NFL Conference Championship Game weekend. One of the best sports days of the year. In the Ravens vs. Chiefs matchup, I was intrigued to see that it’s the first time that John Harbaugh gets to face his mentor, Andy Reid in the playoffs! This got me thinking, and having some fun conversations about the great coaching trees in NFL history.
There are great coaches, and then there are also great coaching trees. Most people would now say that Bill Belichick is the greatest coach- or at least the winningest coach- in NFL history with his 9 Super Bowl appearances and 6 Super Bowl Championships as Head Coach with the Patriots. Also consider, that on Bill Belichick’s coaching tree is Nick Saban, who I absolutely think is the GOAT in College Football. And of course Bill Belichick was the defensive coordinator for the great Bill Parcells, as they won 2 Super Bowls with the New York Giants, and also lost a Super Bowl with the Patriots.
And then certainly in the discussion as one of the greatest Head Coaches is the great Joe Gibbs, who in only 10 years won 3 Super Bowls for my Washington Redskins, and lost a 4th. And perhaps most impressively, he is the ONLY NFL Head Coach to win 3 Super Bowls- with 3 different, and NON- Hall of Fame, Quarterbacks! Also consider, that Gibbs took a 4th QB, Jay Schroeder, to an NFC Championship game, losing to Parcells’ Giants in the ‘86 season. And on top of this, if not for a Carlos Rogers drop on a should-have-been INT TD vs. the Seahawks, he would have taken a 5th QB, Mark Brunell, to the 2005 NFC Championship! But Gibbs would also lead the Redskins to the 2007 playoffs with yet another QB, Todd Collins, meaning that altogether, he took 6 different QB’s to the NFL playoffs. Staggering!
So getting back Andy Reid’s coaching tree. The list is very impressive with successful head coaches such as John Harbaugh, Sean McDermott, Ron Rivera, Doug Pederson, Pat Shermur, and Matt Nagy.
But then consider…where did Andy Reid come from? Reid was on the coaching tree of the great Mike Holmgren, who beat Gibbs in that ‘05 playoff game. And besides Reid, Jon Gruden was also on that Holmgren coaching tree. Who was under Gruden? Another list of impressive coaches such as: Mike Tomlin, Bill Callahan, Rod Marinelli, Raheem Morris, Jay Gruden, and Sean McVay.
And this is where it gets even more fun! In the NFC Championship game this weekend, we have Kyle Shanahan’s 49ers, vs. the Detroit Lions. Now let’s consider where Kyle Shanahan came from. Yes, it pains me and my fellow Washington football fans, as we are often reminded of what is absolutely one of biggest indictments against the disastrous Dan Snyder ownership years: the handling of Mike Shanahan- with his incredible coaching tree in the building! Yes, the 2013 Washington Redskins staff under Mike Shanahan, with Kyle, Sean McVay, Matt LaFleur, Mike McDaniel and Bobby Slowik. And not pictured below from that ‘13 staff, is also Raheem Morris- just hired as the Atlanta Falcons new Head Coach!
But then, consider where Mike Shanahan came from. You could argue that he’s on the Tom Landry coaching tree, as he got his start with the Broncos, under Dan Reaves. But shortly after, he also coached with Mike Holmgren on the 49ers! And who did they coach under? George Siefert.
And this is where it gets most impressive and my mind gets blown. Siefert coached with the 49ers, under the great Bill Walsh. Similar to Joe Gibbs, and in less than 10 years, Walsh also won 3 Super Bowls with the 49ers. And yes, like Gibbs is on the short list as one of the greatest Head Coaches in the history of the NFL.
Where do all these roads lead to? To what I think is perhaps not debatable: that the greatest NFL Head Coaching Tree belongs to…Bill Walsh.
