Despite Eagles head coach Andy Reid’s inability to bring a Lombardi Trophy here to Philadelphia, ESPN has ranked him as the third best head coach in the National Football League behind New England’s Bill Belichick and Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin.
The sports network has been putting lists of NFL power rankings together, so they decided to do one on NFL head coaches. Reid decision to sign quarterback Michael Vick when he was released from prison has to be considered on of the more brilliant executive moves in the last few years. He was able to acquire him without surrendering any draft picks or players.
That move helped the Eagles make it to the playoffs but they weren’t able to bring home the prize for another season. It ended like every season has ended since Reid has been the head coach.
In fairness to Reid, he hasn’t won a Super Bowl, but he has done everything else and he’s done it consistently. Big Red has taken the Eagles to the playoffs nine of the 12 years he’s been here. Reid’s Eagles have won 128 games and lost only 82 during his tenure as the Birds head coach. That’s a winning percentage of .602, if you were wondering.
He has won countless NFC East division titles and he’s been to five National Football Conference Championship games. Regardless of what changes are made on the ball club, Reid finds a way to keep the Birds in the hunt for a title. The Eagles has been to one Super Bowl, but hasn’t been able to find a way to lead the Birds to a Super Bowl title.
Quite a few Eagles fans say they are tired of Reid because he can’t win the big one and he continues to make the same mistakes year after year and game after game. They point to his poor game management and inability to make adjustments at halftime of the big games.
He’s facing a great deal of pressure here in Philadelphia to win a Super Bowl title. Reid’s habit of giving the fans very little information is another item that has many Eagles fans down on him.
I have no problem with Belichick being the top guy because I do think he gets the most out of his talent. Tomlin is a great motivator and also gets the most out of his players.
Reid at number three is a sign of the great respect which he has throughout the league. He’s got to win a title to stop the legitimate criticism of his coaching.
Mike McCarthy has a young football team with a lot of tread left on the tire, so don’t be surprised if the Packers win or get close to winning titles for the next four or five years.
I think Payton could easily be ahead of Reid because he won a title without great talent on the defensive side of the ball. They don’t have great receivers or offensive linemen or running backs, so Payton should be given a great deal of credit for getting as much as possible out of his talent.
The only problem I have with the rest of the list is Mike Shanahan. He hasn’t won a title since the 1990’s. Should we also put Joe Gibbs and Mike Holmgren. To list is supposed to be about what you have done lately, so Shanahan doesn’t belong on the list.
Here are the top ten on the list.
1. Bill Belichick, New England Patriots
2. Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers
3. Andy Reid, Philadelphia Eagles
4. Mike McCarthy, Green Bay Packers
5. Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints
6. Tom Coughlin, New York Giants
7. Rex Ryan, New York Jets
8. Lovie Smith, Chicago Bears
9. Mike Smith, Atlanta Falcons
10. Mike Shanahan, Washington Redskins
John Harbaugh, Baltimore Ravens
Good stuff G,
Reid “NEEDS A TITLE PERIOD” Nuff said. Mcnabb bailed him out and he couldn’t do it with him, now he has Vick and he better win a title.3rd best in win percentages maybe, but until you get a title…well you know the rest.
YES, HELL YES. Beyond a shadow of a doubt yes. Ried is and has been one of the top HCs in the NFL for years. I can list head coaches that won SBs – (Barry Switzer) Coches that had great teams that won SBs and then the team tanked (Gruden), Coaches that won SBs but then went to other teams and were disasters (how about the skins with Shanahan and Gibbs reborn) – how about Ditka when he went to NOrleans?
Winning a SB is just that, you get your name on the trophy, and a ring – then you move on. But a whole career is not defined by a binary yes or no
I can also list great coaches that didn’t win SBs – Don Coreyll and Marv Levy. How about Bud Grant, or George Allen? Jeff Fisher?
Reid is deserving. He will win one.
