Coaching is more important in the NFL than any other sport. In basketball, you more or less toss Michael Jordan, Scottie Pipen, Dennis Rodman and the rest the basketball and let them do their thing. In the NFL there is years worth of scouting, game planning, and then the right signal caller trying to give your team the best odds to win every play.
Bill Bellicheck coaching against Rod Marinelli with the exact same rosters ends in a big blowout for the Bellichecks.
Now I am trying to look at the head coach, but also the rest of the staff. Some head coaches might call the plays on offense and be very involved, while others might let their coordinators do their job as they play the CEO role....
NFC East.
1. Andy Reid - Eagles
2. Tom Couglin - Giants
3. Wade Phillips - Dallas
4. Jim Zorn - Deadskins
Even though Couglin has the SB ring, I think him and Andy Reid are pretty similar but I think the Eagles having Jim Johnson as the defensive coordinator gives them the nod as the best coached NFC East team. They also have a former head coach calling the plays and I think they have the best all around coaching staff.
If I had to pick my offensive coordinator, I'd choose the Cowboys Jason Garret but that's not the question. Dallas also has Wade Phillips who I am less than impressed with.
I don't think my list is too contraversial in the NFC East, I think it's pretty clear and hard to argue with this list.
NFC North
1. Love Smith - Bears
2. Mike Mccarthy - Packers
3. Jim Schwartz - Lions
4. Brad Childress - Vikings
All the talk about Tony Dungy in the Bears/Colts SB, and I think the media was doing a lot of disservice to Lovie Smith. I think he has a good defensive mind, is level headed and is one of the more underrated head coaches in the league. Everybody loves to talk about a coach when he's winning, but what about after he didn't have a good year? Tony Dungy had finished products for 10+ years and won 1 SB thanks to having maybe the best QB ever. There were many years when he had the best team on paper but they got KO'd in the first round because Dungy was a ultra conservative... just play back... don't take any chances kind of guy.
Lovie Smith is his own man. He isn't Dungy's disciple, he's a better coach already. He took a weak team, built them up, and went to the super bowl with Rex freaking grossman.
I'm not a big Ron Turner fan or anything, but Lovie is the best coach in the NFCN IMO.
Mike Mcarthy:
When Mike Mccarthy got hired from the 49ers after running a horrible offense, I was skeptical. After going 13-3, and handling the BF thing about as much as he can, I'd say that he's alright. I liked listening to him in interviews, he seemed honest, intelligent, and I think he's at worst an average coach but probably better. I can't complain at all about him, he's no Bill Bellicheck but I think he's probably a B
I don't know much about their OC, but bringing in a quality name like Dom Capers on defense helps. In fact, with Dom Capers coaching the defense, I might even be inclined to bump Green Bay to the #1 coached team in the NFCN, but I'll stick with the Bears.
Jim Schwartz
Schwartz couldn't possibly be any worse than Rod Marinelli. A dumb "yeller" that had no business over seeing a college football team nevermind a pro team. The guy was probably unqualified to play defensive coordinator nevermind head coach. Good hire Matt Millen.
Schwartz did a good job with the Titans defense, is intelligent and well respected. Bringing in Scott Linehan to call the plays... a guy that wasn't a good head coach but could be a good offensive coordinator.
I'll believe in the Lions when I see it, but they certainly did upgrade their coaching staff this offseason.
Minnesota Vikings
The bald " make sure your dog doesn't shit on my lawn" old guy deserves no respect. Not only did they draft a 5th rounder at best QB in the second round, but they played him way too early. If you still believe football is won in the trenches, Minnesota had one of the best O-Line/D-Lines in the league. They could control the line of scrimage, but can't even make the playoffs????
Brad Childress is a joke, and deserves to be fired. I don't care if the team does decent or not, the guy is a joke. How they are handling the whole Brett Favre situation is a joke too.
Vikings fans deserve better.
NFC South
1. John Fox
2. Sean Payton
3. Mike Smith
4. Raheem Morris
I place Carolina at #1, but I'm not really a fan of their offensive coordinator or defensive coordinator but I do like Fox. I don't think John Fox is some Genius, but he's smart enough to give his team chances to win, he could scheme a good defense if needed, and he has taken a team to the SB. He's been on the hot seat but he's probably a B head coach in my mind, and you couldn't say that about everybody.
I'm not a big fan of Jeff Davidson their offensive coordinator. He's a former O-lineman and yes, last year they had the offensive line and 2 RB's to run the ball, but I think he forced it and I don't like how the offense was run 2 years ago when he didn't have Jeff Otah at RT and two running backs. He should do a decent enough job as long as he has Gross, Otah and Khalil ( and 1 of the RB's healthy)... I think Davidson can do a decent job this year, but I think he has to prove he can run a passing game. I'm not a fan
Sean Payton.
