCK.

[PeterHilton]

To what Remi said: - don't think you HAVE to know every aspect of the game, so much as you have to be a willing delegator and be confident enough to have really talented assistants at coordinators in the positions where you aren't your strongest.

 

You have to be the kind of guy players WANT to follow.

 

And - above all else imo - you have to nail the talent evaluation part. Football isn't a sport where 1 or 2 guys can hide your team deficiencies. You need players at every spot on the roster to contribute. So the best teams get starters late in the draft or key bench players from the guys other teams cut.

 

Anyway...yes, it's fun to see what the coaching carousel brings. But the reason I think so many coaches are replaced is that it doesn't take that long to see a "bad" head coach.

[Tyler Gadzinski]

I'm just throwing this in there that Holmgren may have made a star out of Favre but he didn't draft him.

[MattitudeV2]

Mattitude, if Holmgren sticks with Mangini, he deserves the 2-14 season he's gonna get next year. Mangini is a horrible coach as his players tend to underperform for him, because he thinks he's a disciplinarian when he hasn't earned the right to be one. He's a freakin' joke and I'm glad he isn't muckin' up the second tier team here anymore. Odd how Rex comes in and lets almost all of "Mangini's guys" go to Cleveland and the Browns STILL SUCK.

 

Mangini is a great draft guys as David Harris and Darrelle Revis were in his first draft class with the Jets and both now start and make a decent impact for the Jets Defense.

[Wade]

A head football coach most definitely doesn't need to understand both sides of the football. They do, however, need to be a motiviational guru. If being an X's and O's kind of guy is all it took to be a great head coach, Rick Darlington would be a football god.

[BHK1978]

A head football coach most definitely doesn't need to understand both sides of the football. They do, however, need to be a motiviational guru. If being an X's and O's kind of guy is all it took to be a great head coach, Rick Darlington would be a football god.

 

I agree with this statement and I think the perfect example of this was the Giants' Coach Jim Lee Howell. From everything that I have read about him he was not the most knowledgable coach and yet he had great success. I guess it also helped that he had Vince Lombardi and Tom Landry as his offensive and defensive coordinators respectively.

[Remianen]

Mangini is a great draft guys as David Harris and Darrelle Revis were in his first draft class with the Jets and both now start and make a decent impact for the Jets Defense.

 

Uhh, you might want to check that. Mangini's first draft class wasn't the 2007 class, it was the 2006 class. You know, the one where he passed on Cortland Finnegan and Marques Colston to take luminaries like Kellen Clemens, Anthony Schlegel, and Jason Pociask? The last guy was so good, they had to spend a 1st rounder to pick someone at his position (Dustin Keller).

 

So, lemme get this straight. He hits on two (of how many?) picks and that makes him a 'great draft guy'? Man, if that's the case, Al Davis is a GENIUS because he drafted Steve Wisniewski and Thomas Howard!

 

A head football coach most definitely doesn't need to understand both sides of the football. They do, however, need to be a motiviational guru. If being an X's and O's kind of guy is all it took to be a great head coach, Rick Darlington would be a football god.

 

Ah, another fan who thinks only two sides count. Tell me, why has every team tried to acquire their own Devin Hester if only two sides matter? Successful coaches know enough about the sides they don't specialize in, to know what they want or need from a coordinator. Raheem Morris doesn't know what kind of offense he wants so he can't figure out who would be the best OC for him. When Mike McCarthy decided that he wanted a more aggressive defense for his team, he went out and hired a coordinator who could provide that, in Dom Capers. Now, if he had no idea what kind of defense the team should run, would (or could) he have done that? Would you hire Dom Capers to install or run a 4-3 defense? Why or why not? Do you hire Mike Martz to install a run-oriented, smashmouth offensive system? Why or why not? Rod Marinelli (another one who didn't know what he wanted) tried to fit a square peg into a round hole with Martz. How'd that turn out? Sean Payton (offensive coach, yes?) knew he needed an aggressive style of defense and knew his personnel fit the 4-3 best so what did he do? He went out and got the best 4-3 DC available (and took a pay cut to get him onboard). Again I ask, how did that turn out? Oh and I don't think I need to mention how the same player "the great draft guy" Eric Mangini got rid of because "he doesn't fit my defensive scheme" is anchoring that very good Saints defense.

