32.) Raheem Morris - TB
The guy is just over his head. He was thrust into a situation he was neither prepared nor qualified for. Can't fault him, and he seems like a nice enough guy, but his tenure leading the Buccaneers (a team that was 9-3 last year before Monte Kiffin announced he was leaving for U of Tennessee) has been an unmitigated trainwreck. He fired the offensive coordinator right before the season. He "relieved" his defensive coordinator of said coordinating duties a couple weeks ago. He has started multiple QB's named "Josh" and one a single game. Say what you want about the coach he replaced, but if Gruden were still coaching the team, a team with three average RBs and some playmakers on defense, they would be better than 1-11.
31.) Perry Fewell - BUF
It's sad for Raheem Morris that he cannot even beat out an interim coach, but Fewell has this team playing hard, and playing competitively, which is more than what can be said for the Buccaneers. He has qualifications as a defensive coordinator for the last four years, so he obviously had some ability to coach defense. It's not like he has a talent-laden team to compete with either. He has kept Terrell Owens quiet, and made one big decision, replacing the epitome of suck in Edwards with a living, breathing brainy QB JP Fitzpatrick, and it has worked. However, he probably has little chance of keeping that job.
30.) Mike Singletary - SF
He was supposed to be in the Ditka mold. A fiery, get in your face leader, with the personality and bravado to inspire. However, unlike Ditka, he came into the job with zero years as even a coordinator, and no real qualification except for his name as a hall-of-fame Linebacker. In his tenure, he has switched around QB's like he was playing roullette with them, had a mercurial relationship with his most talented player, caved to a diva wide receiver, and to cap it off, dropped his pants to "inspire" his team. I'm pretty sure that whatever Bill Walsh did to inspire his team did not include anything near the removing of trou and was much more successful. Also, he and his team were much balyhooed coming into the year, but are now 2-6 in their last eight games. He had little reputation to live up to, succeeding Mike Nolan and Dennis Erickson, but hasn't even cleared those names (actually, he's been better than Erickson, but then again, so has Raheem Morris).
29.) Eric Mangini - CLE
God only knows what made him so hirable that the Lerner family seemingly courted him like some beautiful Russian bride last offseason. Just days after his firing from the Jets (a talented team that he underachieved with in his final two years) he was signed up again. He is from the Belichick tree (a tree who has seen all but one sapling poisoned with its evil fruit) and is much like Belichick... Cleveland edition, as in the one under whose tenure the team left town to Baltimore. He is a tyrant, brooding over the sidelines, fining players 1,003 dollars for not paying for a 2.99$ water bottle, and having airtight security around his operation that resembles that of communist Russia. It is a long way from his Man-genius days, and I have to say that he will probably never get those days back. His time in Cleveland could easily be up after one year, and I don't see any other owner stupid enough to give him a head job #3.
28.) Jim Zorn - WAS
Rounding out the bottom-5 is the man who is really just a figure head, as he was primarily there for his offensive acumen, and was stripped of his playcalling duties (duties that were later given quite comically to a man who was coerced out of his "calling bingo numbers at a local senior-center"). What is sadder is that the offense has been better of late. He is a terrible game manager, and has shoddy clock-management. It is also a mystery as to what he ever did to get the job, as his highest level of experience was being Seattle's QB coach. Not exactly a great job, one that inspires much confidence. What makes him stay at 28, in front of four others is that he is a supposed QB guru, and Jason Campbell has become a marginally good QB under his tutelage.
