Comments on: Right Now, Who Is the Best Coach in Sports?

By: JRod

JRod — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 13:32:54 +0000

@Jon, good points about Jackson. And perhaps you are right, I may be underestimating his success. I was always his biggest defender back in the day, but that support has waned some now that he is out in LA. Call it a Midwest bias. ;-) But you bring a good point about the Bulls’ success the year after MJ retired that I had not thought about. I think I would still take the 3 football coaches above him, for my team anyway, but you certainly couldn’t go wrong at all having Phil Jackson coach your team.

By: Jon

Jon — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 23:18:51 +0000

I think you’re underrating Jackson when saying he needs to have the greatest players. The season after Jordan “retired” for the first time was a remarkable year for the Bulls where they fell a Game 7 short of knocking off eventual finalist New York (themselves a seven-game NBA Finals loser). He also led a CBA team to a championship before he was famous and able to cherry pick the best coaching positions. Look at how the teams did before and after he arrived (you do give this some lip service), and the difference is massive (sure, no team is the same without Jordan…but, as mentioned above, compare how the 1994 Bulls team did w/o Jordan with the 1999 Bulls team w/o Jordan AND Jackson). The Lakers before and after Jackson’s first term bore no resemblance to the consistent title contenders (and three-peat winners). It took Jackson’s return to make the Lakers again one of the NBA’s most formidable teams.

I could comment more on your other selections, though I do think it’s way too early to judge Tomlin…not to diminish an amazing start to his career.

By: Much Needed Reality Check

Much Needed Reality Check — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 15:31:15 +0000

STEELERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By: JRod

JRod — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 22:11:40 +0000

@Kaner, there is no question that Pat Summit is a great coach. Again, it boils down to the criteria I guess. So much of college coaching revolves around recruiting. In a professional sports league, most coaches have to coach the team they are given. In college, it is up to the coach to go get players — so coaches that are great salesman can mask deficiencies as leaders and Xs and Os guys. I’m not saying this applies to Summit — as she has proven to be fantastic over and over again — she just wouldn’t really qualify for the list I was putting together above.

By: Kaner

Kaner — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 21:57:46 +0000

Uhhh, I know you weren’t trying to be sexist Jrod but you cannot keep Pat Summit out of this conversation. She may not be part of the most competitive game out there right now, but she is a damn good coach….almost 1000 wins, and the number of national titles is staggering.
On straight w’s you got to show respect.