I remember when the year the Saints made it to the NFC championship game, everybody was calling Sean Payton a genius and I wasn't ready to go there just yet. I think a lot of the hype wore off and he's not nearly as acclaimed. However, if Payton runs his offense, and you now have Greg Williams ( who I like) run he defense, you actually might have the best coaching staff in the NFC South. They should at least be right therw with Carolina, but I like John Fox more than Payton ( even though I like Gregg Williams more than the other O and D coordinators).
Mike Smith
Good job turning the Falcons around, you proved me wrong and you handled your young QB out well, now let's see you do it again.
You have to give a lot of the Falcons credit to offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey and to QB coach Bill Musgrave. They did a fantastic job with the offense, they got more out of Turner the burner than most people would have thought, and they made Matt Ryan the rookie of the year.
If I got to pick any coordinators in the south, I'd probably take the Falcons offensive coaches or Sean Payton, Greg Williams as my DC, and John Fox as the head coach. Raheem Morris could be ball boy or something.
Raheem Morris
Signing this guy puzzles me.
In 2001 he was attending the NY Jets camp as part of the "defensive minority internship".
In 2004-2005 he was an assistant defensive backs coach... assistant... defensive backs coach.... Now just 4 years later you want this guy running a franchise? He was a freaking college defensive coordinator for 1 freaking year!
Sure he seems like a nice guy, sure he smiles a lot, but does the Rooney rule have to go this far? There is no way this guy is anywhere near qualified. Now that Rod Marinelli is gone, he has to be the worse head coach on paper... What I'd like to know, is who the hell else is applying for head coaching jobs that lost to this guy.
It looks like Raheem Morris will be one of the hands off "figure head" head coaches who smiles at press confrences, tells the team to send out the punt team on 4th and 8, and shakes the other coaches hand when the Bucs lose.
NFC West
1. Ken Whisenhunt
2. Steve Spagnulou
3. Mike Singeltary
4. Jim Mora
Ken Whisenhunt. Keep in my mind that I actually like Ken Wisenhunt. I like him now, I liked him before the superbowl, and I liked him when the Steelers should have hired him. Taking the Steelers to the super bowl is one thing, but building up Arizona and going to the bowl is another thing.
He brought in the best strength coach in the NFL, his O-Line sucked and he brought over Russ Grimm to build a respectable line... His offensive coordinator did a good enough job to get a head coaching job. Keep in mind, some coaches just don't want to risk it as they play ultra conservative football, but he let Haley run a real passing game, and Russ Grimm built a line that could give Warner time.
Ken knows when to roll the dice and when not too. I'm impressed, nobody wins in Arizona but he won in Arizona and he deserved the Steelers job. Once again, we had the Rooney Rule come into play.
Losing Todd Haley is going to hurt, but I like Whisenhunt, Grimm, Lott enough to say that Arizona is the best coached team in the NFC West.
St. Louis.
Spags was brought over to the Giants as a linebackers coach but was spectacular. He ran a top 10 defense but he also brought down the mighty Patriots in the super bowl. If the Giants didn't have such a fantastic game plan, they could have got blown out.
I do think he was hired a little early, but he showed a lot of promise, in strategy, players liked him, and he must have interviewed well. The rams play on a fast turf field, and he must have a plan to rebuild that defense... The Rams have a lot invested in their D-Line with Long, Carriker and Little and with Spags calling the shots I expect them to play better.
San Fran
Everybody likes Mike Singeltary because he's a yeller and "calls em like he sees em" but how long before it really turns people off. You usually don't see the head coach call guys out the way Vernon Davis was.
I don't like their coordinators, I don't like that Mike Martz left, and I'll start believing in Mike Singeltary when I see it. For now, I see a militant head coach who shows a lot of passion, but where's the strategy?
You know, I used to coach basketball and I read some coaching books and one of the things they said was that the coach who is yelling and trying to always dish out instructions isn't good.
You are better off having your team prepaired so that you don't have to yell and look like a maniac on the sidelines.
Singeltary had some success last year, but I must warn you that his style of coaching can be very polarizing if he doesn't know exactly what he's talking about. If you are going to yell and teach people a lesson for something they did wrong and show them the way... you can be a good coach, but if you are just going to yell just to hear your voice... or call people out the wrong way... you just might have a set of players that hate you.
Seattle.
Jim Mora is an idiot. He's not a smart guy, he's not passionate, doesn't sound well in press conferences, says the same cliche pregame speeches and is fake...
News leaked that he said Michael Vick was a problem.....
" That's not true... in fact, if I could start a team and have any player, I'd rather have Michael Vick".
Yeah, ok, dumbass.
If his daddy wasn't a head coach, Mora wouldn't be anywhere near an NFL front office, he'd be waiting tables at TGI Friday's like the rest of the people with his intellect.
