Rank Your Top Current Head Coaches

My top ten...could make a case for just about any order after BB
Belichick
Payton
Carroll
Reid
Harbaugh
Mcvay
Pederson
Zimmer
Tomlin
Rivera
Too early to tell but coaches i like: Nagy, Reich, Vrabel, shanny
 
Thanks for starting the topic, I guess. Johnnyonthespot and I were going back and forth in a thread 2 weeks ago about Sean McDermott and it led to him asking for my top 10 coaches. I listed 15, which he had a few exceptions to, and he was probably right.

It’s tough to actually rank the coaches, in order. I think it’s a better idea to either do tiers, or make 2 lists, those you think are good (the haves) and those who are just not good (everyone else). I’m going to go with the latter here, and maybe we can come up with a more agreed upon tiers of coaches.

In no particular order, except that BB is at the top, ahead by a nice margin on everyone else...

Belichick
Payton
McVay
Pederson
Reid
Carroll
Nagy
Lynn
Harbaugh
Shanahan
Reich
JAY Gruden

That’s 12 coaches. The rest of the NFL employs head coaches that are not good at their jobs. Many of them make wonderful, top of the line coordinators, but as head coaches they don’t cut it. A couple/few on my list may be wrong, let’s hear who they are and we can discuss.
 
survive&advance said:
My top ten...could make a case for just about any order after BB
Belichick
Payton
Carroll
Reid
Harbaugh
Mcvay
Pederson
Zimmer
Tomlin
Rivera
Too early to tell but coaches i like: Nagy, Reich, Vrabel, shanny
Click to expand...

Like em all but Zimmer, Tomlin, and Rivera. Tomlin is a great motivator and cheerleader, he’s a horrible game day coach. Riverboat Ron is the most ironic nickname ever given, and Zimmer is just that old school mentality HC who’s being left in the dust right before our eyes.
 
Helps to have criteria to quantify questions like this. Or even if it is just opinion-based still need some criteria to base our answers on, even if it is just our opinion in the end..
 
austinhous said:
Helps to have criteria to quantify questions like this. Or even if it is just opinion-based still need some criteria to base our answers on, even if it is just our opinion in the end..
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Would you want them as the HC of your team? Kind of joking here, but not really.

Do they manage the clock well, do they "gamble" when necessary or when it's warranted by math, do they understand the review process and make good challenges, do they know when to go for 2, do they call the right type of game at the right time (this may fall more on coordinators though) if they are ahead or behind and depending on the time left in the game/half.

I don't think any of them, or very many of them are necessarily going to do ALL of those things great. The ones that are good at their jobs as NFL head coaches seem to be able to do many of those things well.
 
Matt Patricia is an engineer with a degree in rocket science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, but he's still a rookie - so I think experience plays a major role in who I'd want coaching my team. Should probably look at Marvin Lewis and ask what type of experience fully prepares you for that job though.
 
austinhous said:
Matt Patricia is an engineer with a degree in rocket science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, but he's still a rookie - so I think experience plays a major role in who I'd want coaching my team. Should probably look at Marvin Lewis and ask what type of experience fully prepares you for that job though.
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Patricia is an interesting one. Yes, he's a rocket scientist. Yes, he got to study under the best in the game and see how it's done. No, he doesn't seem to be able to do the things necessary on his own, which is honestly baffling. He IS an extremely smart guy, and he DOES know enough to be able to do the things I listed very well....but for some reason he has seemed to buckle under the pressure of the moment and makes decisions that leave most scratching their heads.

Yes, he's a rookie HC so maybe he needs a little more time, but it's quite possible he's just a great coordinator and not fit to be the keeper of the castle. Wade Phillips is a great example. Guys like Gregg WIlliams, Mike McCoy, Dick Lebeau, Chan Gailey, etc, etc are in this group. There's nothing wrong with being a great coordinator, and it does surprise me a lot when guys who clearly aren't HC's try and make the jump to HC. There isn't THAT much difference in money is there? Much less stress and responsibility, not to mention scrutiny, as well.
 
austinhous said:
Helps to have criteria to quantify questions like this. Or even if it is just opinion-based still need some criteria to base our answers on, even if it is just our opinion in the end..
Click to expand...

I didn‘t wanna overdetermine the discussion by providing those criteria myself
 
VirginiaCavs said:
I didn‘t wanna overdetermine the discussion by providing those criteria myself
Click to expand...