 

But yeah, I realize now my wording was way off. Lord knows Bill Walsh couldn't coach defense worth a damn. But a head coach has to know enough about the other aspects outside his specialty, to know what he wants in those areas. That is, unless you let/have to have your owner hire your staff (Raiders!). Andy Reid knew exactly the kind of defense he wanted on his team and he got (and kept) probably one of the three best DCs in the game (Jim Johnson, RIP). As a result, he doesn't even have to THINK about the defensive side of the game (or at least he didn't before Jim died).

 

Besides, I thought we were talking NFL head coaches. Who mentions a HIGH SCHOOL coach in an NFL head coach discussion? Maybe I should talk up Chip Kelly since he's about as relevant as Rick Darlington (and at least he's won on the level prior to the NFL).

[MattitudeV2]

Uhh, you might want to check that. Mangini's first draft class wasn't the 2007 class, it was the 2006 class. You know, the one where he passed on Cortland Finnegan and Marques Colston to take luminaries like Kellen Clemens, Anthony Schlegel, and Jason Pociask? The last guy was so good, they had to spend a 1st rounder to pick someone at his position (Dustin Keller).

 

So, lemme get this straight. He hits on two (of how many?) picks and that makes him a 'great draft guy'? Man, if that's the case, Al Davis is a GENIUS because he drafted Steve Wisniewski and Thomas Howard!

 

 

Woah, Don't doubt Keller as he has a high ceiling and so he passed on many good talents if want to talk about drafting talk about the Browns and a lot of their bombs in the draft room

 

Examples

William Green-How's that stab wound

Tim Couch-Somebody better call Ryan Leaf

Courtney Brown-Stiff

Gerad Warren-Hey someboy call Penny's house

passing on A.J. Hawk,Rey Maualuga and Clay Matthews all three have don't haven't they Eric(Dummy) Mangini.

 

As you see many picks are stupid as by my examples I know Mangini isn't a genius but neither was Crennel and he drafted Cribbs,Harrison and Thomas.

[Guest TDubTNA]

Mattitude I take it you're a Jet's fan. Sadly I've been a Raiders fan since 94' so I've been watching terrible football for years now. Al Davis has hit on a few people in the last few drafts but his last few first rd picks have been disgusting at best. The good players he's picked in the past few drafts Thomas Howard, Kirk Morrison, Tyvon Branch, Louis Murphy, Trevor Scott and Zach Miller are good players but you have to be consistent to be a good draft guy. With those few good players Al's drafted selecting Jamarcus, Heyward-Bey and the often injured DMC has set them back a bunch.

 

I think Andy Reid is one of the best draft guys. He has picked very good DLineman for his team and has very good depth there and getting Deshaun Jackson and Jeremy Maclin was huge and Lashawn McCoy (sp?).

 

I also agree with Remi on Jim Shwartz. He has a solid QB, RB, WR and TE combo. Once your good with that you can select for need and who's gonna help your team.

 

Sadly I've been stuck with the Raiders but I've watched them religiously for 15 years so I guess I gotta keep rolling with them. If only Bruce started all the games this year. Oh well haha

[cappyboy]

Woah, Don't doubt Keller as he has a high ceiling and so he passed on many good talents if want to talk about drafting talk about the Browns and a lot of their bombs in the draft room

 

Examples

William Green-How's that stab wound

 

Okay. Since you have a Browns fan here, how about he breaks this post down for you?

 

On Green, I'll grant you I never was a fan of the guy. He always wanted schematic concessions he hadn't earned and was far too in love with himself. But before you dump on Green as a player, you have to look at what our line was then. Our right side is still pretty weak but we didn't have a left side anywhere near the caliber of Joe Thomas and Eric Steinbach then either.

 

In a vaccuum, yes you can call Green a bust. But this game isn't played in a vaccuum. I'm not going to suggest Green would have been a star had we had a line. His attitude may have kept him from that the way it did for Braylon Edwards. But we've had a bunch of guys I'dhave liked to have seen what he could do on a properly stocked roster and Green is one them. Just at Green's position, I could also name Travis Prentice, James Johnson and Jamel White to with Green in that category.

 

 

Tim Couch-Somebody better call Ryan Leaf

 

Again you exaggerate. Couch fell out of favor and hard. I myself might even have called him Timmy Diaper since Couch is French for diaper. But it took him a lot longer to flame out than Ryan Leaf did. Leaf came into the league a flake. Couch grew into one over time by having his soul crushed on the bad teams he was part of for us. Nor have I heard of Couch getting busted on a robbery charge since falling out of the league. He was a bust to be sure. But he was better then Ryan Leaf.

