As team owners get more and more impatient, and as turnover in the coaching ranks continues to grow, it will be harder for coaches to have the longevity needed to become one of the all time winningest coaches in the NFL and have the success that these top five coaches in the league have had throughout their career.
There is some great new talent coming along in the NFL coaching ranks. Sean McVay of the Rams, Kyle Shanahan of the 49ers, and Doug Pederson of the Eagles are just a few of the coaches that have brought new life to offenses throughout the league with their innovative offensive play-calling.
There are five coaches who have stayed at the top of their game throughout their tenures in the NFL and have been at the top of their game for at least 10 seasons or more.
5. Andy Reid, Kansas City Chiefs
This will not sit well with Chiefs fans, as some people from the fanbase think that Reid walks on water. Without question, Reid has had a great NFL coaching career with Philadelphia and Kansas City. Reid has a great offensive mind and has Kansas City in a position where they should be talked about as playoff contenders every year.
Reid has an overall record of 207-138-1 as a head coach, including 65-31 with Kansas City. Reid is 10-9 in the playoffs overall but just 2-5 with the Chiefs. Reid is 0-1 in Super Bowls and lost four straight NFC Championship games in Philadelphia earlier this century.
Reid also has the most wins by an NFL coach not to win a championship. He holds the distinction of being just one of nine coaches in the NFL with 200 career wins.
The knock on Reid is he is a great regular season coach but consistently gets outcoached in big games. Reid will have to win a Super Bowl to wear the gold jacket in Canton.
4. Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints
Payton has been a fixture in New Orleans since 2005 and has compiled a 126-80 record, including an 8-6 record in the playoffs.
Payton led the Saints to a Super Bowl win in 2007 and lost twice in the NFC Championship Games in 2006 to Chicago and in 2018 on a controversial call against the Los Angeles Rams.
Payton has the the luxury of having future Hall of Fame quarterback Drew Brees as his quarterback throughout his coaching career, and the two of them have had a lot of success together in New Orleans and both will end up in the Hall of Fame.
3. Pete Carroll, Seattle Seahawks
Carroll has ahead a lot of success with the Seattle Seahawks in his third stint as as NFL head coach. Carroll first coached the New York Jets in 1994 and then the New England Patriots from 1996-98.
But Carroll would not find a lot of success as a he’d coach until he went back to the college ranks at USC and compiled a 97-19 record in eight seasons. Carroll also won two National Championships at USC in 2003-2004. Carroll is one of only three coaches to win a collegiate National Championship and a Super Bowl. Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer are the others.
Carroll took over the Seattle Seahawks in 2010 and has gone 89-54-1. Overall, Carroll has an NFL coaching record of 128-93-1. Carroll is 9-6 in the playoffs with Seattle and 1-1 in Super Bowls.
Carroll has led the Seahawks to seven consecutive winning seasons. Carroll is also in the last year of his current contract which will expire at the end of the 2019 season.
Carroll also has the record most transactions recorded during a season as he executed over 200 transactions in a single season when he took over the Seahawks in 2010. Carroll continues to have the Seahawks in contention for the NFC crown year after year and has probably done enough to be inducted into the Hall of Fame when his coaching career has ended.
2. Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers
Tomlin does not get the credit he deserves on a national level due to the fact that the Steelers struggle at times to win in big spots.
But Tomlin’s track record is vey good as he has posted a 131-71-1 record over the last 12 seasons and winning 65% of his games. Tomlin has taken the Steelers to the playoffs in eight out of the last ten years and has an 8-7 record in the playoffs.
Tomlin is 1-1 in Super Bowls. When the Steelers beat the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl 43, Tomlin became the youngest coach in NFL history to win a Super Bowl. Tomlin is also only one of three African-American coaches to win a Super Bowl (along with Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith).
1. Bill Belichick, New England Patriots
Although Belichick will probably never pass Don Shula as the all-time winningest coach in NFL history, Belichick will go down as the greatest coach in history.
Belichick started his head coaching career in 1991 as the Cleveland Browns head coach and was there until the team moved to Baltimore in 1995 and Browns owner Art Modell fired Belichick. He compiled a 36-44 record as head coach of the Browns with a 1-1 playoff record.
Belichick’s record as head coach with New England is nothing short of incredible, winning 74% of his games with a 225-79 record and a 30-10 record in the playoffs. Belichick has had one losing season in New England since he became their head coach in 2000.
Under Belichick, the Patriots have won ten consecutive AFC East division crowns and he is currently third all-time in career wins, with 292 (including playoff wins).
Belichick — along with Don Shula — are the only two coaches in NFL history to have an undefeated regular season as the Patriots went 16-0 in 2007, eventually losing the Super Bowl that year to the New York Giants running a perfect season.
Nine of Belichick’s assistant coaches have gone on to become NFL head coaches, while seven of his assistants have gone on to become coaches at the NCAA level.
There is no question that Bill Belichick is the best coach in the NFL, and will go down in the history as the greatest coach of all time in the NFL.