It's obviously all opinion based anyway, but there has to be some type of criteria we're talking about. I assume we aren't looking for guys who are good motivators, or "player's coaches" who you wouldn't trust making the right decisions on game days. I would think that most guys on here would agree with at least a handful, if not more, of the "top" coaches in the league...interested to see if that's true.
 
jedi ninja said:
Like em all but Zimmer, Tomlin, and Rivera. Tomlin is a great motivator and cheerleader, he’s a horrible game day coach. Riverboat Ron is the most ironic nickname ever given, and Zimmer is just that old school mentality HC who’s being left in the dust right before our eyes.
Click to expand...
I totally agree. I think it speaks to the number of quality coaches in the league (or lack thereof) that I have them in my top ten. I’m pretty high on Reich and Nagy, just too early to gauge them
 
jedi ninja said:
Patricia is an interesting one. Yes, he's a rocket scientist. Yes, he got to study under the best in the game and see how it's done. No, he doesn't seem to be able to do the things necessary on his own, which is honestly baffling. He IS an extremely smart guy, and he DOES know enough to be able to do the things I listed very well....but for some reason he has seemed to buckle under the pressure of the moment and makes decisions that leave most scratching their heads.

Yes, he's a rookie HC so maybe he needs a little more time, but it's quite possible he's just a great coordinator and not fit to be the keeper of the castle. Wade Phillips is a great example. Guys like Gregg WIlliams, Mike McCoy, Dick Lebeau, Chan Gailey, etc, etc are in this group. There's nothing wrong with being a great coordinator, and it does surprise me a lot when guys who clearly aren't HC's try and make the jump to HC. There isn't THAT much difference in money is there? Much less stress and responsibility, not to mention scrutiny, as well.
Click to expand...


I think Patricia could possibly the worst coach in the league.

He has no killer instinct. Will punt all day long. On late drives he will kick useless fgoals instead of going for tds.

Patricia is not head coach material.

I wasn’t impressed by his defenses performance in any of The super bowl patriot teams. He consistently got lit up.

I find his tactics are out dated. They worked for Bill but they won’t work for matriciab.

Mayricia isn’t too smart of a coach. I mean after all he accepted the lions head coach job.

Caldwell was much better
 
There is a site called headcoachranking.com. They use the following criteria, assign an HCR score, and then adjust the rankings weekly...1. Play calling 2. Personnel utilization 3. Game planning 4. In-game adjustments and 5. Clock management. It looks as if they're missing a few items that have been mentioned such as 4th down punt/go for it, when to go for 2, and challenges, but it seems to be the most comprehensive rankings out there (that I've found thus far at least).

Here is their current top 10:
1. Payton 8.2
2. Reid 8.0
3. McVay 7.9
4. Nagy 7.8
T5 Belichick 7.7
T5 Harbaugh 7.7
7. Williams 7.5
T8 Lynn 7.4
T8 Carroll 7.4
10. Reich 7.2

I think they're on to something. That's a pretty damn good list.

The bottom 5 are Wilks, Jon Gruden, Marrone, McDermott, and Shurmur
 
1 Sean Payton
2 John Harbaugh
3 Kyle Shannahan
4 Pete Carroll
5 Bill Bilichick
6. Sean McVay
7. Mike Tomlin
8. Matt Nagy
9. Frank Reich
10. Andy Reid

HM: Lynn, McDermott, Gase

Prolly have some of the new guys too low but need to see sustainability other than Shanny who has the pedigree, horse racing style, and somehow kept the Niners engaged this year. Harbaugh constantly deals with a wtf type roster yet Ravens, even if they don't make the playoffs, are ridiculously competitive annually. Good luck if they fire him. BB is anointed but he's not the same, completely feels like he's hanging on by Tommy's jock at this point. Couple more blunders he's not on the list, it is supposed to be current I assume. Tomlin....holy shit the fact he takes that cast of misfits, whom the media declare are talent everywhere (somewhat agree) but drama everywhere (wholeheartedly agree, starts with the rapist QB that seems lost) to the playoffs year in and year out is borderline a miracle. Tired of hearing how great they should be, it's a soap opera that to me doesn't seem manageable, yet there they are. Andy great for most of the game but damn he just goes into his shell when the game is on the line.

Rarely think about stuff like this, it's so fluent, and last year means nothing if you suck this year in coaching, so try to find those coaches who I consider to have their teams play hard in spite of public/media perception (Tomlin classic case, gotta get old hearing how great they should be when reality is they are a basket case that seems to be holding on by a thread, coach Rapelisburger needs to go, bottom of the league)
 
Bottom 5 is Gruden lol. I always wonder what those quarterbacks were really thinking when Gruden was on espn showing them video footage and „grilling“ them lmao
 
I’m not a Tomlin fan by any means, far too often his teams fail to be motivated for games (see last year’s divisional game vs Jax) and he’s not great at making adjustments. However, his record speaks for itself and the fact that Pitt continually has a talented roster has to be worth something (sure, it could be great scouting but you have to give credit for that). Again, I’m not a fan but in the overall context of NFL head coaching he’s top 12
 
survive&advance said:
I’m not a Tomlin fan by any means, far too often his teams fail to be motivated for games (see last year’s divisional game va Jax) and he’s not great at making adjustments. However, his record speaks for itself and the fact that Pitt continually has a talented roster has to be worth something (sure, it could be great scouting but you have to give credit for that). Again, I’m not a fan but in the overall context of NFL head coaching he’s top 12
Click to expand...