 

Courtney Brown-Stiff

Gerad Warren-Hey someboy call Penny's house

 

Only by comparison. Both have been serviceable guys in the league once they got out the Pound and expectations on them were much less. But the problem is you don't spend high first rounders on "serviceable guys". You spend those on difference makers. They sure weren't good here but in the grand scheme of their overall performance in the league, I've seen worse.

 

passing on A.J. Hawk,Rey Maualuga and Clay Matthews all three have don't haven't they Eric(Dummy) Mangini.

 

Not sure I can fault any of these moves either. Hawk hasn't been all that folks would have thought he was cracked up to be either. Better than the guys you listed when they were with us? Most likely. What I've heard on Hawk has been all secondhand. I don't see the Packers too often. But I can't fault a team who needed line as badly as we did when Hawk came out for passing on a linebacker just because he's become a bigger name in retrospect.

 

As for Matthews and Maualuga, slow down. It's only been one year. What happens if they come out to start camp next year and suffer the LeCharles Bentley treatment? Will we still look as stupid for passing on them? And Maualuga in particular. Need I remind you every team passed on him at least once? Dude was a second rounder. Granted we did pass on him twice. He was taken after Brian Robiskie. But as far as he'd already fallen based on where he was hyped to go, why was it unreasonable to think "Oh we might be able to get him next pick" and end up proven wrong? So much of your post comes from either hindsight or just being on the outside looking in.

 

I'm a fan but I'm also a realist. Have we made a lot of what have turned out to be colossal mistakes? Sure. Have we given the power for these decisions to guys it overwhelmed? Absolutely. But you go with what you know at the time and you live with it. Taking the guys who SHOULD be good only goes so far. They still have to brought up to that potential. And when they aren't? Well. You're mocking the answer. As many of us Browns fans have been over the last decade.

[MattitudeV2]

Mattitude I take it you're a Jet's fan. Sadly I've been a Raiders fan since 94' so I've been watching terrible football for years now. Al Davis has hit on a few people in the last few drafts but his last few first rd picks have been disgusting at best. The good players he's picked in the past few drafts Thomas Howard, Kirk Morrison, Tyvon Branch, Louis Murphy, Trevor Scott and Zach Miller are good players but you have to be consistent to be a good draft guy. With those few good players Al's drafted selecting Jamarcus, Heyward-Bey and the often injured DMC has set them back a bunch.

 

I think Andy Reid is one of the best draft guys. He has picked very good DLineman for his team and has very good depth there and getting Deshaun Jackson and Jeremy Maclin was huge and Lashawn McCoy (sp?).

 

I also agree with Remi on Jim Shwartz. He has a solid QB, RB, WR and TE combo. Once your good with that you can select for need and who's gonna help your team.

 

Sadly I've been stuck with the Raiders but I've watched them religiously for 15 years so I guess I gotta keep rolling with them. If only Bruce started all the games this year. Oh well haha

 

Oh no bro not a Jet's fan by a long shot as you see I'm a Browns fan. Reid is a very good drafted didn't he draft Donovan McNabb and yes he drafted Desean Jackson,Lesean McCoy and Jeremy Maclin.

 

True with the Lions they have all good players at the skilled positions(QB,RB etc) and I'll omitt some of the defense is decent such as Ernie Sims so they should most definitley draft a need.

 

Raiders fan... ouch but hey here is one good thing I can say about the raiders is that they have a group with unlimited potential they have Cannon Russell,Darren McFadden,Justin Fargas,Kirk Morrison. Don't take this as something negative but when Al Davis either dies or sells the team that will be the best thing for the Raiders.

[randomfreeze]

Don't wanna overly bust on the Raiders...but saying unlimited potential for JaMarcus Russell and Justin Fargas is almost the exact opposite of the definition. Everyone knows about Russell, but Fargas? A 29 year old running back who has got his shot and averages less than four yards a carry for his career?

 

Surprising fact about the Raiders...they actually have five wins this season. I have no idea who they beat, and it doesn't really matter, but five wins isn't as bottom rung as you'd think. So that's good.

[cappyboy]

Ah, another fan who thinks only two sides count. Tell me, why has every team tried to acquire their own Devin Hester if only two sides matter?

 

THANK YOU!!

 

You'd think more people would get it in this post-Vinatieri world. But apparently, special teams is still a mere formality to too many people.

 

But let me ask everybody something. That 2000 Ravens team. The one everyone likes to point to as the primary evidence for the canard that defense wins championships. What was the buffer that kept those Ravens defenders from getting themselves wore out and injured into ineffectiveness like too many good defenses without offensive help?