27.) Jim L. Mora - SEA
Apparently, he is "Jim L. Mora" and not "Jim Mora Jr." which I remember roughly 99.9999% of the populus calling him when he was Atlanta's leading man. He is supposedly a defensive-back guru. At least he had some coordinating experience before he got the first head job. Now, it strikes me weird that he was fired from a place where he was arguably its franchises second-most succesful coach, and now that he is nearly done completing his first year at the helm of the Seahawks, I know why. He's just a bad coach. He came to Seattle to help that defense, at it has regressed each year, reaching disastrous lows last year. Sure he inherited a team that was 4-12, but it really was a team that just had a freak injury year (one that saw roughly 123,434.67 o-lineman and wide receivers hurt last year), and was a 5-time playoff participant before that (a run that was only equaled by New England and Indianapolis). Mike Holmgren gave him a 3/4th full cupboard and he has royally screwed it up. Only his success in Atlanta, which is probably only due to having a good GM and having the NFC at a historic low in terms of quality, saving him from that bottom-5.
Apparently, he is "Jim L. Mora" and not "Jim Mora Jr." which I remember roughly 99.9999% of the populus calling him when he was Atlanta's leading man. He is supposedly a defensive-back guru. At least he had some coordinating experience before he got the first head job. Now, it strikes me weird that he was fired from a place where he was arguably its franchises second-most succesful coach, and now that he is nearly done completing his first year at the helm of the Seahawks, I know why. He's just a bad coach. He came to Seattle to help that defense, at it has regressed each year, reaching disastrous lows last year. Sure he inherited a team that was 4-12, but it really was a team that just had a freak injury year (one that saw roughly 123,434.67 o-lineman and wide receivers hurt last year), and was a 5-time playoff participant before that (a run that was only equaled by New England and Indianapolis). Mike Holmgren gave him a 3/4th full cupboard and he has royally screwed it up. Only his success in Atlanta, which is probably only due to having a good GM and having the NFC at a historic low in terms of quality, saving him from that bottom-5. 26.) Norv Turner - SD
How this man has been hired by three different teams as a head coach is beyond me. How he got another job, let alone the job of running a Ferrari of an NFL roster, after that disastrous two year run in Oakland makes it even more surprising. The man is a great offensive mind, and an even better offensive coordinator, but when of the great bad coaches in league history. Sure, he has had success in San Diego, but only the people behind him on the list would not have. He inherited a 14-2 team, a team universally lauded as the "most talented in football". Now, whether it is the most talented or not is debatable, but it is easily in the top-5 of well-run organizations in the NFL. He has done nothing, save for two wins over Indianapolis (damn, him) to show that he has in any way done a good job. His team still lays down to quality opponents, and is just awful in close games (again, except when playing Indy in the playoffs). His clock management borders on terrible and his propensity for calling bad challenges and timeouts is even worse, which is impossible to fathom. His teams always get off to slow starts, and this year is no different, except he has feasted on the KC's and Oakland's of the world.
25.) Tom Cable - OAK
I'll give him this: he actually wants to be the head coach of the Oakland Raiders, which is saying alot. I'll leave the domestic violence out of this. He at least gets this team motivated when they play good teams, but his inability to get the team motivated, or at all disciplined, against the bad teams is reprehensible. Of course Al Davis had alot of the say, but word is that he was also against the switch from JaMarcus to Gradkowski for a long, long time. The shame is that this is a .500 roster at every other position, and they realized that 9 weeks to late. He also has a very shoddy history as a playcaller, and has never held a coordinator position. He has the ability to rise, if he and Oakland continue the upward trend. However, I just can't put him any higher without opening myself up to Homerism.
24.) Todd Haley - KC
He was a good coordinator in Arizona. However, he is a stark lunatic. An absolute red-ass madman. He fought with T.O. in Dallas (which I guess is the pussy way that Greg Knapp handled T.O., which was basically Knapp calling TO "daddy" and bending over), fought with Boldin on the sidelines, with a vein that was throbbing so violently it looked like it was doing a choreographed dance. Now, he fights with Larry Johnson (understandable, since Johnson deserves a nice slap over the head), Matt Cassell and probably ever single one of those no-name Chiefs (Lance Long... Coach Haley wants to see you). His team has failed to even show up the last two weeks. What helps him not enter the "Mangini" zone is the fact that he has good experience and he is one of the Parcells guys. Any descendent of the Parcells tree (but not a sub-branch of the Belichick tree) is pigeon-holed for success (just look later down this list), so there is still hope.
