I actually like Todd Haley and think that he is probably going to have a pretty long, successful head coaching career.\u00a0 But, on this list, he has to rank at the bottom because, right now, he is still a guy with a 14-18 record and zero playoff experience…as a head coach.\u00a0 Remember, though, he was the offensive coordinator on that Arizona team that just missed winning the Super Bowl with a mediocre defense, so the certainly has playoff credentials as a coordinator.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/cdn0.sbnation.com\/entry_photo_images\/104603\/09000d5d81291cbf_gallery_600_large_large.jpg\" "\\"Todd")
Never accused of being soft-spoken, Todd Haley is ready to start his playoff career as a head coach<\/p><\/div>\n
11). Pete Carroll – Seahawks.<\/strong>\u00a0 (3 organizations, 5 seasons, 40-40 regular season, 1 division title, 1 wild card, 1-2 playoffs)<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n It doesn't come with a house for two in Malibu, but life in the NFC West has its perks<\/p><\/div>\n I was very close to putting Carroll at #12 to give the Seahawks the sweep of the bottom spots in this week’s rankings.\u00a0 However, there were a couple reasons that I have him at #11, and actually think that he is a very pretty good coach.\u00a0 One, despite his short tenures, he has won just about everywhere he has been.\u00a0 He coached in New England (back when they were a pretty downtrodden franchise) for three years without a losing record, including two playoff appearances.\u00a0 Then, he went to USC, and we all know what he was able to do out there.\u00a0 Then, he came to Seattle, and in his first year, with zero talent, somehow managed another playoff appearance.\u00a0 You don’t think that Pete Carroll had a lot to do with how well the Seahawks played on that do-or-die Sunday night against the Rams?\u00a0 The guys is certainly a motivator, which runs thin after a while with professionals, but, if used in moderation, can be awfully effective.\u00a0 That being said, he was only 7-9 this year, and he is only a .500 NFL coach.<\/p>\n 10). Mike McCarthy – Packers.<\/strong>\u00a0 (1 organization, 5 seasons, 48-32 regular season, 1 division title, 2 wild cards, 1-2 playoffs, 1 NFC Championship appearance)<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n Honestly, I have no idea what to think about Mike McCarthy, even after 5 years in Green Bay.\u00a0 He has made the playoffs three times and, with only a minor bump in the road, brought that franchise through one of the toughest situations for a team I have seen in any sport (that whole saga with #4).\u00a0 But, on the other hand, they have a ton <\/em>of talent, and he has only managed ONE playoff win in five years?\u00a0 And, with the complete implosion in Minnesota this year, there is no reason that they should not have have won NFC North (with all due respect to Chicago).\u00a0 I know that they were hurt by a ton of close losses, but doesn’t come back to the coach, at least in some part?\u00a0 I think his in-game decision-making leaves a lot to be desired, and, unlike Andy Reid, does not yet have the postseason success to allow us to overlook it.\u00a0 I was actually strongly considering putting McCarthy at the very bottom of this list, but, in the end, I thought his experience and regular season success was enough to rank him slighly above Haley and Carroll, but one more flame-out in the playoffs, and I am completely off of the McCarthy bandwagon.\u00a0 Consider yourself warned, Mike.<\/p>\n "Just when I thought I finally deserved more headlines than my brother."<\/p><\/div>\n 9). John Harbaugh – Ravens.\u00a0 <\/strong>(1 organization, 3 seasons, 32-16 regular season, 3 wild cards, 3-2 playoffs, 1 AFC Championship appearance)<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n This is where it really gets tough to rank them.\u00a0 As evidenced by his #4 on last year’s list of top\u00a0playoff coaches, I\u00a0really think Harbaugh is an excellent coach.\u00a0\u00a0I have him down here at #9 more because I think this year’s crop of playoff coaches is just better than last year’s (and because\u00a0I think Caldwell may have surpassed him).