 

They had two actually. Their names were Jermaine Lewis and Matt Stover. Lewis ripped up the return game to the point it shortened the field for woeful Raven offense. And Stover floated them through the season by kicking for key points without which that vaunted Raven defense wouldn't even have sniffed the playoffs. And while not quite as instrumental as Lewis or Stover, their punter was pretty darn good that year too. Anyone who thinks that defense was the only reason the Ravens won that ring just doesn't get it. There are THREE dimensions to the game and without at least two of them, you're sunk. Had Baltimore lacked the special teams, they wouldn't have been surviving on field goals in the heart of that season. Instead, both respected sides of the ball would have been playing on longer fields and getting killed for it.

 

 

Oh no bro not a Jet's fan by a long shot as you see I'm a Browns fan. Reid is a very good drafted didn't he draft Donovan McNabb and yes he drafted Desean Jackson,Lesean McCoy and Jeremy Maclin.

 

This is another one that makes my head explode.

 

No, Andy Reid didn't draft Donavon McNabb. Or Jackson. Or McCoy. Or Maclin. Or anybody else. Tom Heckert did all that. Every time I hear that this coach drafted this guy, I marvel that anything remains on top of my neck. Unless you have a "total power" guy like a Mike Ditka on the sideline or you have a totally warped situation a la George Kokinis and Eric Mangini, it's the GM picking the players. In properly balanced organizations, the coach may have input and in really good ones, the coach's input may be a highly influential factor in why a GM takes Player X. But even in those cases, it is NOT the coach making the picks. Remember Bill Parcells and his "Buy the groceries" rant in the mid-90's? That wouldn't have been necessary if coaches picked players as often as they get credited with doing.

[Candyman]

Raheem Morris is a perfect example. The Bucs are trying to strike 'Mike Tomlin gold' and I don't think they're going to succeed at that. He's too green, he doesn't know what he wants or needs as a coach, and he's going to ruin a very good talent in Josh Freeman because of that. At least McDaniels has been a coordinator at the pro level! So you'll continue to see the bad get worse unless they get smart (like Atlanta and Baltimore did) and actually choose 'new' head coaches who have the chops to handle the job.

 

Put Tampa Bay in one column and Pittsburgh, Atlanta, and Baltimore in another. There's a big difference between those two columns, and it's not the calibre of their coaches. It's talent on the field and the quality of their front office. I don't doubt that Tomlin, Smith, and Harbaugh are better coaches than Morris - but the gap isn't as big as their records would have you believe. Tampa is a mess. Nobody's going to succeed there for the forseeable future.

 

I don't think Perry Fewell is ready for the top job yet either. But unless Ralph Wilson falls down and hits his head, Fewell isn't going to get the permanent job. Not with people like Gruden, Cowher, and Weis out there. They've already started talking to Shanahan, so I expect him to get the spot. The one-cut would suit Buffalo perfectly. Marshawn would flirt with 2k rushing yards if he's a full timer (unlikely), even with the Bills crap O-line.

 

I'd be shocked if Shanahan didn't already have an agreement in place to coach Washington. It's just a matter of Zorn finishing the season and interviewing some minorities to satisfy the Rooney rule. I mean, Shanahan basically hand picked Bruce Allen afterall. For the sake of Bills fans everywhere, I hope Wilson opens up his wallet to bring in a guy like Cowher, but I have my doubts. Their track record says Fewell will keep the job, they'll grab a coordinator, or they'll take somebody like Weiss or Martz off the reject pile.

 

So, lemme get this straight. He hits on two (of how many?) picks and that makes him a 'great draft guy'? Man, if that's the case, Al Davis is a GENIUS because he drafted Steve Wisniewski and Thomas Howard!

 

The funny thing is that makes just as much sense as calling somebody a 'horrible talent evaluater' based on ONE DRAFT PICK. No, not one draft, which would be silly by itsself, one draft PICK. A (mid) second rounder...that has played a dozen games in the league, since he's a rookie. I guess Bill Belichick is a horrible talent evalauter, just look at the Bethel Johnson pick in the second round.

 

Ah, another fan who thinks only two sides count. Tell me, why has every team tried to acquire their own Devin Hester if only two sides matter?

 

Interestingly, this has nothing to do with what you responded to. Sounds like you read too much into the 'both' sides of the ball comment while ignoring the meat of the post. This person said (paraphrasing) you don't need to know x's and o's as long as you're a great motivator. Of course, this is downright silly...there are plenty of great head coaches who were great motivators, sure, just as there are plenty of "X's and O's" coaches that had just as much success. To be a great coach, you have to know what you do well, do that, and find other people that can do what you can't. It's that simple.

