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ESPN's Top 20 NFL Coaches Ever

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by RubberSoul1979, May 24, 2013.

  1. cyclingwriter

    cyclingwriter Active Member

    That's a very interesting point. It kind of makes me wonder if Belichick would have had success in New York after Parcells since no other coach who replaced Big Tuna did well.

    Another name that hasn't been discussed much. Dan Reeves.

    Went to three Super Bowls with Denver and did worse each time (in terms of scores). Went to the Giants and made them successful after a few rough years, and then pulled a miracle out of his ass in Atlanta for one season before getting crushed in the Super Bowl again.

    For the record, I am not lobbying him for top 20, but wonder if he is in the top 30? The obvious knock is Elway blossomed as a passer completely post Reeves.
     
  2. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    I would definitely think he deserves to be pretty close to the top 20.

    I think the biggest knock on Reeves isn't that he lost four Super Bowls, but that Shanahan could do what he couldn't...

    I think Reeves is in the "just missed" group.
     
  3. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    Reeves could never figure out how to properly use one of the best quarterbacks of all-time. That's a big knock.

    He is a good coach though...
     
  4. heyabbott

    heyabbott Well-Known Member

    Levy and Grant lost 4, they're in the top 20. Reeves lost it with 3 teams. Who else took 3 different teams?

    Flores and Seifert won 2 - out. What did Shanahan do that Seifert didnt, aside from getting killed in Carolina?
     
  5. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    What's this third team Reeves took to the Super Bowl? I can count three with the Broncos and one with the Falcons.

    Taking two different teams to the Super Bowl is a stat that impresses me. I might be forgetting someone, but I think Shula, Reeves, Parcells and Holmgren are the only coaches to do it.
     
  6. Uncle.Ruckus

    Uncle.Ruckus Guest

    Vermeil did it.
     
  7. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    Ah... That's the other one...
     
  8. cyclingwriter

    cyclingwriter Active Member

    Gruden should count since he essentially coached the Bucs and the Raiders in the same game.

    Also, why does Shanahan get more credit then Seifert? Likely because he won two in a row for a franchise that was considered a perennial big-game loser. Seifert inherited a championship team of sorts.

    Also, the book is still out on what Shanahan will do next with the Skins.
     
  9. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    Shanahan came in and did what Reeves and Phillips couldn't and he did it with a QB who was at the end of his career.

    As far as Seifert was concerned, there was no way he was going to get any credit for his first Super Bowl win because he took over a team where the perception was, and it was the same way for Switzer in Dallas, that just about anybody could have won with the talent that he inherited from a coach who was far better than he was. Even after Seifert won his second title in SF, they were still looking to push him out the door as quickly as possible. Then going to Carolina and doing as terribly as he did, it's not going to reflect well on his career. Is that fair? I don't know...
     
  10. LongTimeListener

    LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

    I would wager that there isn't a person who has ever coached in the NFL who couldn't have won the championship with those 49ers of 1989. Les Steckel could have. Art Shell could have. I don't even think Rod Marinelli could have screwed that up.

    They won their three playoff games by a combined score of 126-26.
     
  11. Sam Mills 51

    Sam Mills 51 Well-Known Member

    I feel it's completely fair.

    If the 49ers weren't going to give him a chance to build his own team with his own philosophy and own legacy, then he had the chance to do so in Charlotte.

    He was given a huge contract by the standards of the day. He was also the team's GM. So what happened?

    The defense, which was his specialty, wasn't terribly special. The offense was a special kind of mess, highlighted by his decision to cut Steve Beuerlein - who was deemed injury-prone because he had a lot of procedures done his last couple of seasons with the Panthers ... never mind that his line didn't block and he was taking a savage beating trying to get that "offense" down the field - and brought in Jeff Lewis.

    It blew up so spectacularly that Lewis was cut at the end of his first preseason with the team. Then a win at Minnesota. Then 15 straight losses.

    See you, George. Also, no positive legacy, even though he was given the opportunity.

    Need further proof? When John Fox took over, he didn't overhaul the roster ... some turnover, yes, but not the typical throw-everyone-off-the-train that frequently occurs after a 1-15 season and got them into the Super Bowl two years later.

    And Mike Shanahan is grossly overrated here.
     
  12. wicked

    wicked Well-Known Member

    Mike Shanahan won two Super Bowls because he had an insanely skilled group of offensive linemen and a running back who wasn't shabby, either. He was set up almost as well as Seifert was in SF, and still blew it in '96.
     
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