23.) Jack Del Rio - JAX
It is admirable that this team is 7-5, but really they have been outscored by 48 points, so that is all smoke in mirrors. He, surprisingly, has had an 11-5 year and a 12-4 year, but really I cannot put him any higher. His clock-management is atrocious. His player relationships are atrocious. He famously disallowed David Garrard to do his weekly radio show (Go To Your Room, David!!) and even fought with Marcus Stroud over playing time (when Stroud was one of his two best players). He get bonus points for picking Garrard over Leftwich, but that's about it. His team has not really underachieved, but also never really taken off after that all-too promising 11-5 year. He is not a bad coach in many ways, but lacks that leadership and organizational ability to bring this team to the next level.
22.) Wade Phillips -DAL
It's funny that both him, and the next guy, are coaches who are continually panned and prodded over the medias as awful head-coaches, yet their w-l records are quite good. In fact, Phillips is a .588 winning% guy for his career. He has done a good job in Dallas (when you see that his team is violently overrated to a near Chargerian level, it is a good job), but his player and time management is awful. He runs that team like some day-spa manager, letting his star QB take trips in season to Cabo and Las Vegas. I'm all allowing players freedom, but don't let them go to Sin City, especially on a week that is not a bye week. His clock management and time management is definitely in the lower half of the league. Above this all, he is quite a defensive mind (the real key to making Shawne Merriman and Demarcus Ware millions upon millions - well, actually, for Merriman it was Phillips and Steriods), and a good coach when all is going well. However, coaches are viewed for what they do in crunch time, and he is a pretty 4-7 in December/Playoff games, which is not very good. He was absolutely outcoached to the n-th degree in his two playoff games (against the Giants, and that Week 17 game last year, which was essentially a winner take sixth seed playoff game).
21.) Brad Childress - MIN
He is also comfortably aboce .500 in his career (34-26), but again his abhorrent clock and game management mar all the relative success his team has had in the regular season. He will have another chance to prove his playoff mettle this January, likely with a team that is bye-worthy, and I will not be shocked to see him fail. He was a good offensive mind in Philadelphia, where he turned an offense that featured Duce Staley, James Trash and Todd Pinkston as skill players to a top-10 ranking year after year, but that has not translated in Minnesota until this year. Really, if he couldn't succeed with a team loaded with talent, he should be fired. I'll give him more credit than he is generally given, as he has kept the team competitive every year of his tenure, and now turned them into one of the better teams, but really his ability to call absolutely inane timeouts and challenge plays that are not remotely debatable is grating, and more importantly a key sign that he is vastly outmatched in critical situations.
20.) Gary Kubiak - HOU
Like Childress, his teams have no punch in close games and in crunch time. Unlike Childress, and what will make me put him ahead of Childress, is that he is not an avid challenger of undebatable plays and a serial timeout-waster. Kubiak is actually a good game-manager, and an astute and smart playcaller. It is not entirely his fault that he is gifted with a turnover-prone team. It is partly his fault that his team folds in close games. He reminds me alot of the early-Green Bay Holmgren tenure, a coach who is a cousin (in coaching-tree terms) or more precisely a cousin-once-removed of Kubiak's. Holmgren went 6-10 in his first season, then had three straight 9-7 seasons marred with many losses in close games. Now, Kubiak is probably looking at three straight 8-8 seasons, but they are too marred with incredible losses in close games, including two failed goal-line scores late in games. The next four years for Holmgren in Green Bay: 11-5, 13-3, 13-3, 11-5. I'm just saying that I agree with owner Bob McNair that Kubiak gives the Texans the best shot to win next year. Now, Matt Schuab might not, but Kubiak does.
