Greatest Football Coaches of All Time
Football is as much a mental sport as it is physical. Characterized by running and passing strategies along with solid, iron clad defenses, the appeal and raw nature of the game draws millions of fans to stadiums each year. For a team to be successful, each player must fully and flawlessly execute his responsibility on the field. As much as the success of a team depends on the quality and ability of its athletes, behind every victorious team is a dedicated and hardworking head football coach.
There have been many talented and exceptional head football coaches throughout the history of the sport, both professional and collegiate. Some of these great head coaches may be well known today while others have somewhat vanished into obscurity, forgotten along with their achievements of the past. However, great accomplishments deserve recognition, and the following coaches are considered some of the greatest football coaches of all time.
A man considered to be just about the greatest professional football coach of all time is Don Shula. He is best known as the head coach of the Miami Dolphins, and he has the most wins of any coach in professional football. His 1972 Miami Dolphins went undefeated and scored the only perfect season in the history of professional football. While the head coach of the Dolphins from 1970-1995, Shula coached six Super Bowls but won only two. His career as a head coach spanned thirty-three seasons. He is recognized for coaching the most games and the most consecutive seasons.
In the 40 years George Halas was a head football coach, he only suffered six losing seasons. He began his coaching career in 1921 and is best remembered as the head football coach of the Chicago Bears. When Halas began his career, he not only coached the team, but he managed the team business and was a player as well. Between coaching and serving in two world wars, Halas made his mark in American’s history by serving his country and in the history of the NFL by his talents as a coach. His team won its last championship in 1963, and Halas retired from coaching in 1967.
In 1960, Tom Landry became the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. He remained with the Cowboys for 29 seasons from 1960-1988. While with the Cowboys, he coached the team to two Super Bowl championships. He is credited with having the most playoff victories of any of the football coaches in the NFL, and he was head coach for twenty consecutive seasons. Landry is also credited with inventing the “4-3 defense,” which many football coaches used to pattern their own defensive strategies.
Two other professional head coaches that were exceptional football coaches during their time in the NFL were Earl “Curly” Lambeau and Chuck Noll. Lambeu was the founder and first head coach of the Green Bay Packers, while Noll spent his head coaching career with the Pittsburgh Steelers. During his 33 years of coaching, Lambeau’s team won six NFL Championships. Noll coached the Steelers for 23 seasons, and walked away from the game with four Super Bowl championships to his credit.
College football also boasts some legendary head coaches with noteworthy accomplishments. Bear Bryant was the head coach at the University of Alabama for 25 years, and won six national titles and sixteen South Eastern Conference (SEC) championships. Joe Paterno, the current head coach at Penn State, has served as the Nittany Lion’s head coach for 43 seasons. Paterno has more bowl wins that any other football coach in college history.
Another accomplished, current head football coach is Bobby Bowden of Florida State University (FSU). Bowden has suffered only one losing season in his 31 years at head coach at FSU, and only Joe Paterno has won more bowl games than Bowden. Fielding Yost, who spent 25 years with the University of Michigan, had an outstanding season in 1901. During the 1901 season, not a single opponent scored on the Wolverines that entire season.
For every great team there is a great head football coach.