I actually like offensive coordinator Gregg Knapp, I think he's one of the best, I probably should put Seattle higher on my list, but I dislike Jim Mora that much. He sucks.
Bill Bellicheck coaching against Rod Marinelli with the exact same rosters ends in a big blowout for the Bellichecks.
Now I am trying to look at the head coach, but also the rest of the staff. Some head coaches might call the plays on offense and be very involved, while others might let their coordinators do their job as they play the CEO role....
NFC East.
1. Andy Reid - Eagles
2. Tom Couglin - Giants
3. Wade Phillips - Dallas
4. Jim Zorn - Deadskins
Even though Couglin has the SB ring, I think him and Andy Reid are pretty similar but I think the Eagles having Jim Johnson as the defensive coordinator gives them the nod as the best coached NFC East team. They also have a former head coach calling the plays and I think they have the best all around coaching staff.
If I had to pick my offensive coordinator, I'd choose the Cowboys Jason Garret but that's not the question. Dallas also has Wade Phillips who I am less than impressed with.
I don't think my list is too contraversial in the NFC East, I think it's pretty clear and hard to argue with this list.
NFC North
1. Love Smith - Bears
2. Mike Mccarthy - Packers
3. Jim Schwartz - Lions
4. Brad Childress - Vikings
All the talk about Tony Dungy in the Bears/Colts SB, and I think the media was doing a lot of disservice to Lovie Smith. I think he has a good defensive mind, is level headed and is one of the more underrated head coaches in the league. Everybody loves to talk about a coach when he's winning, but what about after he didn't have a good year? Tony Dungy had finished products for 10+ years and won 1 SB thanks to having maybe the best QB ever. There were many years when he had the best team on paper but they got KO'd in the first round because Dungy was a ultra conservative... just play back... don't take any chances kind of guy.
Lovie Smith is his own man. He isn't Dungy's disciple, he's a better coach already. He took a weak team, built them up, and went to the super bowl with Rex freaking grossman.
I'm not a big Ron Turner fan or anything, but Lovie is the best coach in the NFCN IMO.
Mike Mcarthy:
When Mike Mccarthy got hired from the 49ers after running a horrible offense, I was skeptical. After going 13-3, and handling the BF thing about as much as he can, I'd say that he's alright. I liked listening to him in interviews, he seemed honest, intelligent, and I think he's at worst an average coach but probably better. I can't complain at all about him, he's no Bill Bellicheck but I think he's probably a B
I don't know much about their OC, but bringing in a quality name like Dom Capers on defense helps. In fact, with Dom Capers coaching the defense, I might even be inclined to bump Green Bay to the #1 coached team in the NFCN, but I'll stick with the Bears.
Jim Schwartz
Schwartz couldn't possibly be any worse than Rod Marinelli. A dumb "yeller" that had no business over seeing a college football team nevermind a pro team. The guy was probably unqualified to play defensive coordinator nevermind head coach. Good hire Matt Millen.
Schwartz did a good job with the Titans defense, is intelligent and well respected. Bringing in Scott Linehan to call the plays... a guy that wasn't a good head coach but could be a good offensive coordinator.
I'll believe in the Lions when I see it, but they certainly did upgrade their coaching staff this offseason.
Minnesota Vikings
The bald " make sure your dog doesn't shit on my lawn" old guy deserves no respect. Not only did they draft a 5th rounder at best QB in the second round, but they played him way too early. If you still believe football is won in the trenches, Minnesota had one of the best O-Line/D-Lines in the league. They could control the line of scrimage, but can't even make the playoffs????
Brad Childress is a joke, and deserves to be fired. I don't care if the team does decent or not, the guy is a joke. How they are handling the whole Brett Favre situation is a joke too.
Vikings fans deserve better.
NFC South
1. John Fox
2. Sean Payton
3. Mike Smith
4. Raheem Morris
I place Carolina at #1, but I'm not really a fan of their offensive coordinator or defensive coordinator but I do like Fox. I don't think John Fox is some Genius, but he's smart enough to give his team chances to win, he could scheme a good defense if needed, and he has taken a team to the SB. He's been on the hot seat but he's probably a B head coach in my mind, and you couldn't say that about everybody.
I'm not a big fan of Jeff Davidson their offensive coordinator. He's a former O-lineman and yes, last year they had the offensive line and 2 RB's to run the ball, but I think he forced it and I don't like how the offense was run 2 years ago when he didn't have Jeff Otah at RT and two running backs. He should do a decent enough job as long as he has Gross, Otah and Khalil ( and 1 of the RB's healthy)... I think Davidson can do a decent job this year, but I think he has to prove he can run a passing game. I'm not a fan
Sean Payton.