19.) Steve Spagnuolo - STL
Here by reputation, and a slight man-love for said coach. He was great for the Giants. The G-Men still have not quite recovered defensively under Bill Sheridan. His players have been playing hard for him. The last regime left the cupboard barer than the deserts of Algeria, and he has that makeshift defense at least competing with teams, which is more than what can be said for the Linehan era. He will be a good coach, just maybe not in St. Louis. Actually, no need for negatism, he will be a good coach anywhere. His game management has been great, he just hasn't had many opportunities to show it. He is a defensive whiz (just cue up the tape of a certain Super Bowl XLII as proof). He will be a good one.
18.) Lovie Smith - CHI
His time may be running out. In fact, the Dungy tree is not all that impressive (except for Tomlin), but he had his times. From 2005-2006 there was no better defense in the NFL. Sadly, this is 2009. It all started when he was in charge of the decision to make Hester a wide-reciever. His game-management has come under fire. The thing that made him one of the hotter head-coach candidates all those years ago, his defensive prowess, has even been lacking. He is the one calling the Bears defense, and his defense is not instilling fear into any singular opponent. I will be really surprised to see him back next year, especially with Cutler loverboy Shanahan sitting out there available. He's not a bad coach, just not a particularily good one anymore. He has just run his course in Chicago.
17.) Jim Schwartz - DET
This is probably my most out-on-a-limb guy here, but I fully support his coaching, and furthermore my decision to place him as the top guy in the bottom half. And this is not only due to his being a reader of Football Outsiders, the leader in the statisticalization of Football. He did yoeman's work with that Tennessee defense for years and years, turning a ragtag bunch into a defensive power from 2006-2008. He has now turned a historically bad Lions defense (let alone a historically bad Lions team) into a competitive team with a future. Matt Stafford has already spoken out on his love for him, as has James Farrior, who knows a thing or two about playing with good coaches. He is a coach on the cutting edge, statistically, of football, a good defensive mind, and like the gray-goateed man two spots behind him, will show it all in the coming years.
16.) Josh McDaniels - DEN
Honestly, it pains me to put him here. He is finally showing that a disciple of Belichick can be neither a scumbag (Weis) nor a ludicrously overmatched head coach (Crennel) nor both (Mangini). At least BB has one good apple out there. He was the offensive architect of one of the best offenses in NFL history. Now, he was awful in coaching said offense when defenses finally learned how to play it, but he was still good. He was great in coaching up Cassel last year. He has been amazing in motivating this Denver team and now re-motivating this team again. For all the credit that Mike Nolan is deservedly getting for making that defense better, he should get as much credit for turning the Kyle Orton machine into a decent offense, one that will be playoff bound. Considering most people had him as a total bust when he shipped Cutler out of town (including me, who predicted the Broncos would go 2-14) are now shaking their heads. I have to give him credit. However, I can't give a first year a spot any higher (unless that first year happens to have never given a losing press-conference in his NFL coaching tenure).
15.) Mike Smith - ATL
Quality guy, quality coach, nothing special. He was integral in turning that team around last year, and was a deserving coach of the year winner, but it really was smoke and mirrors. He is great when his team is playing the Lions and Bucs of the world, but just hasn't shown that he can lead a team into a battle against a big gun and come out victorious. Now, he will probably learn how to do just that in the coming years, especially with having the benefit of saddling up next to Matt Ryan, but as of right now, he's the Juno of coaches: a good one, but one that is at the end of the day a step-below the leaders of the pack.
14.) Rex Ryan - NYJ
He cannot fail. This team that he inherited is a .500 bunch, and he is a .500 team. In fact, considering their QB turns it over more than anyone whose name doesn't rhyme with "Shmutler" I'm amazed he's got them at .500. He spoiled all of New York with that 3-0 start, and probably granted him immunity for three years with that defensive clinic he threw on New England. However, I point to their game against New Orleans to show his ability as a coach. Here are the yardage totals of the Saints home games: 515, 493, 437, 414, 480 and 343. If you couldn't guess, and I'm assuming you could since why else would I cite that statistic, the 343 was against the Jets. That was impressive. No one has contained the Saints that well, and no one came close in the Superdome. I thought he wouldn't be all that good, since the last two defensive coordinators of Baltimore weren't all that great (Mike Nolan and Marvin Lewis - more on Marvin later) at the onset as head coaches, and Nolan never became anything at all, but he has proved me wrong. Rex is an up-and-comer who will only improve as he learns to accept some role on the offensive side of the ball as well, something his lunatic father never did but he has already shown an openness to doing.
