As one legendary NFL coach once put it: Leaders are made, they are not born.
In the rich tapestry that is pro football history, we’ve seen a lot of different personalities roam on NFL sidelines. The league has not been short on firebrands willing to start contentious feuds all over the country on a whim. It’s had more than its fair of eccentrics whose singular focus on football served them and their players quite well. More often than not, in fact, the classic “Football Guy” coach is who our obsessive American culture has lionized as a hero time and again.
There have also been a lot of awful coaches in NFL history. “Black Monday” doesn’t become a de facto “holiday” for the sport without a consistent churn of incompetence. Some folks just don’t deserve that famous headset. They are not leaders, and they can’t be made into them.
But, every now and then, we’ve seen a truly great coach rise from previous irrelevance. That person with an undeniable charm, drive, and a forward-thinking approach to the games. That person who resonates with their team and fans. These are the sideline leaders we revere. These people elevate the sum of their parts, wring out every last drop of talent and effort from their squads, and become a staple of their city’s history.
The list below breaks down the best-ever coach for all 32 NFL teams. It accounts for performance, cultural impact, longevity, and even whether someone was simply the most prudent pick of an otherwise forgettable litter. Some of these selections are obvious no-brainers, ones who are probably already on your mind. Others, there was a bit more debate.
Let’s dive in.
Also check out:
- The best quarterback in franchise history for all 32 NFL teams.
- The best running back in franchise history for all 32 NFL teams.
- The best wide receiver in franchise history for all 32 NFL teams.
Arizona Cardinals: Don Coryell
With somewhat due respect to Ken Whisenhunt (and Arizona’s Kurt Warner), the innovative Coryell gets the nod for bringing the Cardinals into relevance. He won the 1974 Coach of the Year award and had just one losing season in half a decade.
Atlanta Falcons: Dan Reeves
Reeves gets credit for shepherding two separate successful eras of Falcons football. First, when he guided Chris Chandler and Co. to Super Bowl 33. Then, when the uber-talented Michael Vick came under his tutelage just a few years later. To this day, Reeves remains tied for the all-time lead in franchise playoff wins (3) and is one of just two coaches in Atlanta’s history to take the team to the Big Game.
Baltimore Ravens: John Harbaugh
The Ravens having a short approximate three-decade existence made this a chip shot. Harbaugh brought the Super Bowl 47 championship to Baltimore, has 11 playoff wins in 14 years, and has just two losing seasons in that same time frame. Harbaugh is a model of consistency and remains one of the sport’s most steady hands as he enters his 15th campaign.
Buffalo Bills: Marv Levy
Levy never fulfilled the city of Buffalo’s greatest dream — winning the Super Bowl — but he still created immeasurable joy in Western New York for over a decade. During Levy’s tenure, the Bills were the class of the AFC and a perennial championship contender going toe to toe with the league’s elite. Some will view four consecutive Super Bowl losses as a failure, but it is more of a testament to Levy’s leadership that the Bills qualified for pro football’s biggest stage that many times in a row. He is a Hall of Fame coach for a good reason.
Carolina Panthers: Ron Rivera
We’re not exactly clearing a high bar here, but how could anyone possibly deny the power of “Riverboat” Ron? The Panthers won three playoff games under Rivera, most notably making a deep run to Super Bowl 50. In terms of aggressive forward-thinking coaches — at the time, anyway — there probably couldn’t have been a better steward than Rivera for Cam Newton, perhaps the most gifted player in franchise history.
Chicago Bears: George Halas
The founder, one of its original players, and owner of the NFL’s charter franchise, we are likely not even having this conversation about every team’s greatest coach if it isn’t for “Papa Bear” Halas. To this day, nearly five decades after he last coached the Bears, Halas is second on the NFL’s all-time wins list with 318. He also has the second-most championships all-time with five. Halas is one of only two NFL coaches to win a title in three different decades.
Cincinnati Bengals: Sam Wyche
It was a close race, but Wyche edges out names like Marvin Lewis and, yes (shudders), even Zac Taylor. Why? It was Wyche who made the Bengals a worthwhile spectacle in the 1980s. It was Wyche who won an AFC title and helped turn Boomer Esiason into an MVP. It was Wyche, who, for almost a decade, was one of the NFL’s more distinguishable sideline faces.
Cleveland Brown: Paul Brown
*Looks at Browns’ record for the past three decades*
*Looks at the Browns’ literal nickname*
Mhm-hmm. Before Brady and Belichick, there was Brown and Graham.
