The Mt. Rushmore of NFL head coaches

[john4psu]

I saw the Mt. Rushmore of PSU football players which as we know appears here every so often, so I thought I'd ask it for NFL all-time head coaches.

I see it as primarily seven coaches in contention, of course, with other coaches who might just miss making the top seven like perhaps Bill Parcels.

Lombardi - a given of anyone's top four I would think.

After that, one can make the argument for any of the following:

Landry - took his team to five Super Bowls with different quarterbacks and won using his system with Meredith, Morton, Staubach, and Danny White. Had Dallas beaten Green Bay in those NFL championship games, it could well be the Landry trophy that's awarded to the Super Bowl winning team.
Noll - four Super Bowls - never lost a Super Bowl.
Walsh - three Super Bowls - creator of the West Coast Offense.
Brown - innovator of so many coaching methods won numerous titles with the Cleveland Browns.
Shula - NFL's all-time winningest coach, like Landry two Super Bowl wins and three Super Bowl losses.
Belichick - four Super Bowls and has been to the SB six times.

I honestly can't say I'm familiar enough with the coaching resume of George Halas or Curley Lambeau to include them in this list.

So who makes your NFL all-time head coaches Mt. Rushmore?

 

[marshall23]

Lombardi, Belichick, Brown, Noll

 

[Option Bob]

Agree completely about Tom Landry. He won with completely different squads over many years.

 

[OldTiredLion]

What about George Halas?

 

[OKC Nittany]

Lombardi, Noll, Halas, Walsh

 

[Player2BNamedL8r]

Lombardi, Noll, Shula, Landry

 

[harbest]

George Halas, Vince Lombardi, Paul Brown and Steve Owen. There would be no NFL without George Halas. Lombardi pushed the Packers to greatness and refused to allow the Packers to lose (except for 1960), Brown brought cerebral to go with brawn and Owen was right behind Halas when the NFL started. Shula, Noll, Landry et al stood out in their time as great coaches but the 4 I mentioned laid the foundation they later built upon in pro football. Consider this tidbit: before 1959, the Packers offensive coordinator was Lombardi and their defensive coordinator was Landry.

 

[AWS1022]

Halas, Lombardi, Brown and Shula

 

[PennStateNate]

Lombardi of course, probably the best coach ever in any sport.
Halas, glad people are bringing him up, gets over shadowed by Lombardi.
Landry, for the reasons stated by John.
Noll, homer pick.

I just can't put Belichek up there with everything that went on. He is a good a coach.

John Madden won't be on anyone's list, but he only coached a few years and I believe had the best winning % ever.

 

[GregInPitt]

Lombardi of course, probably the best coach ever in any sport.
Halas, glad people are bringing him up, gets over shadowed by Lombardi.
Landry, for the reasons stated by John.
Noll, homer pick.

I just can't put Belichek up there with everything that went on. He is a good a coach.

John Madden won't be on anyone's list, but he only coached a few years and I believe had the best winning % ever.

Right. How can anyone put a convicted multiple instance cheater on any Mt. Rushmore list???? His wins will always be tainted.

 

[Pitt2009]

Lombardi, Landry, Walsh, Cowher

 

[Fox Chapel Lion II]

George Halas, Vince Lombardi, Paul Brown and Steve Owen. There would be no NFL without George Halas. Lombardi pushed the Packers to greatness and refused to allow the Packers to lose (except for 1960), Brown brought cerebral to go with brawn and Owen was right behind Halas when the NFL started. Shula, Noll, Landry et al stood out in their time as great coaches but the 4 I mentioned laid the foundation they later built upon in pro football. Consider this tidbit: before 1959, the Packers offensive coordinator was Lombardi and their defensive coordinator was Landry.

Slight correction - Lombardi and Landry were the coordinators with the Giants under Jim Lee Howell. They won the NFL Championship together when they throttled Halas and Da Bears. Lombardi took over the Packers in 1959 and Landry of course was first coach of the Cowboys in 1960.

FWIW there are only two spots open. If Mt. Rushmore lacks Noll and Lombardi, you might as well dynamite it.

 

[PennStateNate]

Lombardi, Landry, Walsh, Cowher

Cowher?

 

[Fox Chapel Lion II]

Cowher?

I had to wipe the spit off my computer when I read that.

 

[Relayer]

Shula went his last 22 years coaching without winning a championship. In his last 10 years he only won 2 division titles. He's like Eddie Murray and Craig Biggio, a stat compiler.

 

[harbest]

Slight correction - Lombardi and Landry were the coordinators with the Giants under Jim Lee Howell. They won the NFL Championship together when they throttled Halas and Da Bears. Lombardi took over the Packers in 1959 and Landry of course was first coach of the Cowboys in 1960.

FWIW there are only two spots open. If Mt. Rushmore lacks Noll and Lombardi, you might as well dynamite it.