13.) Marvin Lewis - CIN
When you consider he coaches for a team who probably has the worst owner in the NFL (yes, worse than Al Davis in Oakland, because at least Davis was at one point not only a great owner, but arguably the best), his above .500 career record (55-52-1) at Cincy is quite a feat. He finally has a team that he built to play great defense, and they are the the best defense in the NFL. He has controlled the characters on his team, including Ochocinco, and apart from the year Carson Palmer got hurt, has always had at worst a mediocre team. Really, aside from last year, the worst the Bengals have been in his tenure is 7-9, which is stunning considering all the flak they have gotten over the years. Now, he is not a great one, and his time management and game management skill leave a bit to be desired, he earns my respect as the first man since Sam Wyche to do anything of note in Cincinnatti, and a guy who may very well lead a team to the Conference Title game this year.
12.) John Harbaugh - BAL
If I did this column when I originally planned, he probably winds up at least five spots higher. However, the last month or so has really made him lose alot of that luster. Sure, he was a great change for Baltimore and was an integral reason they came together around a rookie who was nothing special last year and made it one Ploamalu int-return from the Super Bowl. It is very easy to overlook the fact he inherited a very good team, one that was 13-3 just two years earlier and had one of the better personnel-men in the league running the operation. Now, he will probably climb the list in the years to come, and I think he is the best of the 2008 class of head coaches, but he's not as good right now as I thought a month ago. He also has an annoying habit of challenging calls that are not debatable. His game management has suddenly taken a downturn and it is unclear how much control of that veteran and boastful lockerroom he has. Overall, he is a good young coach, that, much like his QB, is going through a sophmore slump.
11.) Tony Sparano - MIA
I said Harbaugh is the best of the '08 class, and I do think that 5 years from now, he will be, but right now its Sparano. Except for his penchant to go for 2 at nonsensical moments, he is one of the better ones out there. He is a fiery leader, whose leaving Dallas for Miami has made Miami a 1-15 team to a slightly above average, and turned a 13-3 Dallas team, anchored by his o-line, into a above average one. The only thing that is keeping me from putting him in the top-10 is that I think he doesn't have that thing that makes him into a Super Bowl caliber coach. I think he can coach up a young team, he can coach a team to play smart, mistake-free football. However, much like Parcells' Jets and Cowboys tenure, he can't deliver when it truly counts and there is a peak that he can reach, and that peak is below "Super Bowl Champion". Now, he will consistently keep this Miami team playing above their head and competitive football, and after the Nick Saban/Dave Wannstedt debaccles that is all Fins fans can ask for, but whether he takes that Belichick-ian step is a mystery.
10.) John Fox - CAR
He is the poor man's Jeff Fisher. His bad years are mediocre, his great years are great. He inherited a 1-15 team, and within two years they were one Vinatieri field goal away from overtime in Super Bowl XXXVIII. Two years later, they were in the Conference Title Game. He has little personnel input, compared to alot of other high-profile coaches (Belichick being the best example), so he can't really get too much more out of a team that is talented, but not really Super Bowl talented. If we did this before the Divisional playoff last year, he's in the top-5. Even if they lose that game close, he's in the top-5, but that egg has to drop him. His loyalty to Jake Delhomme also hurts him, but really if he's fired at the end of the year (a real possibility, with Bill Cowher who seems to be having an affair with the Carolinas) he's probably hired by the end of the week. He's a coach who will get the most out of teams, keep them motivated. The players love him, the owner loves him. The fans probably less so, but really no coach is safe from fans in that sense. Solid coach, solid guy, solid tenure in Carolina.