 

Successful coaches know enough about the sides they don't specialize in, to know what they want or need from a coordinator.

 

This, on the other hand, is what you call 'hitting the nail on the head'. You don't have to be an offensive guru, or a defensive guru, or a great motivator...you simply have to know what you do well, do that, and know who to bring in that can do what you can't. Of course, you still need an owner that will spend money (and not just on player salaries; the Patriots spend as little as possible in that regard, but they make up for it everywhere else) and a quality personnel department to get you the right players...

 

Surprising fact about the Raiders...they actually have five wins this season. I have no idea who they beat, and it doesn't really matter, but five wins isn't as bottom rung as you'd think. So that's good.

 

Oh dear. My friend, who they have beaten is the most amazing part! That's the part that makes it good! They have wins over the Chiefs, Eagles, Bengals, Steelers, and Broncos. That's four playoff teams right there(if the season ended today), the defending Super Bowl champions among them. As crazy as it sounds, they could be a dangerous team next year.

[MattitudeV2]

Oh dear. My friend, who they have beaten is the most amazing part! That's the part that makes it good! They have wins over the Chiefs, Eagles, Bengals, Steelers, and Broncos. That's four playoff teams right there(if the season ended today), the defending Super Bowl champions among them. As crazy as it sounds, they could be a dangerous team next year.

 

I'm sorry but do the Cheifs really need to be put in this group because even my Clowns(Browns) beating them and two guys put records against(Cribbs,Harrison)

[cappyboy]

I'm sorry but do the Cheifs really need to be put in this group because even my Clowns(Browns) beating them and two guys put records against(Cribbs,Harrison)

 

Well, they are a team the Raiders have beaten and they are the one team out of the five that won't be making the playoffs. So yeah, they do. It probably would have been asked sooner or later if he hadn't.

[Stennick]

For the foreseeable future Cleveland, Kansas City, Tampa Bay, St. Louis, Detroit and Oakland are going to be tough places to win at.

 

Its funny First Take did a "name to top five coaches in the NFL". The fact is there is so much new blood in coaching right now. Even guys like Tomlin who have had success have only been coaching three years.

 

I don't even know if I can make a credible top five list. Right now in my opinion it goes Bellechek, Reid and Fisher. Norv Turner has had some really good regular seasons and even made it to what two AFC Championship games? Still can you be an elite coach without getting to atleast one Super Bowl?

[Franchise22]

Holmgren is going to be in a Parcells role he isn't coaching my bets is he will keep Magini as he will work with on the draft picks as he turned plenty into stars

 

Examples

Lofa Tatupu

Matt Hasselback

Brett Farve

Shaun Alexander

Antonio Freeman

Steve Hutchinson

 

*edit*

 

just not favre

[Stennick]

Yeah Hassleback was already there when Holmgren got there because he benched him in favor of the Baltimore Super Bowl QB who made history by being the only Super Bowl winning QB to be traded the very next year. Trent Dilfer thats it, he's now an analyst on ESPN along with a thousand other former players.

[cappyboy]

Yeah Hassleback was already there when Holmgren got there because he benched him in favor of the Baltimore Super Bowl QB who made history by being the only Super Bowl winning QB to be traded the very next year. Trent Dilfer thats it, he's now an analyst on ESPN along with a thousand other former players.

 

Actually, yeah I think Holmgren did draft Matt Hasselback. Just not in Seattle. Remember he was Favre's backup in Green Bay before getting shipped off to the Seahawks.. So it would have been either Holmgren or Ron Wolf. One or the other.

[Franchise22]

Yeah Hassleback was already there when Holmgren got there because he benched him in favor of the Baltimore Super Bowl QB who made history by being the only Super Bowl winning QB to be traded the very next year. Trent Dilfer thats it, he's now an analyst on ESPN along with a thousand other former players.

 

he didnt draft favre for sure. it was an injury that even got him in the game to start with. favre was drafted by the falcons.

[MattitudeV2]

he didnt draft favre for sure. it was an injury that even got him in the game to start with. favre was drafted by the falcons.

 

True he didn't draft Favre but Holmgren was the Packers coach when Favre was the Quarterback.

[cappyboy]

True he didn't draft Favre but Holmgren was the Packers coach when Favre was the Quarterback.

 

And Favre wasn't a guy where anybody knew how to pronounce his name properly until he got to Green Bay. Heck, even Tagliabue messed it up when the Falcons picked Favre