\u00a0\u00a0Harbaugh\u00a0took over a franchise that was at a real crossroads after the departures of Brian Billick and\u00a0the late Steve McNair,\u00a0and all he has done is win three road playoff games in his first two runs through the AFC.<\/p>\n 8). Jim Caldwell – Colts.<\/strong>\u00a0 (1 organization, 2 seasons, 24-8 regular season, 2 division titles, 2-1 playoffs, 1 AFC Championship appearance, 1 Super Bowl appearance)<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n Interestingly, Harbaugh, Caldwell, and McCarthy were #4 through #6 last year, and this year, even though they all have better resumes, considering they have another playoff team to their names, they are #8 though #10.\u00a0 But, again, that just shows you that when you have a playoff round without Norv, Brad, and Wade, the baseline is elevated.\u00a0 That being said, I do not think that Jim Caldwell gets enough credit for the job he has done now for two years as a head coach in Indy.\u00a0 He, basically, went undefeated last year and won the AFC, while this year, he faced an ungodly number of injuries and still won 10 games and the AFC South title.\u00a0 Yes, he does have Peyton Manning, so it is really hard to evaluate him, but I cannot imagine that Caldwell does not deserve at least some of the credit for this team’s successes.<\/p>\n 7). Mike Smith – Falcons.<\/strong>\u00a0 (1 organization, 3 seasons, 33-15 regular season, 1 division title, 1 wild card, 0-1 playoffs)<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n Am I too high on Mike Smith?\u00a0 Maybe.\u00a0 Is there reason to be this high on him?\u00a0 Absolutely.\u00a0 Can we think back, for a second, at just where the Atlanta Falcons franchise was before he got there.\u00a0 In the wake of the Michael Vick debacle, they fired Jim Mora, Jr., and brought in the high-profile college coach, Bobby Petrino to run the team, and former high-profile college quarterback, Joey Harrington, to make everyone forget about Vick.\u00a0 Well, it, not surprisingly, blew up in their face, and they were absolutely terrible.\u00a0 Mike Smith comes in, drafts Matt Ryan, and the team goes to the playoffs.\u00a0 They take a small step backwards last year before exploding this year at 13-3.\u00a0 All the evidence points to Mike Smith as being a terrific head coach.\u00a0 Granted, he has yet to win a playoff game, so, to be consistent, he should probably be ranked below guys like Caldwell and Harbaugh, but I am not sure that they could have done with this franchise what Smith has in such a short period of time.<\/p>\n 6). Lovie Smith – Bears.<\/strong>\u00a0 (1 organization,\u00a07 seasons, 63-49 regular season, 3 division titles, 2-2 playoffs, 1 NFC Championship appearance, 1 Super Bowl appearance)<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n "Man, you guys think Cutler throws a lot of picks? Don't you remember Sexy Rexy?"<\/p><\/div>\n On the proverbial “hot seat” coming into the season, Lovie Smith has proven once again that he is one of the best head coaches in the National Football League.\u00a0 Actually, read the last part of that sentence again.\u00a0 It even sounds strange to me, and I wrote it.\u00a0 Is Lovie Smith one of the NFL’s best coaches?\u00a0 Well, since I am sure not many people jump to say “yes,” stop and think of the success he has had in Chicago and then think about the talent with which he has done it.\u00a0 Prolonged success for head coaches is usually accompanied by at least one thing:\u00a0 a great quarterback.\u00a0 Belichick has Brady; Dungy had Manning; Reid had McNabb; and, even as far back as you want to go with Walsh and Montana, Shula and Marino, Knoll and Bradshaw, and even Lombardi and Starr.\u00a0 No, please do not take this the wrong way.\u00a0 I am not saying that Lovie Smith is Vince Lombardi; I am just trying to make the point that all these guys had great quarterbacks.\u00a0 But, Lovie Smith has now won three division titles with three different quarterbacks.\u00a0 He even made the Super Bowl with Rex Grossman.\u00a0 And, it is not like the Bears of Lovie’s time had a Walter Payton to handoff to or any big-time receiving weapon. Lovie Smith does not jump out at you as a fantastic coach, but don’t we often look at “doing a lot with a little” as evidence of a good coach.