Eh … this list is a little goofy in general. I wouldn’t have Lovie Smith even in my top 10, first off. What the heck has he done? Overrated. WAY too early for Rex Ryan to be #7, although he’s an up-and-comer for sure. I’d put Payton and McCarthy ahead of Reid, probably. Just in terms of who I’d rather have coaching my team anyway. Coughlin is overrated, too. Yeah he won a Bowl, but his teams are WILDLY inconsistent and that’s typically a coaching issue.
I also think what boosts him up in the rankings are the number of coaches that he has produced. Ron Rivera, Brad Childress, John Harbaugh, Leslie Frazier, and Steve Spagnuolo. Brad Childress was a bit of a disaster, but I don’t know how much was all his fault and Leslie Frazier and Ron Rivera don’t have much HC history, but they were top notch coordinators.
With no title and a propensity to get his quarterbacks injured, no Reid should not be No. 3.
It does little good to beat up on the NFL weaklings, only to lose to the powerhouses. A big part of that, of course, is Reid’s QB-killing play-calling. By the end of the season, his QBs are always on the verge of being furneralized.
his longevity factors in, but as drummer points out, his winning percentage is giants weak NFC east opponents earlier on, he had the benefit of a shut down defense with standout players he inherited from rhoades and coached by Johnson, his offenses shut down in money games, poor game/clock management, verypoor at some personnel decisions, no kick returner in green bay , cmon, longest tenured coach to never win a super bowl, he’s here because he wins enough to put fans in the seats, but he is not an elite coach, no way
The job of a head coach is to put the team/players in a position to win. Andy Reid has consistently done this with many players over the last 11 years.
You can’t blame the coach for the players inability to execute.
How about some terrible game plans or the inability tochange things up on game day or the inability to Run the ball in SHort-yardage situations and in the Red-ZOne., plus clock management, challaenge calls and Time out management.. I have not seen an improvement in these areas during Coach AR’s tenure and for this alone, I knock him out of the Top 5 for best HC in the NFL
Paulman’s list of Top 10 Coaches in the NFL
#1) B Belichek (Patriots)
#2) M Tomlin (Steelers)
#3) S Payton (NO Saints)
#4) K McCarthy (GB Packers)
#5) L Smith (Bears)
#6) T Coughlin (Giants)
#7) A Reid (Eagles)
#8) R Ryan (Jets)
#9) M Smith (Falcons)
#10) N Turner (Chargers)
There are some up and comers Coaches from TB Bucs (Morris) KC Chiefs ,Detroit Lions (Schwartz) but need more time to establish consistentcy with thier teams
M Shanahan belongs no where on this list, what he did last year as a HC of the Redskins was a joke where he bascially tore the team apart from publicly humiliating their best players, to changing their Def Scheme to a “3-4” when they had a pretty good unit in place as a “4-3” and simply appears to be paving the way for his son to become HC and is not worthy of being in the Top 10 for what he did 10 years ago.. Also J Fisher have proven over the yars to be good Coaches
To be honest, Reid is a very good coach but he is in the realm of a Marty Shottenheimer or Dan Reeves. Reid is ranked high because he has won consistently, and has coached for so long. But he hasn’t been able to win a superbowl, and this is due in large part, to many of his flaws.
I would keep Tomlin ahead of him. He has won a superbowl, and taken his team to another. I would also put Mike Mccarthy ahead of him. To me, he is a better coach that adjusts to opposing defenses, and is willing to run the ball in order to do so. He also had his team on the brink of a superbowl, when favre threw that INT, and has won a superbowl. I would also probably put Payton ahead of him for the same reasons as Mccarty, although he has had some reasons where they have been .500.
I think a fair spot for Reid would be number 5. He has been very successful, and you have to give him credit for that. But lets also remember that a partial reason for his high ranking is a lack of good coaches in the league. For Reid to truly get into that elite level, he is going to have to be able to adjust better in games, learn how to run a more balanced and less predictable offense, make better in game decisions, and learn how to manage the clock better.
On a side note I think Lovie Smith should be ranked 6. He has taken his team to multiple NFC Championship games and one super bowl and did not have a good qb until this year. And Jay Cutler is still a little ways a way from being an Elite QB. To win this consistently without stability and strength at the most important position is something to say the least.