9.) Mike McCarthy - GB
Really, last year was an anomaly. That was a 9-7 team that Kubiak-ed its way to 6-10 dropping close game after close game. Take that year out of it, and he is 29-15. Include that year and he is 35-25. Still impressive, considering they have done major roster overhaul (remember the Na'ill Diggs defensive era and the Javon Walker hook-up??) and the changing of the guard from one deified QB to a vilified one. He showed balls sticking to his guns in the Favre-Rodgers debate, and its hard to say it hasn't worked, as Favre probably would have died with that o-line. He was a mysterious hire, after two really unspectacular years as the offensive coordinator of San Francisco, but four years later, he has been a good one. He is the third straight successful Mike in Green Bay (surprisingly, they are all in the same coaching tree, less surprisingly its Walsh's (I'll do a Walsh memorial column, and its gonna include more gushing than any Manning column I will ever do)), and the one who had immediate success. He was one game away from the Super Bowl in his second year, and my early (and I mean early, like 425 days early) Super Bowl XLV NFC pick is Green Bay.
8.) Jim Caldwell - IND
It might be ridiculous putting a first-year coach this high, but when he's 12-0 why not. Here are the list of head coaches that have been 12-0 at any time in their careers: Shula, Ditka, Shanahan, Dungy, Belichick, Payton, Caldwell. Other than Payton and Ditka, they are all or will be in the hall of fame (and Payton might by the time he's done). Before the year, when I was touting this Colts team as the team-to-beat in the NFL, I mercilessly compared Caldwell to George Seifert. Like Caldwell replacing Dungy, Seifert replaced Bill Walsh. Like the 2009 Colts, Seifert's first 49ers team, despite just winning a Super Bowl, was supposed to be on the down-side of their run. Seifert went 14-2 in his first year, won the Super Bowl, never got the credit he deserved, as many thought it was a new coach winning with Walsh's team. 14-2 and the Super Bowl are easily attainable, but even if he doesn't win the Super Bowl, it is impossible to say that Caldwell's rookie year has been anything short of a raving success. He has kept Dungy's primary tenet: high character, but put his own stamp on the team. He is George Seifert, exactly 20 years later. By the way, here are the records of Seifert's 49er teams: 14-2*, 14-2, 10-6, 14-2, 10-6, 13-3* 11-5, 12-4 (* = Super Bowl Champions). That should make any Colts fan happy.
7.) Andy Reid - PHI
He may waste timeouts, he may give away seconds like they are charity. He may have the game management skills that equate him to the NFL's version of Bernie Madoff, but the results are undeniable. The guy should be a hall-of-famer. He is probably about to have his 8th 10 win season this decade. He is 105-66 in his career. He has made the playoffs seven times, and probably will an eighth this year. Obviously, we all know of Andy Reid's inability to win the big one: 1-4 in NFC Championship Games and 0-1 in the Super Bowl, but his resume stacks up favorably to Bill Cowher's pre-2005. The most underrated stat is that he has never lost in his teams opening playoff game. The success of Belichick taints every other coach, but a playoff record or 10-7 is really good. I bet Cowher took about .0006% of the criticism Andy gets. Philly fans have never seen a run of success quite close to this, and considering Reid has more say in personnell than most coaches, it's in a large part due to him.
6.) Mike Tomlin - PIT
Again, he would have been number three or four if this was done when I planned to, but the four game losing streak, including following a press conference in which you declare that your team will "unleash Hell in December" by losing to Oakland at home, and you will lose a few spots. Not many though, because the guy has success written all over him. Say what you will, but the Steelers can choose coaches. Considering the Rooney's have never fired a coach, I'm going to guess he will make it past this year and continue to overcome the bit of a speed bump he is having this year. The guy was hyped up in his time as the Vikings coordinator, and deservedly so (those Vikings were historically good at run-defense), but he had the sense to keep Dick LeBeau. The most important thing a coach can do is operate the team with the goal of putting them in the best position to win, and it took guts to go against your defensive instincts (Tomlin is a Dungy Tampa-2 guy) and leave the Steelers as a 3-4. He did it, and it won them a Super Bowl. He is a star. He is the coolest guy in the room, and that allows the players to instantly relate. I am sure to a man, all 53 of those Steelers would run through the walls of Heinz Field for that guy, and after Bill Cowher was the only coach in most of their proffesional lives, for Tomlin to win over that locker room that quickly is amazing. The guy has a bright future.