\u00a0 Well, Lovie has, at least on the offensive side, certainly done a lot with very little to work with.<\/p>\n 5). Rex Ryan – Jets.<\/strong>\u00a0 (1 organization, 2 seasons, 20-12 regular season, 2 wild cards, 2-1 playoffs, 1 AFC Championship appearance)<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n I have gone back and forth numerous times on Rex from the day he took the job in New York.\u00a0 His bravado is awesome, but is it good for winning football games?\u00a0 His charisma is perfect for HBO, but is it good for the locker room or the sideline?\u00a0 His brutal honesty with the press creates fantastic copy, but does it undermine his players, particularly his young quarterback?\u00a0 I am not quite sure how to answer these questions, but for now, I am going to go with what I see, and what I see is a team that overachieved last year, causing them to be extremely overrated this year, which completely hides the fact that they probably overachieved again <\/em>this year.\u00a0 And, they still have a playoff run to put a cap on this season.\u00a0 I have a soft spot for anything to do with the Ryan family, so take this with a grain of salt, but I think Rex is doing a great job in New York, in two years,\u00a0and has pulled 20 wins (plus 2 playoff wins) out of a team that probably had 14-win talent.<\/p>\n Mike was better as Quincy McCall in Love & Basketball than anything he's done on House<\/p><\/div>\n 4). Mike Tomlin – Steelers.<\/strong>\u00a0 (1 organization, 4 seasons, 43-21 regular season, 3 division titles, 3-1 playoffs, 1 AFC Championship appearance, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 1 Super Bowl title)<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n What does Mike Tomlin have to do to be considered elite?\u00a0 In my opinion, he may have already done it.\u00a0 He won the division in his first year and then\u00a0the Super Bowl in his second, and, arguably, this year, he has done the best job of his career.\u00a0 This team started 3-1 with Dennis Dixon at quarterback.\u00a0 They lost Polamalu a couple of times this year, but kept on trucking.\u00a0 He has a fantastic demeanor and a knack for the moment, and I think he is about to have yet another one of those Super Bowl rings.\u00a0 He has got it all, and the sky is the limit for his coaching ability.<\/p>\n 3). Andy Reid – Eagles.<\/strong>\u00a0 (1 organization, 12 seasons, 118-73-1 regular season, 6 division titles, 3 wild cards, 10-8 playoffs, 5 NFC Championship appearances, 1 Super Bowl appearance)<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n For a long time, I have wanted to write a post on how NFL coaching is a strange profession that\u00a0mandates a\u00a0two sets of skills that are\u00a0so polar opposites that it is unfair for us to expect these human beings to\u00a0excel in both, and maybe our evaluation of them is too far on one side to the near ignoring of the other.\u00a0\u00a0The first part of NFL coaching occurs from\u00a0Monday through Saturday.\u00a0 This part involves evaluating your opponent, evaluating your own team, and devising a system that creates\u00a0the best possible mismatches of your guys against theirs.\u00a0 This skill is deliberate, calculated, and strategic – much like a\u00a0game of chess.\u00a0 Then, you get to Sunday afternoon and the other part of coaching, the part where you have to make split-second decisions and adjustments depending on game situations.\u00a0 This part accentuates on-the-fly decision-making, instant evaluation, and the\u00a0motivational and inspirational ability\u00a0– much like a game of\u00a0doubles tennis.\u00a0 These two skills involve incredibly divergent skill sets.\u00a0 In fact, being good at one is usually at the detriment of the other.\u00a0 For instance, if you are someone adept at split-second decision-making, you may tend to lack some of the discipline to sit down and make detailed evaluations with unlimited resources.\u00a0 On the other hand, if you excel at the deliberate, thorough evaluation activities, you may find it difficult to switch into a mode of making instant assessments.