11). Marvin Lewis – Cincinnati.<\/strong>\u00a0 (1 organization, 7 seasons, 56-55-1 regular season, 2 division titles, 0-1 playoffs)<\/em>\u00a0 I never thought all that highly of Marvin Lewis, but he has impressed me this year, with the way he has kept his team together through some off-the-field issues.\u00a0 And, it is also impressive that he won 10 games and a tough division with a marginally talented squad.\u00a0 However, I can’t give him a pass for the awful failures in 5 of his previous 6 seasons as Bengals head coach.\u00a0 And, because of that, he still needs to prove something before I can say that I have any trust in him in the playoffs.<\/p>\n 10). Norv Turner – San Diego.<\/strong>\u00a0 (3 organizations, 12 seasons, 90-98-1 regular season, 4 division titles, 4-3 playoffs, 1 AFC Championship Game appearance)<\/em>\u00a0 Everyone rips on Norv.\u00a0 And, rightfully so, in many, many ways.\u00a0 Let us be honest, the guy is not a very good coach.\u00a0 His gameday decisions are questionable at best, ludicrous at worst.\u00a0 His preparation for a season is dreadful–just look at how San Diego always starts the year.\u00a0 But, somehow, at least in this his third team, he gets the Chargers playing well in December and January.\u00a0 But, then again, let’s look at some of the talent that good ole Norv has to play with out there in sunny SoCal.\u00a0 My distrust of Norv is only exceeded by my trust for the talent on his team, so when Norv hoists the Lombardi Trophy this year, don’t think it is because of his brilliant coaching.<\/p>\n 8). Wade Phillips – Dallas.<\/strong>\u00a0 (5 organizations, 10 seasons, 81-54 regular season, 2 division titles, 3 wild cards, 0-4 playoffs)<\/em>\u00a0 Personally, I think Wade gets too much flack for his coaching.\u00a0 Everywhere the guy has been, he has won…in the regular season.\u00a0 Then, I think about the teams that he has had and the fact that he has still <\/em>never won a playoff game, and I think–maybe everyone’s right about Wade.\u00a0 Well, I’m giving Wade one more chance.\u00a0 If the Eagles go in there and beat Dallas on Saturday, then I will officially join the “Wade sucks” bandwagon.\u00a0 Let’s hope that happens.<\/p>\n 7). Ken Whisenhunt – Arizona.<\/strong>\u00a0 (1 organization, 3 seasons, 27-21 regular season, 2 division titles, 3-1 playoffs, 1 NFC Championship Game appearance, 1 Super Bowl appearance)<\/em>\u00a0 I guess it’s impressive that Whisenhunt has taken a notoriously awful franchise and turned them into a winner, almost overnight.\u00a0 So, that’s good.\u00a0 And, I do think that he seems to have a good sense of his team and a really good understanding of the game of football (which is surprisingly lost on WAY too many of the 32 head coaches in this league).\u00a0 However, there is just something about the last three Cardinals teams with Whisenhunt at the helm that irks me.\u00a0 It’s the inconsistency.\u00a0 One week, they look unbeatable, and the next, they look like the old Cardinals.\u00a0 Now, granted, last year the “unbeatableness” came at just the right time, so I guess if that happens again this year, you have to say that Whisenhunt knows when to hit the pedal, but I’m going to wait for that to happen before proclaiming him a great, trustable coach.<\/p>\n 6). Mike McCarthy – Green Bay<\/strong>\u00a0 (1 organization, 4 seasons, 38-26 regular season, 1 division title, 1 wild card, 1-1 playoffs, 1 NFC Championship Game appearance)<\/em>\u00a0 I guess McCarthy is one of those coaches that you don’t really think about, but you’d have to consider pretty solid, right?\u00a0 He’s been in Green Bay for 4 years.\u00a0 The first one was just miserable because Favre looked completely washed up.\u00a0 Then, the next year, they won 13 games and went to OT in the NFC Championship Game.\u00a0 Then, last year, again Favre derailed the season, with all those distractions and the breaking in of a new quarterback.\u00a0 And, then this year, they look like a powerhouse again.\u00a0 I never think of McCarthy as a really good coach, but I guess he’s kind of on his way to becoming one, right?\u00a0 Either way, I think he does a good job, and I would trust him to coach my team in a playoff game.<\/p>\n 4). John Harbaugh – Baltimore.<\/strong>\u00a0 (1 organization, 2 seasons, 20-12 regular season, 2 wild cards, 2-1 playoffs, 1 AFC Championship Game appearance)<\/em>\u00a0 If you told me, two years ago before he was hired to be the successor to Brian Billick, that I would rank John Harbaugh as the 4th best coach in the 2010 playoffs, I would have said you were crazy, unless the list was limited to the best special teams coaches.\u00a0 But, no, Harbaugh has done a phenomenal job in both of his 2 seasons at the helm in Baltimore.\u00a0 He inspires the team; he trusts them; and, he gameplans around the weaknesses to take full advantage of their strengths.\u00a0 He has made the playoffs two years in a row with an inexperienced quarterback, in a tough division.\u00a0 And, last year, they were only a play or two away from going to the Super Bowl.\u00a0 Yes, this guy can flat-out coach.<\/p>\n 3). Sean Payton – New Orleans.\u00a0 <\/strong>(1 organization, 4 seasons, 38-26 regular season, 2 division titles, 1-1 playoffs, 1 NFC Championship Game appearance)<\/em>\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’s 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 Except for the two playoff coaches with a generation of playoff experience and success, Payton is the best coach in this year’s playoffs, in my opinion.<\/p>\n 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:\/\/behindblondiepark.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/brad-childress1.jpg\")