Paulman- you have T cough over AR? you are flagged as clueless.
BirdoBeamen said, “You can’t blame the coach for the players inability to execute.”
Uh … really dude? You can’t blame the guy who drafts the players for their inability to execute? I’d have to respectfully disagree.
I think we can all agree on the first 2 but reid belongs no where near 3 with his inability for an ALL AROUND coach.
1. Bill Belichick
2. Mike Tomlin
3. Sean Payton
4. Rex Ryan
5. Mike Mccarthy
6. Tom Coughlin
7. Andy Reid
8. John Harbaugh
9. Jim Caldwell
10. Pete Caroll
10 could be mike smith but I choose pete for doing what he did with a poor seahawks team. They had a bad record but he had them playing well in the playoffs with a bunch of nobodies
Steve I think T, Coughlin is a better all around coach than AR. He does a title to prove it.
Gary Cobb who do you think is a better coach Andy Reid or Tom Coughlin?
its tough to say he is 3rd with no title… As an Eagle fan, it doesnt seem to me that he should be that high.. Maybe from the outside looking in, he deserves it..
*shrugs*
Here’s a question, does it take more than the coach to win a SB? Or, are there signiricant factors, beyond the coach, that determine who wins superbowls? Are there MANY significant factors beyond the coach that determine who wins a SB?
My point is, to say that Reid doesn’t deserve to be #3 just because he doesn’t have a SB win (other than as a GB assistant) is silly to me. And I think Bilicheat, Tomlin, and the other coaches would agree with me (I’m assuming there, I’ll admit that). It’s oversimplifying what it takes to be a coach and what it takes to win a SB to reject a coach on the overall list for that reason. If the man had never or only rarely led his team to the playoffs, that would be a different story….
Yes I do Stevo,
TC won a Super Bowl and is a better overal game manager during the games.
I don’t particular care for him or the Giants, but he drafts and schemes Physical Football players and is commits to the run game which I prefer over the “Small but Fast” players and Coach AR’s Philosophy of passing 65% of the time
Anyone who has coughlin over AR is just plain dumb. Whats has he done since eli threw up that miracle to win them a SB? His teams always collapse in the second half. Did anyone watch the 4th quarter of the giants eagles game? Was I the only one who saw the giants blow a 31-10 lead with 7 min to go and the Nfc
Paulman, of Coughlin and Reid, which coach has one more games/better record for their team. Isn’t that the bottom line?
You can cherry pick negatives about Reid (and we all know the list…) and positives about some others all you want, all day. But the bottom line, is not ‘well in this particular category… blah, and that one….)…. no, it’s bottom line – who’s better.
The giants had that great year, with the Tyree catch and all, but over their tenures, Reid’s team has been far more successful than the Giants.
East title on the line. He was going to get fired until they somehow won the SB. His players hate him and oh yea andy has beaten him 5 straight times. One of which was on the giants field in the playoffs. SB mean a lot but aren’t everything. Anyone who lknows football, even giant fans, wouldn’t say coughlin is better. Some of you need to think before writing.
did i see norv turner on paulman’s list??? i think that’s more atrocious than the debate between TC and AR. I think AR is better, but only marginally.
in all fairness, the chargers have done fairly well under norv turner, but there’s just something about him (probably the memories of him with the redskins)
To Schiller
I measure Success or the Best as in winning a Championship or a SUper BOwl,
Like I have stated, I don’t care for Giants HC T Couglin much, but the man has won a Super Bowl which is why I gave him the nod over Coach Ried plain and simple.. (same with Payon and MCCarthy, you win and you earn the distinction and accoladesthat follow up.. being consistently good but failing to win when it means to most in your Profestion, is simply not good enough for me ..
Paul, ok, thanks for telling us your criteria.
So you are saying that you only consider 1 factor in judging overall coaching success. I say that’s foolish and too simple. Caoching isn’t simple, and neither is winning superbowls. Look at all the criteria they/we use to evaluate NFL Draft prospects, WAY more than 1, but you say you only use 1 for this.