Thank you. I did mean to say the Giants but my mind wasn't working with my hands.

 

[WDLion]

Lombardi, Belichick, Brown, Noll

I saw the Mt. Rushmore of PSU football players which as we know appears here every so often, so I thought I'd ask it for NFL all-time head coaches.

I see it as primarily seven coaches in contention, of course, with other coaches who might just miss making the top seven like perhaps Bill Parcels.

Lombardi - a given of anyone's top four I would think.

After that, one can make the argument for any of the following:

Landry - took his team to five Super Bowls with different quarterbacks and won using his system with Meredith, Morton, Staubach, and Danny White. Had Dallas beaten Green Bay in those NFL championship games, it could well be the Landry trophy that's awarded to the Super Bowl winning team.
Noll - four Super Bowls - never lost a Super Bowl.
Walsh - three Super Bowls - creator of the West Coast Offense.
Brown - innovator of so many coaching methods won numerous titles with the Cleveland Browns.
Shula - NFL's all-time winningest coach, like Landry two Super Bowl wins and three Super Bowl losses.
Belichick - four Super Bowls and has been to the SB six times.

I honestly can't say I'm familiar enough with the coaching resume of George Halas or Curley Lambeau to include them in this list.

So who makes your NFL all-time head coaches Mt. Rushmore?

Halas, Lombardi, Brown and Landry.

 

[Player2BNamedL8r]

Right. How can anyone put a convicted multiple instance cheater on any Mt. Rushmore list???? His wins will always be tainted.

Second that...with all of the speculation around the legitimacy of BB's wins, hard to put him on this list. That said, he's a helluva coach...like the Pete Rose of NFL coaches.

 

[WDLion]

Right. How can anyone put a convicted multiple instance cheater on any Mt. Rushmore list???? His wins will always be tainted.

That's akin to replacing Honest Abe with Nixon. Although i think Nixon was decent as a president.

 

[EPC FAN]

Lombardi, Noll, Halas, Walsh

Paul Brown, Vincent. T. Lombardi, Chuck Noll, Bill Walsh, Don Shula, Tom Landry
Amazing thing is, Noll and Shula played for Brown, and Walsh coached under Brown. Lombardi and Landry were Coordinators with the Giants, yet neither were offered the head coaching job by them. Allie Sherman got the job. He couldn't shine their shoes.

I KNOW I LISTED MORE THAN THE NORMAL MT. RUSHMORE TOTAL.

 

[Fox Chapel Lion II]

Paul Brown, Vincent. T. Lombardi, Chuck Noll, Bill Walsh, Don Shula, Tom Landry
Amazing thing is, Noll and Shula played for Brown, and Walsh coached under Brown. Lombardi and Landry were Coordinators with the Giants, yet neither were offered the head coaching job by them. Allie Sherman got the job. He couldn't shine their shoes.

I KNOW I LISTED MORE THAN THE NORMAL MT. RUSHMORE TOTAL.

EPC I love reading up on the post-WWII era teams and personalities. Jim Lee was not a bad coach, but he had to be the luckiest guy alive to have Landry and Lombardi on his staff. Sure as hell made his job easy. Go to practice, pour a coffee, fire up a cigar and stay out of the way.

I knew Allie Sherman was Giants coach in the 60's but didn't know anything else about him so I looked him up. Never won a title but he had a couple division championships. The Giants just got old. Sherman was quite the innovator in his day and went on to tremendous things in sports media after he left the Giants. Very interesting stuff - all from just dropping a name.

 

[indoorgolf]

That's akin to replacing Honest Abe with Nixon. Although i think Nixon was decent as a president.

Really Nixon was a criminal.

 

[bamasota]

Shula went his last 22 years coaching without winning a championship. In his last 10 years he only won 2 division titles. He's like Eddie Murray and Craig Biggio, a stat compiler.

Kind of like Joe Paterno, huh?

 

[WDLion]

I don't judge a person whole work by one mistake.

 

[Fox Chapel Lion II]

Kind of like Joe Paterno, huh?

Considering Paterno won two conference championships in his last six years, that kind of makes your argument a bunch of bullshit, huh?

 

[bamasota]

Considering Paterno won two conference championships in his last six years, that kind of makes your argument a bunch of bullshit, huh?

2 Shared CCs in his last 10 years is actually not as good, so no BS. Sorry, thanks for playing.

 

[Fox Chapel Lion II]

2 Shared CCs in his last 10 years is actually not as good, so no BS. Sorry, thanks for playing.

Blow me. And welcome to ignore. Thanks for playing.

 

[cyrizzle]

Paterno, Engle, O'Brien, and Franklin.

 

[bamasota]

Paterno, Engle, O'Brien, and Franklin.

Good homer pick but your first two have no NFL involvement at all.