Dallas Cowboys: Tom Landry
Landry coached the Cowboys for nearly three decades, was at the helm when they became “America’s Team,” and won two Super Bowls. For better or worse, there might not be a human being more responsible for the Cowboys becoming a genuine American institution than the legendary Landry.
Denver Broncos: Mike Shanahan
Once the hotshot offensive coordinator of Steve Young’s heyday in San Francisco, Shanahan parlayed his success into a decade-plus of excellence at Mile High. Under Shanahan’s guidance, the Broncos enjoyed seven double-digit win seasons, won two Super Bowls, and entrenched themselves in the core of Colorado culture.
Detroit Lions: George Wilson
Wilson only made the playoffs once as the Lions coach, but he didn’t waste the chance, taking the franchise to its last championship win in 1957. His two playoff victories that year are one more than each of his successors combined since. This is not a high bar for the time being, especially given Detroit’s perennial and historical futility, but Wilson has earned his status nonetheless.
Green Bay Packers: Vince Lombardi
To some, Lombardi is the greatest coach in sports history, let alone the best the Packers have ever had. A tough, no-nonsense Italian-American, Lombardi brought a similar mentality to Green Bay as its head coach and general manager in the late 1950s. In turn, the Packers became an unmitigated dynasty, winning five championships in nine years under Lombardi. The next time a modern Super Bowl champion hoists the aptly-named “Lombardi Trophy,” remember why.
Houston Texans: Gary Kubiak
It’s Kubiak by default, but only because the Texans are such a young expansion franchise, still barely over two decades old. After Houston flailed around during its first few years of existence, it was Kubiak who finally gave the Texans a little wind under their sails. As their coach, Kubiak’s Texans only had three losing campaigns in nine years, and they won their first-ever playoff game in 2011. Not bad for an expansion team.
Indianapolis Colts: Weeb Ewbank
For the purposes of this list, we are including when the Colts resided in Baltimore because that history doesn’t just get erased. Ewbank was never great in the regular season, finishing just seven games over .500 during his time as Colts coach. But in only the two instances his squad qualified for the playoffs — led by Johnny Unitas — they repeated as NFL champions in 1958-1959.
Jacksonville Jaguars: Tom Coughlin
Coughlin’s greatest claim to fame was when he coached in New York, but he’s definitely the top coach the Jaguars have ever had. Another expansion franchise in 1995, Coughlin quickly transformed Jacksonville into a playoff-contending powerhouse. During their first five years in the NFL, the Jaguars won four playoff games and earned four consecutive playoff berths — a mind-boggling number for any team that young. Some far more established organizations continually struggle to even make the playoffs in two straight years. Jacksonville has been trying to capture similar lightning in a bottle ever since.
Kansas City Chiefs: Andy Reid
Up until last year, you could’ve convinced me this was the influential Hank Stram, the organization’s pioneer coach and a man who won three championships (two AFL, one Super Bowl). But it’s Andy Reid now, and the numbers don’t lie. Eight playoff appearances in nine years, 117 wins, three AFC titles, and two Super Bowls. And with someone like the incandescent Patrick Mahomes as his quarterback, Reid is far from finished stacking wins and trophies in Kansas City.
Las Vegas Raiders: John Madden
The late and legendary Madden spent a decade with the Raiders. He never had a losing season, had six double-digit win campaigns, and took then-Oakland to six AFC title games in seven playoff appearances. A win in Super Bowl 11 remains his career hallmark. Oh, and Madden had over 70 wins more than losses. Simply put: He earned his place and title for the eponymous video game franchise. Yes, I will always “ask Madden.”
Los Angeles Chargers: Sid Gillman
Once again, I’m somewhat cheating here because 1. Gillman never coached the Chargers in the NFL, and 2. They were still in San Diego when he coached them. But we can’t deny his accomplishments otherwise. To this day, he is responsible for the franchise’s only championship of any kind in 1963, and he should be credited for helping make pro football a generally more offensive game.
Los Angeles Rams: Sean McVay
An offensive genius with the requisite photographic memory, McVay took the Rams’ reins in 2017 and never looked back. Even while L.A. has shuffled its roster aplenty in his six coaching seasons, McVay can boast two NFC titles, one Super Bowl win (56), and just one losing campaign. McVay’s resume makes the respective catalogs of previous Rams coaches like Dick Vermeill and Mike Martz pale in comparison.
Miami Dolphins: Don Shula
Shula’s laundry list of Miami accomplishments speaks for itself.
- 257 wins
- 16 playoff berths in 26 years (17 playoff wins)
- Two Super Bowl wins
- Four AFC titles
The man presided over an unprecedented era of football brilliance in South Beach that any of his successors will find it challenging to ever come close to matching.