Outside of the winning, he's not a good HC. He doesn't make adjustments as you mentioned, and he's not good with the intricacies of coaching like clock management, etc. The fact that Pittsburgh has a talented roster year in and year out should speak to the GM, not the coach, In fact, I think it would detract from the HC if he's always playing with a stacked deck and isn't winning the big one.

Of course he has won a ton of games, there's no discounting that...but is that because he's had an unbelievable amount of talent on the roster or because he's a great coach? I'd tend to think the former. For the past 3-5 years he has arguably had the best WR, the best RB, and a top 5 QB on his roster. Give a guy who can actually coach football and make the right adjustments, as well as do the "little big things" right and you'd have a team who is in the SB every single year it would seem.

He's seems to be a great motivator (or at least was for most of his career), and seems like one of those "players' coaches." And again, he's won a lot of football games...but when the big game is nigh, do you really want HIM as your HC going into that game? That's a question I don't think most people would honestly say yes to.
 
BB the best of all time by far but only fifth best this year with one of his worst teams ever?? ok. I call bullshit.
 
RetroVK said:
BB the best of all time by far but only fifth best this year with one of his worst teams ever?? ok. I call bullshit.
Click to expand...

Can’t say I disagree with you too much, but that site has a system they use and it seems pretty extensive compare to anything else out there. If you notice the scores next to the coaches, he’s also not that far out of the top 3, or even the top spot.

The thing with BB is that the Pats are always ahead of the curve with rules changes and things of that nature. He takes the job seriously in his preparation, and it shows. Also, the way he turns guys into team players, like Randy Moss and now Josh Gordon is just remarkable. There isn’t another coach on the planet who could do what he does with “outcasts.” I think that speaks to his value as a HC more than most anything else.

As far as the rules end of it, there was a story I read not too long ago about a meeting the NFL held about the new rules changes and what it meant for everyone. It was a voluntary meeting. I think something like 12 people attended the meeting...4 of those 12 were from the Patriots staff. That’s crazy.
 
KJ said:
Zimmer woulda been top 3 last year. This season I'd rather have Jerry Kill
Click to expand...

Would have been in who’s top 3? If you’re referring to that site (you may not be), they come right out and say that wins and losses have little effect on their ratings. Just because a team wins games doesn’t mean it’s because of their coach...many times it’s in spite of their coach. It’s also true though that the coaches who are good at what they’re quantifying are going to win more games.
 
jedi ninja said:
Patricia is an interesting one. Yes, he's a rocket scientist. Yes, he got to study under the best in the game and see how it's done. No, he doesn't seem to be able to do the things necessary on his own, which is honestly baffling. He IS an extremely smart guy, and he DOES know enough to be able to do the things I listed very well....but for some reason he has seemed to buckle under the pressure of the moment and makes decisions that leave most scratching their heads.

Yes, he's a rookie HC so maybe he needs a little more time, but it's quite possible he's just a great coordinator and not fit to be the keeper of the castle. Wade Phillips is a great example. Guys like Gregg WIlliams, Mike McCoy, Dick Lebeau, Chan Gailey, etc, etc are in this group. There's nothing wrong with being a great coordinator, and it does surprise me a lot when guys who clearly aren't HC's try and make the jump to HC. There isn't THAT much difference in money is there? Much less stress and responsibility, not to mention scrutiny, as well.
Click to expand...

I not only believe that Patricia will be a total flop as a head coach but I don't even think he was a good coordinator.
 
1 Belichick
2 Payton
3 Carroll
4 McVay
5 Pederson
6 Harbaugh
7 Reich
8 Shanahan
9 Reid
10 Rivera
11 Nagy
12 Gase
13 McDermott
14 O'Brien
15 Jay Gruden
16 Garrett
17 Zimmer
18 Lynn
19 Gruden
20 Quinn
21 Williams
22 Shurmur
23 Vrabel
24 Marrone
25 Tomlin
26 Koetter
27 Philbin
28 Patricia
29 Lewis
30 Joseph
31 Wilks
32 Bowles

Going through this list makes me realize just how many terrible coaches there are.
 
jedi ninja said:
Outside of the winning, he's not a good HC. He doesn't make adjustments as you mentioned, and he's not good with the intricacies of coaching like clock management, etc. The fact that Pittsburgh has a talented roster year in and year out should speak to the GM, not the coach, In fact, I think it would detract from the HC if he's always playing with a stacked deck and isn't winning the big one.

