Vince Lombardi tops the list of NFL coaches with the most wins. One reason for this is that Lombardi’s tenure as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers was so impressive. During his three decades in charge of the Packers, his influence and bond to the team, as well as the fans, were outstanding. Certainly one of the best coaches in NFL history, Vince Lombardi had a record of almost 100-win seasons in his tenure with the Packers. While this is by no means short of Don Shula’s whopping 350 wins, Vince Lombardi certainly deserves an honorable mention on the merit of the tremendous impact he had on the NFL.
But even given his great achievements: perhaps even more important is the fact that Vince Lombardi ranks second all-time among NFL coaches in overall coaching career wins. The feat of coaching the Packers to six Super Bowl appearances is an amazing feat in and of itself. No matter how small the amount of those victories were, they still represent huge accomplishments in the coaching career of Vince Lombardi. And, considering that there are no guaranteed wins in the NFL, this fact makes it all the more impressive.
As the leader of one of football’s staunchest franchises: it is understandable to be considered among the all-time greats when it comes to NFL coaching careers. However, there are several coaches that have achieved even more during their coaching careers than did Lombardi. For instance, following his retirement from the Packers, Tom Coughlin reached the all-time coaching mark of his career with the Giants, guiding them to victory in Super Bowl XLII. Then there is Chuck Pagano, who recently guided the Indianapolis Colts to their first winning season in five years, extending the franchise’s win streak to a record 23 straight seasons.
When it comes to overall NFL coaching wins and career stats: the all-time records of some of today’s most accomplished coaches such as Chuck Pagano and Tom Coughlin certainly deserve to be included in this discussion. While it was amazing to see Pagano win two playoff games and guide the Colts to a 10-game win streak, it was even more impressive that Coughlin was able to push the New York Jets into the playoffs for the first time in his illustrious career. However, in terms of overall wins and overall career stats, it may be fair to say that Coughlin is still the best head coach in the NFL today.
There are three coaches who currently stand out from the rest of the pack: when it comes to NFL coaching career statistics. As of this writing, Bill Belichick is the only active coach in the NFL that has an overall career record of over nine hundred wins, so that definitely makes him the top coach of all-time. The other two coaches on the top of this list are Tom Coughlin and John Elway, who both coached in Elway’s tenure with the Chargers as well. It will probably be tough for either coach to surpass Bill Belichick at any point in time, so you can expect to see a continuing increase in their overall coaching wins as time goes on.
If you want to break down the list of NFL coaches: with the most wins over the course of their coaching careers, there are a few other factors to take into consideration as well. For example, since winning games usually means winning player positions, you should also take a look at the success of these same players or key contributors on each team. This could include some unexpected candidates like Brett Favre, whom many people thought would have a slow rehab following his last dominant season.
Also, since the Super Bowl is a yearly occurrence, you should also take a look at the teams that have been in the past and present to see if they have any new wrinkles in their coaching staffs and on their championship teams.