NFL coaching trees

93, I do not think it is fair to say Belichick would not have succeeded without Brady, as he drafted Brady as a late rounder, kept him as third quarterback when Brady was MISERABLE in his rookie preseason in 2000, and promoted him ahead of vet Damon Huard to second string in 2001 in time for Bledsoe's injury. Identifying the proper quarterback for your team is about 70 percent of successful NFL head coaching, and Belichick did it.

 

Schottenheimer has been in so many damn places, it sort of skews this list.

Cowher has a tree of failed coaches, but decent assistants.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NFL_coaching_trees

 

But then you see Tomczak, Philcox, Vinny, Rypien and Zeier were all trotted out as starting QBs in Cleveland under Belichick's tenure. So maybe with Brady the blind squirrel found the acorn? I don't know, but Belichick's career is facinating when you try and figure it out.

 

Oh for pete's sake, you can take stats to stretch any kind of argument possible.

Did you know that four out of five people actually enjoy gang rape?

 

I think it is all how you define who belongs to a coaching tree.

Somebody mentioned Gillman's trees. It's impressive, but it takes credit for Bill Walsh. Walsh spent one year with Al Davis, who spent three years with Gillman. That branch doesn't stand for me.

But who do you give credit to for guys like Noll? He spent several years on Gillman's staff, and Don Shula's and played for Paul Brown. I personally think of him as a Brown guy, but he often credits Gillman for his success.

And back to Walsh. He coached for years under Brown, but their relationship ended when Tiger Johnson got the head coaching job in Cincinnati. He is clearly part of that tree, but does he go under the Coryell tree as well for a season in San Diego?

Actually when it comes to shitty trees, few withered on the vine like Vince Lombardi. Phil Bengston, Bill Austin and Norb Hecker all failed as head coaches. Two of his ex-players, Bart Starr and Forrest Gregg had less than stellar careers as well.

 

Obviously, when a sixth-round draft choice becomes a Hall of Famer, there's mucho luck involved. But I'd say Belichick's problem finding a QB in Cleveland stems from the reason most coaches fail to find winning QBs -- there aren't enough to go around.

 

It is tough to know who to credit for shaping coaches. The nomadic nature of the business ensures each coach has many influences, some for a short time.

My wife is a basketball coach. She played and coached under numerous coaches with a large degree of success. She points to a coach that she played under for one year as the one who influenced her philosophy the most.

 

Cowher is under the Schottenheimer tree as are McCarthy and Whisenhunt. I'm sure I'm forgetting someone as well.

 

Mike Tomlin belongs to the Brad Childress tree.

 

No Jimmy Johnson tree?

And Belichick was also smart enough to see something in Matt Cassel when nobody else did. Belchick was 11-5 in the season without Brady - so I wouldn't say he'd be unsuccessful without Brady.

 

Richie Kotite fell off of someone's tree.

 

Has Parcells ever won a playoff game without Belichick on his staff? Don't forget Al Groh is also part of that tree.