Of course he has won a ton of games, there's no discounting that...but is that because he's had an unbelievable amount of talent on the roster or because he's a great coach? I'd tend to think the former. For the past 3-5 years he has arguably had the best WR, the best RB, and a top 5 QB on his roster. Give a guy who can actually coach football and make the right adjustments, as well as do the "little big things" right and you'd have a team who is in the SB every single year it would seem.

He's seems to be a great motivator (or at least was for most of his career), and seems like one of those "players' coaches." And again, he's won a lot of football games...but when the big game is nigh, do you really want HIM as your HC going into that game? That's a question I don't think most people would honestly say yes to.
Click to expand...
Agree, I dont really want him as the HC going into a big game. But again, there’s not a ton of better options- especially when he’s won the biggest game of them all. If you rather have Shanahan over him for a super bowl contest, be my guest- dude hasn’t even sniffed the playoffs in his first two years as head coach and was largely responsible for blowing a 28-3 lead in the super bowl as an OC lmfao....Regarding talent, I dont know how the Pitt FO operates but the HC impacts every roster- scouting, drafting, development, roster cuts, etc. the HC is involved in varying degrees, not just the GM.
 
He is winning with Ben overrated qb Roesthlisberger.

He is one of the most over-appreciated players in the league.
 
Putting BB 5th is laughable. I'll leave it at that. I think over time if he gets the talent that Vrabel will end up being a good coach. He's smart but more importantly he has emotional intelligence that's very strong and knows how to motivate. But he will need talent and good assistants for us to find out if he has what it takes.

Gotta love BB in his press conferences....when he got tired of all the Miami questions he said " Guys, no one died ok"
 
RetroVK said:
He is winning with Ben overrated qb Roesthlisberger.

He is one of the most over-appreciated players in the league.
Click to expand...
I have to disagree, he is not appreciated at all. Never gets mentioned with the top bunch and without him they are a 3 or 4 win team. Watch what happens once he is gone. Tomlin lucked into having a Hall of Fame QB.
 
And I see the other side, like every year Tomlin is holding his breath trying to stay afloat with not only a locker room cancer, but a media cancer and completely overvalued QB for the last 6+ years. Similar to Favre, headaches wayyyyyyy outweigh what he did almost a decade ago.
 
If anyone had Vance Joseph anywhere near the middle or top of their list, can’t possibly anymore after last night. Kicking a FG to still trail inside the 5 yd line with your season on the line and 4 minutes left is pretty bad. Chances are they were out of playoffs no matter what, but if they had ANY chance, they had to win last night.
 
jedi ninja said:
If anyone had Vance Joseph anywhere near the middle or top of their list, can’t possibly anymore after last night. Kicking a FG to still trail inside the 5 yd line with your season on the line and 4 minutes left is pretty bad. Chances are they were out of playoffs no matter what, but if they had ANY chance, they had to win last night.
Click to expand...

Keenum 28 1h throws. What kind of dumbass plans for that to happen???
 
jedi ninja said:
Not sure what you’re getting at here. I wouldn’t think it was a plan they had coming into the game.
Click to expand...

But they weren‘t behind or otherwise in a situation where they were forced to abandon the pass? Seems like they never planned to run??
 
VirginiaCavs said:
But they weren‘t behind or otherwise in a situation where they were forced to abandon the pass? Seems like they never planned to run??
Click to expand...

They couldn’t run the ball past the line of scrimmage every time they tried. At least that’s sure what it looked like watching the
beginning of the game.

They had 10 yards on 10 carries in the first half. That includes an 11 yd run.
 
jedi ninja said:
They couldn’t run the ball past the line of scrimmage every time they tried. At least that’s sure what it looked like watching the
beginning of the game.

They had 10 yards on 10 carries in the first half.
Click to expand...

Then why not do swing passes, bubble screens, stuff like that as opposed to drop back and throw it down the field?
 
Vance Joseph kicked a field goal rather than try to win (and save his job)
On Saturday night, the Broncos were down four, facing fourth-and-1 from the Cleveland 6-yard line. There were under five minutes to play and Denver had, like, one healthy cornerback. Vance Joseph — who had just moments before used a CORRECT challenge for once in his damn life — decided to kick a field goal. So then the Broncos trailed 17-16.

Joseph tried to defend the decision after the game.

“I want points there. We had one timeout and the two-minute warning, so I trust our defense to get a stop there. If we don’t get points there, a touchdown has to win it. It was my decision to take the points.”

Broncos players told SI’s Robert Klemko that they wanted to go for the win. Browns players were surprised they didn’t.

The Broncos lost by a score of — yup, you guessed it — 17-16. They were also officially eliminated from playoff contention this weekend. That’ll probably do it for the Joseph era in Denver.
 
Again, a brilliant call by a brilliant man who also had Browns +1 and Donks tt under. When he gets canned he should have a fat account in the Caymans with his name on it awaiting.
 
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