12). Brad Childress – Minnesota.<\/strong>\u00a0 (1 organization, 4 seasons, 36-28 regular season, 2 division titles, 0-1 playoffs)<\/em>\u00a0 I kind of like Brad Childress…kind of.\u00a0 But, he is a pretty bad head coach.\u00a0 He makes terrible in-game decisions, doesn’t seem to formulate any sort of inventive gameplan, and never seems like he ever has control of his team.\u00a0 The way he handled the Favre thing this year from the day he left practice to personally pick him up at the airport to the day it came out that Favre wouldn’t let him bench him several times this year just shows how weak he is.\u00a0 The Vikings are immensely talented this year, but they seem like a bit of a long-shot, to me, to win the Super Bowl because I just cannot trust Childress to get anything done from the sidelines (other than win a Tony Kornheiser look-a-like contest).\u00a0 The Vikes would be better off with any other playoff coach calling their signals.<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/www.boston.com\/sports\/football\/patriots\/reiss_pieces\/08182009rex300.jpg\")
9). Rex Ryan – N.Y. Jets.\u00a0 <\/strong>(1 organization, 1 season, 9-7 regular season, 1 wild card, 0-0 playoffs)<\/em>\u00a0 Ryan falls here at #9 because I have absolutely no idea what to think of him as a head coach.\u00a0 So, he’s a zero.\u00a0 I see the first three guys as negatives, and the next 8 as positives.\u00a0 Plus, I am impressed with Ryan’s ability to make the playoffs with a rookie QB and an incompetent set of receivers.\u00a0 He has built an amazing defense up there, so I like the direction in which he is taking the Jets, and I kind of have to root for him, as the son of the great Buddy, so #9 sounds about right.<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/cdn.cloudfiles.mosso.com\/c117812\/media_center\/images\/rendered\/blog\/wysiwyg\/Jim-Caldwell-and-Peyton-Manning.jpg\")
5). Jim Caldwell – Indianapolis.<\/strong>\u00a0 (1 organization, 1 season, 14-2 regular season, 1 division title, 0-0 playoffs)<\/em>\u00a0 This one is tough.\u00a0 The reason Wade Phillips, and his .600 winning percentage is all the way down at #8 is because he hasn’t won a playoff game.\u00a0 Well, Caldwell hasn’t either, so it’s hard to make a case that you can really “trust” him in the playoffs yet.\u00a0 However, I think that he is a no-brainer selection for Coach of the Year this year, and I think it’s probably time we start taking just a little of the mounds and mounds of praise we give to Peyton Manning for this season and give some over to the coach.\u00a0 I’m not going to get into what I think about his decision to rest people and whatnot, but let’s just remember that this man has still never lost a game<\/em> in which he played his starters–EVER.\u00a0 So, until he, well, loses, I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt.\u00a0 I probably could have ranked him even higher, but he is, after all, still a rookie.<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/urbansportstalk.files.wordpress.com\/2009\/10\/andy-reid.jpg\")
2). Andy Reid – Philadelphia.<\/strong>\u00a0 (1 organization, 11 seasons, 108-67-1 regular season, 5 division titles, 3 wild cards, 10-7 playoffs, 5 NFC Championship Game appearances, 1 Super Bowl appearance)<\/em>\u00a0 Say what you will about his clock management or his run-pass balance or his tendency to lay an egg against a really bad team once a year or even his inability to win a title with a load of talent.\u00a0 Please say it.\u00a0 We’ve all heard it all, and yet, Andy Reid is back again with the Eagles at 11-5 and a team that nobody really wants to face in the playoffs.\u00a0 Yes, they blew a chance at the #2 seed and maybe even the NFC Championship Game at home, but this team is still rolling.\u00a0 And, they are rolling despite having all of their healthy offensive weapons, save the quarterback, under 24 years old.\u00a0 They are still rolling despite having several disastrous injuries on the offensive line and a complete patchwork of a linebacking corps.\u00a0 They are still rolling despite the offseason personnel decision to get rid of their only emotional leader on the defensive side of the ball.\u00a0 Yes, Reid drives me absolutely nuts on Sundays.\u00a0 He makes terrible game-day decisions and STILL does not understand anything about a 2-minute drill.\u00a0 He may be the worst NFL coach on Sundays.\u00a0 But, I would argue that he is one the best of all-time from Monday to Saturday.\u00a0 The guy is amazing at gameplanning and scheming.\u00a0 He is phenomenal at handling his players and working them so incredibly hard in August, before giving them loads and loads of rest in November, so that they are ALWAYS peaking in December and January.\u00a0 With maybe one exception, there is no one that I would rather have calling the shots for my team from Monday to Saturday than Andy Reid.\u00a0 And, I think that that makes up for his glaring weaknesses on game day.<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/www.debbieschlussel.com\/archives\/billbelichick.jpg\")
1). Bill Belichick – New England.<\/strong>\u00a0 (2 organizations, 15 seasons, 148-92 regular season, 7 division titles, 15-4 playoffs, 4 AFC Championship Game appearances, 4 Super Bowl appearances, 3 Super Bowl titles)<\/em>\u00a0 This was the easiest choice of the week.\u00a0 3 Super Bowl titles for a team that was a laughingstock before he got there.\u00a0 I don’t like Belichick.\u00a0 I think he’s arrogant; I think he’s self-absorbed; I think he’s mean-spirited.\u00a0 But, he is one hell of a football coach.\u00a0 And, there is no doubt that he is the best in these playoffs, and he’s almost inarguably the best of my generation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"