Minnesota Vikings: Bud Grant
The leader of the infamous “Purple People Eaters” Vikings, Grant almost single-handedly turned the organization into a Minnesota institution. In 18 years leading football’s “Norsemen,” Grant had just five losing seasons. And while he never delivered a championship, qualifying for the Super Bowl on four occasions during the late 1960s and 1970s is nothing to sneeze at.
New England Patriots: Bill Belichick
Perhaps the greatest coach in football history, period. Even with the Tom Brady era in the rearview mirror, it’s hard to imagine any soul ever replicating what Belichick constructed during the first two decades of the 21st century. Thirty playoff wins (and 18 postseason berths). Nine AFC titles. Six Super Bowl wins — three more than the next closest coach. Belichick’s Patriots of this early millennium are the best NFL dynasty ever, and, to most, he will appropriately go down as the best coach ever.
New Orleans Saints: Sean Payton
Before Payton took over, the Saints were a perennial laughingstock. He not only brought legitimacy to New Orleans, he helped it push through an unreal crisis in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. His Saints were the perfect balm for a city in pain. Payton’s 161 wins (including playoffs) in 15 years and a victory in Super Bowl 44 speak for themselves.
New York Giants: Bill Parcells
It was a close race between Parcells and Coughlin on a count of their two Super Bowl wins each, but Parcells gets the nod for longevity and consistency. Coughlin’s respective Giants Super Bowl triumphs were flashes in the plan, as random and unexpected as they get in this silly sport. Parcells’ championships were the byproduct of one of the NFL’s premier organizations for nearly a decade. Parcells is a coaching icon, regardless of sport, for his accomplishments with Big Blue.
New York Jets: Rex Ryan
Ryan never won a championship for Gang Green, but he did take the Jets to back-to-back AFC title game appearances at the start of his tenure. The list of New York B coaches presents such a low bar that two deep playoff runs and almost nothing else is enough to cement Ryan at the top.
Philadelphia Eagles: Doug Pederson
I almost hedged and picked Andy Reid again, but he never broke the Eagles’ championship drought. Such a distinction belongs to Pederson after guiding Philadelphia through the 2017 postseason to a title with a backup quarterback (Nick Foles). He will never have to buy a drink or dinner in the city again.
Pittsburgh Steelers: Chuck Noll
If Mike Tomlin had just one more Super Bowl victory, I probably would’ve given him the nod. Instead, it’s hard to argue with Chuck Noll’s “Steel Curtain” Steelers of the 1970s and his four (count it, 4!) Super Bowl wins. Only Bill Belichick has had more Super Bowl triumphs all these decades later. Noll’s Steelers stand the test of time as one of football’s more accomplished dynasties.
San Francisco 49ers: Bill Walsh
Once nicknamed “The Genius,” Walsh’s innovation brought the 49ers to prominence as they defined the 1980s era of football. Walsh won three Super Bowls with San Francisco and turned them into a championship-level product that lasted for nearly 15 years and won five titles overall. During Walsh’s heyday, perhaps only Joe Montana was more beloved in Northern California.
Seattle Seahawks: Pete Carroll
There was no debate here. Carroll has led the Seahawks since the turn of the 2010s, and they’ve been a consistent powerhouse under his guidance. 10 playoff wins (and nine appearances), two NFC titles, and the organization’s only Super Bowl victory can’t be overlooked. Carroll also deserves a ton of credit for a seamless and painless transition from the Russell Wilson era — the franchise’s best-ever quarterback — into what looks like a successful on-the-fly rebuild.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Bruce Arians
Arians spent just three years in Tampa Bay and in that time the Buccaneers won five playoff games and a Super Bowl. Such success in such a small sample size gives him an easy edge over some of his more tenured peers (Tony Dungy, Jon Gruden).
Tennesse Titans: Jeff Fisher
Fisher may have become more of a “7-9” meme during his tenure with the Rams, but there’s no denying the vital path he paved for the Houston Oilers/Titans in 17 seasons. He is the longest-tenured coach in franchise history and is the only one to ever take Houston/Tennessee to a Super Bowl.
Washington Commanders: Joe Gibbs
Joe Gibbs was what football looked like in the nation’s capital — bright, brilliant, intimidating, adaptive — before future owner Dan Snyder ruined every aspect of it. He is the only coach in NFL history to win a Super Bowl with three different quarterbacks (Joe Theissman, Doug Williams, Mark Rypien). A two-time Coach of the Year, Gibbs set a gold standard for the Commanders in his decade-plus with the lead headset.