5.) Ken Whisenhunt - ARZ
I just cannot justify putting him lower. He is 24-16 as a coach (I am discounting the team after it just gave up last year after winning the division). He has never been below .500 as coach of the ARIZONA CARDINALS. This is a franchise that hadn't hosted a playoff game in 61 years until last year. This is a franchise with the guy who perrenially pops up on the "worst owner" lists. This is a franchise that has done nothing since its move to the desert. He made them a winner. He has turned that fracnchise around. Coming from the Steeler family (and quite peeved after the adopted Tomlin and excommunicated him), Whiz has brought Steeler football to Arizona. Now, the air-show of Warner is not Steeler football, but the mentality of a winner is. He barely lost the Super Bowl, and promptly fired the D-Coordinator, brought in a LeBeau guy, and it is hard to say that they move could have worked any better. Sure, he has a hall-of-fame gunslinger, but he had the smarts to name him the starter over Leinart, the perceived saviour, before 2008. Every move he has made is the right one. As of today, the Cardinals are quite possibly one of the five best run franchises in football, and that is saying something. Even after Warner retires, I have faith in Whisenhunt that he will keep this franchise playing good, solid football.
4.) Sean Payton - NO
He is every bit as instrumental as Brees in the resurrection of a franchise. He is the new Mike Martz, except without the added dose of Crazy that Martz had. He looks cool, coaches cool and just steamrolls teams. He has been great in game-planning, finding every single defensive weakness that the other teams had, and exploiting it over and over (Jonathan Wilhite will probably have nightmares after that Monday Night Game). He was top-10 entering this year, but he jumped up a level for two reasons. He finally embraced the run game, as he changed the blocking-scheme to a zone-blocking scheme. However, the bigger deal is he finally started to care about that defense. The 2008 Saints offense was probably 90% as good as the 2009 one, but this team is 12-0 beacuse he embraced defense, got the guy he wanted, Gregg Williams (a mad attacking blitzer mostly, the defensive counterpart to the attacking Payton) and this team tunred a new gear. His players love him, his owner and GM love him, and the state of Louisiana loves him. Payton never really gets the amount of credit he deserves for his part in the Saints part in rebuilding New Orleans, but I think he finally will this year.
He is every bit as instrumental as Brees in the resurrection of a franchise. He is the new Mike Martz, except without the added dose of Crazy that Martz had. He looks cool, coaches cool and just steamrolls teams. He has been great in game-planning, finding every single defensive weakness that the other teams had, and exploiting it over and over (Jonathan Wilhite will probably have nightmares after that Monday Night Game). He was top-10 entering this year, but he jumped up a level for two reasons. He finally embraced the run game, as he changed the blocking-scheme to a zone-blocking scheme. However, the bigger deal is he finally started to care about that defense. The 2008 Saints offense was probably 90% as good as the 2009 one, but this team is 12-0 beacuse he embraced defense, got the guy he wanted, Gregg Williams (a mad attacking blitzer mostly, the defensive counterpart to the attacking Payton) and this team tunred a new gear. His players love him, his owner and GM love him, and the state of Louisiana loves him. Payton never really gets the amount of credit he deserves for his part in the Saints part in rebuilding New Orleans, but I think he finally will this year.
