In a column yesterday, ESPN Senior Writer John Clayton ranked the 31 coaches that have won a Super Bowl. It's an interesting, timely endeavor. 11 of the 31 Super Bowl-winning coaches have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Those 11 have accounted for 22 Super Bowl titles. Clayton's ranking isn't dependent solely on Super Bowl success. He factors in regular season success as well as impact on the game. Here's his ranking.
1. Vince Lombardi, Green Bay Packers
Super Bowl titles: I, II
2. Bill Belichick, New England Patriots
Super Bowl titles: XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX, XLIX
3. Chuck Noll, Pittsburgh Steelers
Super Bowl titles: IX, X, XIII, XIV
4. Bill Walsh, San Francisco 49ers
Super Bowl titles: XVI, XIX, XXXIII
5. Don Shula, Miami Dolphins
Super Bowl titles: VII, VIII
6. Joe Gibbs, Washington Redskins
Super Bowl titles: XVII, XXII, XXVI
7. Tom Landry, Dallas Cowboys
Super Bowl titles: VI, XII
8. Bill Parcells, New York Giants
Super Bowl titles: XXI, XXV
9. Jimmy Johnson, Dallas Cowboys
Super Bowl titles: XVII, XVIII
10. Mike Shanahan, Denver Broncos
Super Bowl titles: XXXII, XXXIII
11. Mike Holmgren, Green Bay Packers
Super Bowl title: XXXI
12. Tom Coughlin, New York Giants
Super Bowl titles: XLII, XLVI
13. John Madden, Oakland Raiders
Super Bowl title: XI
14. Hank Stram, Kansas City Chiefs
Super Bowl title: IV
15. Tom Flores, Oakland Raiders
Super Bowl titles: XV, XVIII
16. George Seifert
Super Bowl titles: XXIV, XXIX
17. Tony Dungy, Indianapolis Colts
Super Bowl title: XLI
18. Pete Carroll, Seattle Seahawks
Super Bowl title: XLVIII
19. Bill Cowher, Pittsburgh Steelers
Super Bowl title: XL
20. Dick Vermeil, St. Louis Rams
Super Bowl title: XXXIV
21. Mike McCarthy, Green Bay Packers
Super Bowl title: XLV
22. Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers
Super Bowl title: XLIII
23. Jon Gruden, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Super Bowl title: XXXVII
24. Mike Ditka, Chicago Bears
Super Bowl title: XX
25. Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints
Super Bowl title: XLIV
26. John Harbaugh, Baltimore Ravens
Super Bowl title: XLVII
27. Brian Billick, Baltimore Ravens
Super Bowl title: XXXV
28. Gary Kubiak, Denver Broncos
Super Bowl title: L
29. Weeb Ewbank, New York Jets
Super Bowl title: III
30. Don McCafferty, Baltimore Colts
Super Bowl title: V
31. Barry Swtizer, Dallas Cowboys
Super Bowl title: XXX
It's a fine list and Clayton has reasonable reasons for ranking the coaches as he did. Personally, I'd make a few changes. I'd bump Joe Gibbs ahead of Don Shula for the simple fact that he led three mostly different teams to Super Bowl titles. Shula led one great team to back-to-back titles. Then he watched the offense on his great team gutted by WFL defections. Gibbs had an excellent 17-7 postseason record. Shula was 19-17 in the postseason. I think that Jon Gruden is a little high. He took over a Super Bowl-ready team, made ready by Tony Dungy, and lead them to a Super Bowl title. Maybe Gruden got that talented Buccaneers team over the hump but he didn't really sustain that level of play. He had has many losing seasons as winning after winning it all. I'd switch Gruden and John Harbaugh in the rankings. In addition to winning Super Bowl XLVII Harbaugh has a sparkling 10-5 playoff record. I don't understand the ranking of Weeb Ewbank way down at #29. He's a Hall of Fame coach. His best coaching days were in the decade before the Super Bowl days with the 1950s Colts but he led the Jets to one of the biggest upsets in sports history. The Jets upset of the Colts in Super Bowl III is one of the most significant games in NFL history. That has to count for something better than the bottom of a ranking of Super Bowl-winning coaches.
One of the more interesting aspects of Clayton's list, and really any ranking of Super Bowl-winning coaches, is the spot held by Jimmy Johnson. Clayton has him at #9. That respect is expected. Any reasonable ranking should have Johnson somewhere near Tom Landry and Bill Parcells. If that's reasonable why isn't Johnson in the Pro Football Hall of Fame? Is it because he didn't lead the Miami Dolphins to the same title success that he led the Cowboys? He led the Dolphins to the playoffs in three of his four seasons with two postseason wins. Was his success with the Cowboys too sudden? Few coaches have ever built a powerhouse team more efficiently. He built a team that was so good that it even got Barry Switzer on Clayton's list.
Fun football stuff, John Clayton.
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