You see how maybe you’re just being too simple about this?
At the end of the day, it’s about winning Championships and Coach AR will never be considered a “Great” Coach until he wins a Super Bowl just like
Coaches like Bud Grant,or Marv Levy though both were clearly good coaches
Similar to Charlie Manuel who wans’t considered a great Manager until he won the World Series..
I am not saying it’s fair or not, but as a Head Coach/Manager in any sport, the ulitmate repsonsibility for winning or losing falls on you and that’s the way it is and why they are paid the big bucks to accomplish this..
Hey schiller, they call it the lombardi trophy for a reason, lombardi would be spitting mad to hear how you defend not winning the ultimate prize, 2nd, third place, whatever, that’s for losers, paulman is correct one this one, one hundred percent correct, all you clowns who consistently defend reid, i wonder how competitive you are, what the hell, are you serious?
I love how people criticize Andy for not running the ball…..but then rank Mike McCarthy ahead of him when McCarthy runs the ball LESS than him — lmao. It’s hilarious.
The difference? Player execution.
Birdo, McCarfty won, it cures all, McCarthy ahead of Reid, hands down
Jakedog — Coughlin also won. But he hasn’t beaten Reid in three years. Is he better too?
Yes, by the only criterion that matters, winning the lombardi trophy, named after the man who coined probably the most memorable sports slogan, “winning isn’t everything, it is the only thing”.
Not so fast Birdbrain,
Macarthy and the Packers ran the ball when it counted (end of season, cold weather and in the Playoffs– RB James Starks had some nice numbers their final 4-5 games..Earlier in the Season when they really had no RB due to injury to Grant, they were a pass-happy team but again Coach McCarthy made the adjustments based on weather conditions and his opponents defensive strengths and weaknesses, like a good coach should and then went on to win a Super Bowl.. Coach AR is way to predictable and you can fool and outsmart the young coaches and weak opponents, but Coach AR schemes always fall short when playing sound defenses with experienced coaches almost every time and when it counts which is the playoffs
Let it be known — according to JAKEDOG himself — Tom Coughlin is a better coach than Andy Reid. Love it.
paulieDman — yea, that running game really showed in the Superbowl too. You know — the game that actually determines whether your going to be a champion or not? What did they run the ball? Like twice? LMAO. Idiots on this forums sometimes.
The trophy is called the Lombardi trophy because he was such a great, dominant, accomplished coach who contributed so much to the game and SB. Not because superbowls are the only criteria to judging a coach. And that quote speaks to Reid – is there a coach on the list below Reid who has more wins or a higher winning percentage? So Reid wins more than them – and winning is all there is, so…. that makes him better than them by Lombardi’s standards.
Lombardi said winning is all there is. Reid wins. Period. Lombardi (in that quote) made no mention of the superbowl. And I for one think that Vince would side with me on this – that Andy Reid can be ranked at 3 for current NFL coaches given ALL the context, not just one criteria.
Nobody is saying that Reid should be #1. But after the top 2, it’s hard to say that any of the other coaches have won as much games and kept their teams as good as Reid has for as long.
AMEN schiller. Idiot Eagle fans that blame Reid for not having a Superbowl yet are the ones that hate on him. I remember growing up and watching the Eagles completely suck. At age 15, they hired Andy Reid. My teenage Sundays and young adulthood Sundays have been some of the most memorable days of my existence. Alot due in part to what the fat man has been able to put together.
Andy Reid was the man that made the Eagles contenders to begin with! You don’t build a company and then get rid of the CEO while the company continues to succeed do you?! Ok, maybe the company hasn’t gotten the ultimate prize….but the fact that the company continues to have a chance at it year in and year out speaks for itself!
I could go on a tirade defending Andy Reid but I’ll leave it at this. When no other coach wanted to give Mike Vick a chance — Andy Reid did. Look at Mike now.