\u00a0 In my opinion, I think, while both areas are vital, I think it is far <\/em>more important to be the best Monday through Saturday coach you can be.\u00a0 A good gameplan will usually overcome incorrect replay challenges or wasting a timeout or two.\u00a0 However, the majority of football fans only evaluate coaches by their ability on Sundays.\u00a0 That is why most people think that Andy Reid is a bad head coach.\u00a0 He wastes timeouts.\u00a0 He is terrible at replay challenges.\u00a0 His two-minutes offenses are infuriating.\u00a0 But, couldn’t that just be a manifestation of the things that makes his such a great <\/em>coach?\u00a0 His insistence on complete analysis, his obsession with details, his “paralysis by analysis.”\u00a0 Yes, that is a detriment on Sundays, but it may be the reason the Eagles win.\u00a0 And, I will take all these wins, even if it makes me pull my hair out on Sunday afternoons.\u00a0 Let’s face it, coaches have one job – to win.\u00a0 And, Andy Reid does that as well as anyone (but one)\u00a0of this generation.<\/p>\n 2). Sean Payton – Saints.<\/strong>\u00a0 (1 organization, 5 seasons, 49-31 regular season, 2 division titles, 1 wild card, 4-1 playoffs, 2 NFC Championship appearances, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 1 Super Bowl title)<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n I ranked Payton at #3 last year, saying:\u00a0 “I have, in the past, been accused of being way too high on Sean Payton, so maybe this is just another example of that, but I think he is a fantastic coach.\u00a0 I know that he missed the playoffs in two of his first three seasons in New Orleans, but let\u2019s not forget that it is the SAINTS.\u00a0 His offensive gameplans gave me nightmares when he was with the Giants, and he has brought that ability to New Orleans with him.\u00a0 Plus, he seems like a guy that the players trust and respect to the fullest.”\u00a0 After\u00a0Super Bowl run of last year, I feel a little vindicated, and I am no longer gunshy about saying that Sean\u00a0Payton is the second-best coach in the NFL.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n 1). Bill Belichick – Patriots.<\/strong>\u00a0 (2 organizations, 16 seasons, 162-94 regular season, 8 division titles, 15-5 playoffs, 4 AFC Championship appearances, 4 Super Bowl appearances, 3 Super Bowl titles)<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n Think this "being this best" thing ever gets old?<\/p><\/div>\n As easy as it was to put Brady as the #1 quarterback, it was that much easier to pick his coach as the #1 coach.\u00a0 Bill Belichick is the best coach I have ever seen in any sport.\u00a0 Ho-hum, another 14-2 season for the master, and this year, he has done it with talent that may even be considered “marginal.”\u00a0 The defense is average.\u00a0 Brady’s weapons are good, not great.\u00a0 Randy Moss is gone.\u00a0 Mike Vrabel and Teddy Bruschi are gone.\u00a0 All those ungenius coordinators – Romeo, Charlie, Josh – are gone.\u00a0 Yes, they don’t miss a beat.\u00a0 What is the constant?\u00a0\u00a0He is, and he’s the best.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As we finish up our week long Playoff Top Twelve, we hit the coaches.\u00a0 This ranking is done based mostly upon the answer to the question:\u00a0 “Who do you trust most in a playoff game?”\u00a0 I have tried to\u00a0encompass my … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.sportsgrid.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/petecarrolldisgust.jpg\" "\\"Pete")
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.thelosscolumn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/john-harbaugh-t2.jpg\" "\\"John")
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/nbcsportsmedia.msnbc.com\/j\/ap\/497aa43a-8a10-4901-9c9d-b2b649046e9c.standard.jpg\" "\\"Lovie")
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.buddytv.com\/articles\/House\/Images\/omar-epps-1.jpg\" "\\"Omar")
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/cache.boston.com\/resize\/bonzai-fba\/Globe_Photo\/2008\/05\/17\/1211071935_9900\/300h.jpg\" "\\"Bill")