I remember when the year the Saints made it to the NFC championship game, everybody was calling Sean Payton a genius and I wasn't ready to go there just yet. I think a lot of the hype wore off and he's not nearly as acclaimed. However, if Payton runs his offense, and you now have Greg Williams ( who I like) run he defense, you actually might have the best coaching staff in the NFC South. They should at least be right therw with Carolina, but I like John Fox more than Payton ( even though I like Gregg Williams more than the other O and D coordinators).
Mike Smith
Good job turning the Falcons around, you proved me wrong and you handled your young QB out well, now let's see you do it again.
You have to give a lot of the Falcons credit to offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey and to QB coach Bill Musgrave. They did a fantastic job with the offense, they got more out of Turner the burner than most people would have thought, and they made Matt Ryan the rookie of the year.
If I got to pick any coordinators in the south, I'd probably take the Falcons offensive coaches or Sean Payton, Greg Williams as my DC, and John Fox as the head coach. Raheem Morris could be ball boy or something.
Raheem Morris
Signing this guy puzzles me.
In 2001 he was attending the NY Jets camp as part of the "defensive minority internship".
In 2004-2005 he was an assistant defensive backs coach... assistant... defensive backs coach.... Now just 4 years later you want this guy running a franchise? He was a freaking college defensive coordinator for 1 freaking year!
Sure he seems like a nice guy, sure he smiles a lot, but does the Rooney rule have to go this far? There is no way this guy is anywhere near qualified. Now that Rod Marinelli is gone, he has to be the worse head coach on paper... What I'd like to know, is who the hell else is applying for head coaching jobs that lost to this guy.
It looks like Raheem Morris will be one of the hands off "figure head" head coaches who smiles at press confrences, tells the team to send out the punt team on 4th and 8, and shakes the other coaches hand when the Bucs lose.
NFC West
1. Ken Whisenhunt
2. Steve Spagnulou
3. Mike Singeltary
4. Jim Mora
Ken Whisenhunt. Keep in my mind that I actually like Ken Wisenhunt. I like him now, I liked him before the superbowl, and I liked him when the Steelers should have hired him. Taking the Steelers to the super bowl is one thing, but building up Arizona and going to the bowl is another thing.
He brought in the best strength coach in the NFL, his O-Line sucked and he brought over Russ Grimm to build a respectable line... His offensive coordinator did a good enough job to get a head coaching job. Keep in mind, some coaches just don't want to risk it as they play ultra conservative football, but he let Haley run a real passing game, and Russ Grimm built a line that could give Warner time.
Ken knows when to roll the dice and when not too. I'm impressed, nobody wins in Arizona but he won in Arizona and he deserved the Steelers job. Once again, we had the Rooney Rule come into play.
Losing Todd Haley is going to hurt, but I like Whisenhunt, Grimm, Lott enough to say that Arizona is the best coached team in the NFC West.
St. Louis.
Spags was brought over to the Giants as a linebackers coach but was spectacular. He ran a top 10 defense but he also brought down the mighty Patriots in the super bowl. If the Giants didn't have such a fantastic game plan, they could have got blown out.
I do think he was hired a little early, but he showed a lot of promise, in strategy, players liked him, and he must have interviewed well. The rams play on a fast turf field, and he must have a plan to rebuild that defense... The Rams have a lot invested in their D-Line with Long, Carriker and Little and with Spags calling the shots I expect them to play better.
San Fran
Everybody likes Mike Singeltary because he's a yeller and "calls em like he sees em" but how long before it really turns people off. You usually don't see the head coach call guys out the way Vernon Davis was.
I don't like their coordinators, I don't like that Mike Martz left, and I'll start believing in Mike Singeltary when I see it. For now, I see a militant head coach who shows a lot of passion, but where's the strategy?
You know, I used to coach basketball and I read some coaching books and one of the things they said was that the coach who is yelling and trying to always dish out instructions isn't good.
You are better off having your team prepaired so that you don't have to yell and look like a maniac on the sidelines.
Singeltary had some success last year, but I must warn you that his style of coaching can be very polarizing if he doesn't know exactly what he's talking about. If you are going to yell and teach people a lesson for something they did wrong and show them the way... you can be a good coach, but if you are just going to yell just to hear your voice... or call people out the wrong way... you just might have a set of players that hate you.
Seattle.
Jim Mora is an idiot. He's not a smart guy, he's not passionate, doesn't sound well in press conferences, says the same cliche pregame speeches and is fake...
News leaked that he said Michael Vick was a problem.....
" That's not true... in fact, if I could start a team and have any player, I'd rather have Michael Vick".
Yeah, ok, dumbass.
If his daddy wasn't a head coach, Mora wouldn't be anywhere near an NFL front office, he'd be waiting tables at TGI Friday's like the rest of the people with his intellect.
I actually like offensive coordinator Gregg Knapp, I think he's one of the best, I probably should put Seattle higher on my list, but I dislike Jim Mora that much. He sucks.
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