3.) Jeff Fisher - TEN
Remember, he has little to no input in presonnel. He is given the players, good bad or average, and told to make them into winners, and he does. He hasn't always had the best of teams, but discounting the two year rebuid from 2004-2005, he has been as consistent as they come. Sure, he has had his faults in the playoffs, but he has always gotten the most out of his teams. Chris Mortensen once mused that if Fisher was fired at 9 AM, he would get a new job by 3 PM. He started out 0-6, and got that team motivated. Now, he cannot be beyond blame for an 0-6 start, but he is the one coach I trusted to get that team out of its mireful start. He is one of the pillars of the league, and considering he is only 51, he could coach for quite a while. It will be interesting to see when he steps down, as he has been coaching now for 15 years, but I'm telling you the guy is one of the best out there.
2.) Tom Coughlin - NYG
He has been great in New York, taking the team to the playoffs 4 straight times, balancing such
And then there's Bill. I hate him with every fiber of my body. He's arrogant, childish in defeat and cocky in victory, and he is probably the most loathsome coach in NFL history, yet I cannot deny his place as the best coach of his era (only Dungy comes close, but alas he had to retire). He is a defensive whiz (although for every great defensive game he has coached, you could cancel it with a big game where his defense has folded - ok, enough slights), but more than that, he was a brilliant personnell guy. He built those New England teams. Now, I'm not talking about the 2007 one, I'm talking about the 2001-2006 Pats, the pre-Moss, pre-sellout Pats. Without Belichick, they are the Eagles. He was a great game manager, never wasting timeouts, going for it when necessary, never fearing backlash. He was the best. He still is. The team may be floundering (considering nearly 90% of the media was handing them a 14-2 record, 45 TDs for Brady and a Super Bowl ring, I'd say that 7-5 is floundering), yet I don't want to play them in the playoffs for one reason: Belichick. He can still win any one game. He can still gameplan that defense through anything. He's still the best in the game. Just please, media, stop comparing him to Walsh. He's not Bill Walsh, or even Noll or Lombardi or Paul Brown. He is, though, the best head coach of the 2000's, and the best in 2009.
lunatics as Strahan, Burress and the ultimate Tiki Barber. He was smart enough to change his hard-nosed approach a little, and his team rewarded him with a Super Bowl. Before I get into his Giant tenure, he was the coach of the Jaguars at their inception. He had them in the conference title game in year 2 (of their history), and followed that up with a 11-5, 11-5, 14-2 run. Compare that to the Texans, who in year 8 have never had a winning season. Then, he goes to New York, and is in a 11-5, 8-8, 10-6, 12-4, 7-5 run, which is right up there with Parcells as the most successful in Giants history. He deserves major props for winning his first Super Bowl, handling the New York media perfectly, and leading the Giants into a period of success they haven't tasted since Phil Simms was walking through that door. However, he deserves more for that job in Jacksonville.
1.) Bill Belichick - NE
And then there's Bill. I hate him with every fiber of my body. He's arrogant, childish in defeat and cocky in victory, and he is probably the most loathsome coach in NFL history, yet I cannot deny his place as the best coach of his era (only Dungy comes close, but alas he had to retire). He is a defensive whiz (although for every great defensive game he has coached, you could cancel it with a big game where his defense has folded - ok, enough slights), but more than that, he was a brilliant personnell guy. He built those New England teams. Now, I'm not talking about the 2007 one, I'm talking about the 2001-2006 Pats, the pre-Moss, pre-sellout Pats. Without Belichick, they are the Eagles. He was a great game manager, never wasting timeouts, going for it when necessary, never fearing backlash. He was the best. He still is. The team may be floundering (considering nearly 90% of the media was handing them a 14-2 record, 45 TDs for Brady and a Super Bowl ring, I'd say that 7-5 is floundering), yet I don't want to play them in the playoffs for one reason: Belichick. He can still win any one game. He can still gameplan that defense through anything. He's still the best in the game. Just please, media, stop comparing him to Walsh. He's not Bill Walsh, or even Noll or Lombardi or Paul Brown. He is, though, the best head coach of the 2000's, and the best in 2009.