While I do not think he is THE BEST, I think Mike Shanahan deserves to be on that list. Unfortunately I have to pick Billicheat, his team is always a threat.:shit:
I disagree with that. If Shanahan's in the conversation, I think Cowher and Dungy have to enter as well. Plus, Mike Shanahan is a douchebag.
Uhhh, Shanny has two rings and coached possibly one of the greatest teams EVER in the 1998 Broncos...I don't know if he's a douchebag but I do know he is one hell of a coach.
I'm not disagreeing with that. Maybe Shanahan is responsible for Elway's and Davis' and Sharpe's greatness and not the other way around. I don't know. I don't think so, though. He's a douchebag and a hell of a coach. The best head coach since 1970? Come on...
OK, I gotcha. But if everybody agrees that he isn't the best, why include him in the conversation, ya know?
I see your point, and I always like a good discussion:smile:. Madden clearly isn't the best but he was mentioned, ya know?
I voted Walsh. His innovation and legacy are such that in my opinion he is the top. Another interesting topic: Walsh's coaching tree vs. Parcels
Voted Madden due to my complete bias. But the man did have the best winning percentage this side of Vince Lombardi, and went to 5 championship games in 10 years, with one Super Bowl win. And a winning record against each and every HOF coach he faced, including names like Noll, Landry, and Shula, look it up. And I have to say, if anyone wants to include Shanahan I will have to trump that with the truly underappreciated Tom Flores. 2-0 in the big game over Vermeil and Gibbs by a combined score of 65-19 should get him more notoriety than he has! Great thread idea by the way...
Yeah, but, Noll had a 3 to 2 edge in the postseason. 1972- Steelers, 13-7 (at Pitt) 1973- Raiders, 33-14 (at Oak) 1974- Steelers, 24-13 (at Oak) 1975- Steelers, 16-10 (at Pitt) 1976- Raiders, 24-7 (at Oak) The Raiders went 12-2 under Jon Rauch in '68 and Madden took over the next year. It's similar to Jon Gruden taking over the Buccaneers in 2002, George Seifert following Walsh in '89, and Jim Caldwell leading the Colts last year. Only total clowns like Bill Peterson and Richie Kotite and Marty Mornhinweg would have failed with those particular teams. Certainly the team kept winning with Madden and obviously he gets a ton of credit for it. Madden's winning percentage was high because he did not have to rebuild a team. Noll, Walsh, and Parcells, among other greats, had to suffer through at least one awful season before they got their teams turned around. It would have been interesting if Madden caught the coaching bug a few years after he was done in Oakland. Imagine if he took the Saints job after their 1-15 season in 1980. Would Madden in New Orleans or Madden in Baltimore or Madden in Houston have been as pathetic as Seifert in Carolina? We'll never know. Some will point to Madden's 1-6 record in championship games as a major problem. "Couldn't get over the hump"- that kind of thing. Of course, the one that he did win came against a heavily injured Steelers team.
True, but that includes the Immaculate Reception, in Pittsburgh, pretty tough to pin that loss on Madden. True he didn't have to rebuild the team. But if it were easy to take over a winner and keep rolling for 10 years, we might see names like Ray Handley on this list. Plus Madden had to change QBs, going from Lamonica to the untested (at the time) Stabler. As for the "injured Steelers" angle in '76, I reject it. The Raiders also beat that Steeler team in the opener that year and in the opener the next year in Pittsburgh. The Steeler D was fine, by all accounts the best D they ever had was in '76, and the Raiders handled them up front. That was the ballgame.
The Steelers offense was definitely weaker in the 1976 AFC Championship game with the losses of Harris and Bleier. Harris had 132 yards on only 18 carries the week before. But you are absolutely correct by saying the 1976 Steelers defense may have been the best the Steelers had during the entire decade of the 1970's and the Raiders were able to run on them very well and Stabler was able to make a few plays in the passing game.
IMO, it's very close between Walsh, Parcells and Belichick. I voted Parcells. How many other coaches have taken over (either as a HC or GM/Personnel role) and not only made an almost immediate impact, but left a wake of success for each and every one of those teams? I also feel Parcells, as a HC, was able to accomplish an astonishing amount with only average QBs. Walsh had Montana, Belichick has Brady. Who did Parcells have? Simms? Bledsoe? Had either Walsh or Belichick had any success outside of their dynastic teams, I would probably give one of them the nod over Parcells.
