Poll: The Greatest Coach in NFL History Not Named Shula | Page 2 | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Poll: The Greatest Coach in NFL History Not Named Shula

mega-fin-love said:
As much as it pains me to say it I gotta go with Mr. Hoodie. Dudes already taken his team to 6 superbowls and it doesn't appear that he will be done anytime soon. They make the playoffs almost every single year. Sorry Guys. Hoodie over Shula all day every day.
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its funny how people let the "recency" factor influence them when talking about the greatest in anything. Shula had 2 losing seasons in 33 years. That's ridiculous. He went to 6 SBs with 5-6 different QBs playing a big role in getting there. What BB did last night - was what Shula did every game in 1982 - all the way to a SB and one Kim Bokamper INT for 6 away from a ring in that game. 33 seasons, 2 losing seasons. Even BBs hit rate isn't that good. Yes, BB has dominated the last 15 years. Shula's reign of terror over the NFL lasted a little longer. Call it 1968-1985 or 17 years. BB is great. No doubt. But don't let recent events or a win w Jacob Brisket bias your thinking. For 17 years people cursed Shula and said things like "how much longer can they be great"? Ask Joe Ferguson who's Bills went 0-20 against Shula from 1970-1980.
 
Vaark said:
Bill Walsh: more than enough hardware, revolutionized offenses and produced a prodigious coaching tree.

(and seemingly accomplished this without cheating or gaming the system and its loopholes)
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Plus one on Walsh. Further, the niners dynasty spanned 2 QB's and 3 HC's.
 
The only way it's in the conversation is if we completely ignore integrity. Which a lot of people do.
 
Belichek.......

The breaking and bending of rules bothers me....but it doesn't seem to bother most...and doesn't seem to have tarnished his place in NFL history with most.

Its getting pretty hard to argue with his accomplishments....and its getting more and more frustrating that they have such an easy road in this division.

The older fans remember when the Dolphins dominated this division this way....and it was the Pats, Jets, Bills and the Colts who felt like we do now.
 
As much as I'd hate to say it I'd say Belichick is up there with the greatest ever. He caught lightning in a bottle with Tom Brady but he is rarely outmatched in terms of coaching. This year's Patriots team is likely a 13+ win squad - I wouldn't be surprised at all if Belichick does start Edelman at quarterback and they don't miss a beat.

Let's face it, I don't think anyone expected the Patriots to go 4-0 when Brady was suspended aside from Patriots fans...that's just good coaching.
 
Alternate opinion:

The Texans are such a ****ing joke of a football team that we started this ridiculous conversation.
 
JJM_7 said:
Shula never pulled a Spygate to win, or any other form of cheating.

Enough said.
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Shula held on to Olivadotti for far too long. That would get a coach fired today. Shula had Dan Marino for 17 years and was never able to build a consistent running game and defense around him. He also didn't do too well at getting deep in the playoffs, either.
 
Plus, most people are glossing over the fact that there are plenty of claims of Shula cheating, Walsh cheating, etc.

Granted, Belichick's transgressions go a little further than accusations, but that is probably due to today's culture of full transparency on all things, and the ability to quickly go public with information, rather than decades ago where stories were killed over night and the overall mindset was to bury stuff like this, and look the other way, rather than report anything and everything.
 
Wadeshow said:
He still has 4 rings. The stupid NFL never took them away. I would love to have a coach that will do anything to win. Who cares if you lose a pick but get a super bowl.
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He actually has 5 rings, thats why he named his boat - "5 rings". He received the other when he was part of the New York Giants on Bill Parcels staff. While it wasn't as a Head Coach, he was probably a pretty important part of setting the Defense.
 
Samphin said:
Plus, most people are glossing over the fact that there are plenty of claims of Shula cheating, Walsh cheating, etc.

Granted, Belichick's transgressions go a little further than accusations, but that is probably due to today's culture of full transparency on all things, and the ability to quickly go public with information, rather than decades ago where stories were killed over night and the overall mindset was to bury stuff like this, and look the other way, rather than report anything and everything.
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Good points. No one is going to convince me that these guys who are very highly driven and work insane hours don't cheat. Shula sounded jealous and bitter when he called Belichick when he called him Belicheat. Sorry not sorry, Don. He had one of the best QBs in NFL history, but his teams had the same issues constantly. Looking back, it's amazing that in 17 years, he couldn't find a running game to support Marino. Shula knows Belichick has surpassed him, and he's not happy about it.
 
I always consider Marv Levy in the conversation, just on the merit of taking a team to four consecutive Super Bowls. Even without winning one, and not cheating, I don’t see that being repeated by another coach, maybe ever.
 
finomenal said:
Good points. No one is going to convince me that these guys who are very highly driven and work insane hours don't cheat. Shula sounded jealous and bitter when he called Belichick when he called him Belicheat. Sorry not sorry, Don. He had one of the best QBs in NFL history, but his teams had the same issues constantly. Looking back, it's amazing that in 17 years, he couldn't find a running game to support Marino. Shula knows Belichick has surpassed him, and he's not happy about it.
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i respectfully disagree on a number of fronts here. First, Shula has 100 more wins than Belichik so not sure what is meant by "surpassing" him. They both have been to 6 SBs. And how close are they to both being 3-3 in those games. Seattle hands the ball to Lynch and Theisman doesn't break up his own pick 6 and there you go. Just saying that the margin of difference between these two great coaches is razor thin. I don't know how you "pass" a guy until you have more wins than him. BB has won about 12 games every year for the last 15 years and he still needs about 8-9 more years to pass Don up. That's what having just 2 losing seasons in 33 years of coaching will do for you. Shula was a great game time coach as is BB. Both men evolved and adapted as the game changed. Where I really don't agree is on the cheating comment. Read as much as you can about Shula - how he was brought up, what he believed in. Cheating was something he just couldn't comprehend. The only time in all those years he didn't shake the opposing coaches hand was Ron Meyer after the snow plow caper. Did it hurt Miami that year? No - they went to the SB. Did Shula ever forgive him? No. He was so opposed morally to that kind of behavior. I don't buy that he blatantly cheated like BB did. And the magnitude of BBs cheating absolutely aided him in his winning games and titles. Is he one of the top 5 coaches ever? Probably. Is he better than Shula ever was? No, or at least "not yet". Again, what happens in the present day has a way of shadowing out the feats of days past.
 
J. David Wannyheimer said:
It's probably Paul Brown.
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I am surprised Brown isn't in the conversation honestly. That guy was unstoppable when he coached. Ditto for Vince Lombardi. I'd say Bill Walsh really was as well once he built the west coast offense for the Bengals and perfected it with the 49'ers. Begrudgingly, Belichick does deserve to be in the top 5 though.
 
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