When Kolb got hurt and Mike played like he did, no other coach would have gave the starting job to Mike after only two weeks of work when Kolb had waited 4 years for his opportunity! Kolb was Andy’s boy! But Andy put the team’s success in front of his wants! Andy could have been selfish and gave the job back to Kolb because Kolb was “Andy’s project” — but once again, Andy put the best interests of the team, as he saw them, first.
I honestly believe no other coach would have done that. None.
Andy Reid is the Andre Igoudala of coaching.
LMAO. Just because I want to see where this is going — why do you say that vricchini?
LOL at Coughlin or Lovie being better coaches than Reid.
3 might be a little high for Reid, but a case can be made for it. He would be in the discussion. It is definitely arguable.
The number 3 is arbitrary. He can’t be #1 because there’s coaches as good as him with superbowl wins (yes it is A factor). But otherwise, you have to have people better than him to put them ahead of him. Look, there aren’t a lot of great coaches in the NFL right now (forget about Reid specifically). Period! I personally think you can put Harbaugh a little higher, but not ahead of Reid. I could see an argument for McCarthy over Reid, but that’s it. If Reid isn’t the 3rd best current NFL coach, he’s the 4th. He’s BEYOND DOUBT one of the top 5.
pauligirl and vr are nuts.
Alas, I agree with something Paulman says. Andy Reid is the guy who grabs a Rubic’s cube, gets it Almost completed, and gets stuck. Then he continues to work on the same puzzle from scratch and follows the exact same steps each time getting stuck at the same point, over, and over, and over again. Never changing one bit of his approach. Some observers will commend him for being able to get so close all the time. Others will say, hey idiot, don’t you see that method needs adjusting!!! Small, soft defensive players and lack of a power running game, over, and over, and over again!
rasta, you sir, have become lazy in your thinking about Reid. “Never changing one bit of his approach.”
Yep, Reid always drafted great WRs in rounds one and two. Indeed. In the beginning of his coaching career, he was pegged as the guy who will only draft high for the lines. Still true? Reid never went for the big free agent. Did that change? Yup. Reid didn’t value the FB position. Did that change? Yup.
Sure, the man’s offensive mindset has stayed the same…. name me an NFL coach who doesn’t fit that statement. Got one? ? You want to blame Andy Reid for doing something that every other coach in the NFL does? That’s stupid. You can disagree with it, but his offense has worked pretty damn consistently for a long time now.
Rasta, you just aren’t being reasonable there.
Sports Bum
On Lovie Smith as HC of the Bears, he’s been to 2 NFC Championship games and to 1 Super Bowl in the last 4 years with a lot less talented offense than the Eagles so yes, I would place him and rate him above AR for what both coaches have done over the last 5 years or so. he workds for very stingy owners who typically don’t spent much in Free-agency but have been agressive the last couple of years trading for QB Cutler and signing Peppers and others..
clearly reid aint top 3
how can they put him ahead of payton and mccarthy
personally i like rex ryan better as well
reid has had more talent than most of these coaches but hasnt won the big 1
rex ryan coahed a rookie qb last yr to conf chip and lets be honest we wont even make the offs in the afc
pman i may have to agree with lovie
i agree with the less talent portion for sure
these coaches work with what they have
make the games ugly slow the pace down keep their teams in the gm and win some of them
i agree lovie maybe ahead of andy as well good call
let doug collins coach the birds
now thats a top 5 coach
andy above average maybe top 8 nothing more
if u go any deeper and go to in game coaching he aint even top 12
his gameplans are solid his adjustments bottom 5 in the league
god forbid the other team has a good gameplan then game over period
For the very first time ever I agree with Rastadoc. The Rubik’s Cube analogy is brilliant. One year no kicker, other years no linebackers, other years no wide receivers, most years no one who can get to the quarterback. The Eagles and Reid are always trying to outsmart the other teams with their drafting strategy which winds up crappy. Changing positions, small players. He hasn’t won a Superbowl yet and it has been a very, very long time. I’d rather win one than be annoyingly consistent. I’m tired of losing in the playoffs.
hey fan how about the no returner year which cost a game or 2
then we go to reno mahe lol
yup, that was a classic!