Yesterday part five of our Super Bowl worst, best, first, and last series rolled on.  We offered a fun trivia quiz about coaches in the big game.

Super Bowl winners come in different shapes and sizes, but they usually have two things in common.  One, they have a real good or great coach.  And two, they have a real good or great quarterback.

We continue to examine those very questions in part six of our series.  Today we begin to attempt to answer the question “who is the best head coach to win a Super Bowl?”   Clearly the choices are nothing but a who’s who of head coaching.  Let the subjectivity begin.

Criteria, in no particular order, that we feel is mandatory to be considered follows.

1.  Longevity in the league– Longevity usually equates to demand for your ability.  Health reasons were considered.
2.  Won/loss record– Bill Parcells once famously said ” at the end of the year you are what your record says you are.”
3.  Pregame and in-game strategy– You have to have a plan of attack and you have to adjust to your opponents plan of attack.
4.  Maximizing your team’s ability– Coaches eventually have 53 players to work with.  Did they get all that they could out of the group?
5. Recognizing talent and using it– Coaches today have more say in personnel than yesterday.  Those that do have to obtain value (if FA cheaper than performance, if drafted better than round, if UDFA seeing something that others do not in a player).
6. Super Bowl wins and appearances- You are ultimately judged by getting your team to the biggest game of all and taking home the trophy.

We suspect that when objectivity (1,2,and 6 above) and subjectivity(3,4, and 5 above) cross paths the task of definitively ranking coaches is not possible.  When art meets science the eye and the mind don’t always agree.   Regardless, we press on.  Today we give you our fifth and fourth best.  Tomorrow we get to nos. 3, 2, and 1.  Also, there are many who deserve mention, honorable mention at that.  But, we chose to skip those for now to further the discussion.   Let the disagreement begin.

5.  Joe Gibbs- Gibbs won 154 regular season games in two head coaching stretches covering 16 NFL seasons all with the Washington Redskins.  An impressive four SB appearances resulted in three Lombardi Trophies.   Gibbs’ teams could score a lot, play stiff defense, and close out games.

Although Gibbs helped craft a passing-oriented attack during his time in San Diego as an OC, his Redskins teams were known to incorporate a smash-mouth, down hill rushing heavy attack.   By building a strong offensive line (“The Hogs”) Gibbs’ teams controlled the line of scrimmage, allowing workhorse running backs such as John Riggins, George Rogers, and Earnest Byner to power the ground game. Gibbs added a deep passing attack to this which complemented the ground game. Gibbs’ offense was aided during his tenure by aggressive defensive units under the direction of defensive coordinator Richie Petitbon.

Gibbs’ system and scheme were robust enough to be successful without a Hall-of-Fame-caliber quarterback at the helm. The Redskins’ Super Bowl victories were won featuring Joe Theismann, Doug Williams, and Mark Rypien—capable players who were complimentary parts.

Gibbs is credited with inventing the single back, double or triple tight end set. He used it to slow down Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor, realizing that to successfully block him with just a running back was all but impossible.   Gibbs was also credited for creating the Trips formation by stacking three wide receivers to one side. He added confusing shifting and motions to his offenses to further the complexity. The formations created defensive confusion. He is also one of a few coaches that used the H-back position prominently in his offense.

From 1981 to 1992 he lead the Skins to a 124-60 record.  That win percentage would rank fourth all time.  His second stint, nearly a decade removed from the game and at the begging of Daniel Snyder, finished 30-34.

 

4.  Bill Walsh- From 1979 to 1989 no one was better than the former Stanford coach.  Walsh, with an assist from Joe Montana, won three Super Bowls in ten seasons while making seven playoff runs.  His regular season winning percentage was a real good, but not great, 60%.  However, he inherited a team and an organization that was void of talent, leadership, and a winning culture.  His first two teams were 2-14, and 6-10 as the turnaround began.  Therefore, in his final eight years the San Fransisco 49ers record averaged an incredible 13 wins against three losses.  His final season(1988) and the Super Bowl win(1989) was followed by the team winning it all yet again under his disciple George Seifert in 1990.

Perhaps the eye Walsh had for on field talent was only surpassed by the eye he had for coaching excellence.  His coaching tree

is alive and well even today and is second to no one who came before or after.

Did Joe Montana have physical talent?  Yes.  But the cerebral Montana bought into Walsh’s ever evolving “west coast offense.”  Suddenly defenses needed to cover the total breadth and length of the field as Walsh would run when you thought he would throw it and throw it when you thought he would run it.  His formations and iterations thereof created mismatches the field over.  All of his offensive skill positions could catch and run afterwards putting enormous pressure on all 11 defensive players to properly cover their assignments.

Only Walsh’s relatively early retirement (10 years as a HC), hence shorter body of work, kept him from being listed higher.

Tomorrow we press on with our choices.  These five men are the some of the very best of the all time best.