I have spent an inordinate amount of time daydreaming over the past few weeks about how awesome it would be to have Mike Tomlin as a the coach of the Cleveland Browns. This is not meant as a knock on Eric Mangini — this was, however — but moreso as an absolute testament to what Mike Tomlin has displayed during his short but wildly successful tenure as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
And go ahead Steelers fans, get your shots in. Call me a jealous Browns fan who is pining over another one of your coaches after a season spent wishing we could get Bill Cowher. My response is: you’re damn right. The Steelers have six Super Bowl titles and two this decade. The Browns won a grand total of four games the entire 2008 season. Why the hell wouldn’t any Browns fan be jealous of that? We can hate your guts all we want — but it does not mean that we wouldn’t love to have your leadership in Berea in a heartbeat.
With that said, I am willing to be open-minded about the Kokinis-Magini era. And I am very hopeful that these two intelligent, no-nonsense football guys can bring respect back to Cleveland and make us competitive again. But neither has proven he can be consistently successful in his current position, so the jury is still way, way out. We will have to wait and see; and in the meantime, I will continue daydreaming about Mike Tomlin on the sidelines of Cleveland Stadium.
Which brings me to the purpose of this post: who is the best coach in sports right now?
The first task that must be completed before answering this question is to devise the set of criteria by which judgments and rankings can be made. You could look at historical accomplishments, pedigree, statistics, etc, etc. I figured I’d keep it simple and make my judgments based on one simple question: If a new sport were created today, call it footsketball (because, as you may have realized, I only really care about and follow football, basketball, and baseball), and I was the owner of a franchise preparing for an initial head coach draft, what would my draft board look like? And for the purposes of this list, I am only considering coaches who are currently employed by a team as a head coach or manager.
This is how mine would look:
1 — Bill Belichick
No one has been more successful as a coach this decade than Bill Belichick. And while the Patriots did not make the playoffs last season, many have said that it was one of Belichick’s best coaching jobs ever. He lost the NFL’s reigning MVP and record-setter Tom Brady, yet still captained the Patriots ship to 11 wins. The Patriots were one of the six best teams in the AFC, but the playoffs just didn’t shake out in a way that allowed them to keep playing. He has 3 Super Bowl titles in 4 appearances, an undefeated regular season, and the reputation for being a cerebral, game-planning genius with a keen eye for talent and an ability to maintain complete control over his locker room. If I’m starting a team, I want Bill Belichick to be the architect of the organization. I may not like his personality, but my dislike for losing would be far stronger. No one in sports has lost less recently than Bill Belichick, and one 11-win, no-playoff season has done nothing to diminish my respect for his ability.
2 — Mike Tomlin
Yes, he is young. Yes, he stepped into a great organization that was already set up to be successful with or without him. And yes, the recency of the Steelers’ Super Bowl win may be leading to hyperbole about his abilities as a coach. But is there anyone out there who is not legitimately impressed and enamored with this guy right now? His legendary interview with the Rooney family, in which he apparently went from longshot to head coach by “blowing them away”, seemed overblown initially. But 25 wins, 11 losses, 2 AFC North crowns, a Super Bowl later, and we can see exactly what the Rooneys saw in Mike Tomlin.
And it is no coincidence that two football coaches are #s 1 and 2 on this list. If I am starting a team, I want toughness and togetherness to be the two most defining qualities of my team. I think that successful football coaches are better at instilling these two traits in a team than coaches in other sports — by necessity; and I cannot think of another coach that exudes these two traits more than Mike Tomlin. Plus, his 
youth is a huge plus. He was hired at the age of 34 and look at what he has already accomplished. The only factor giving Belichick an edge in my mind is that he is better at Xs and Os. Tomlin probably needs to be surrounded by solid coordinators to manage the intricate game-planning aspects of competition. But a head coach’s most important job is to set the tone and lead men. Mike Tomlin does this as well as anyone in sports right now. And I’d be confident that for the first 15-20 years of my team’s existence we would always have an advantage because of the leadership ability of Mike Tomlin.
3 — Jeff Fisher
Yes, another football coach. And a guy who I have always thought is severely underrated. Jeff Fisher’s teams are built around the fundamentals of the game, and win with toughness and defense. I don’t care what sport you are playing, toughness and defense win. Fisher may not always have teams that are competing for championships, like Belichick seems to; but he leads an organization that is consistent and seems to maximize the potential of its players. Combine Jeff Fisher with an excellent personnel guy and Fisher can effectively lead the troops.
4 — Tony LaRussa
Tony LaRussa’s name always seem to be controversial on lists like these. Some people swear by him and think he’s the greatest thing since sliced bread. Others think he is overrated and too much of an egomaniac. I don’t get it. The guy has the history of results and championships to back up his abilities, and always seems to maximize the potential of his team. He led an 83-win team to a World Series and also led dominant, star-laden teams in Oakland to titles. He is an innovator and, like Belichick, supremely intelligent while being miles ahead of most of his peers from a strategy standpoint.
5 — Phil Jackson
I love Phil Jackson. As a die-hard Bulls fan growing up, it was impossible not to love and have great respect for Phil Jackson’s coaching ability. And when he went to LA and repeated his Bulls success, that respect level grew even more. But there is a caveat with Phil Jackson: he needs to have great players. And I guess that’s a caveat that could be made with any coach, because no one can succeed without talent. But for the purposes of this list, based on starting a team from scratch in a new sport, Jackson is a wild card. If m
y team was star-laden and championship-ready, then Phil Jackson would be #1. And I realize that Jackson has shown patience and aptitude in rebuilding the Lakers from their fall in the aftermath of Shaq leaving, but he has still had the best player in the sport over this decade. No one is better at leading stars than Phil Jackson. But without knowing the make-up of my team, I can’t say I would rather have Jackson than the four guys listed above.
6 — Greg Popovich
Another guy who seems relatively underrated considering his consistent success. Popovich is a master of understanding his players and of having them ready to play in the biggest moments. He also has an uncanny ability to lead stars while also developing role players and making sure everyone understands the part they will play in the team’s success. The Spurs have had great success over the last decade or so while Pop has been at the helm, and he always seems to be at his best come playoff time.
7 — Brad Childress
Just kidding.
7 — Wade Phillips.
No really, I’m kidding.
7 — Tom Coughlin
I said before that I want toughness and defense to be the staples of my team, and Tom Coughlin has proven the ability to do this. He also proven that he has the ability to shape his roster in his own image in a market that encourages players to be self-promotional and self-centered. Sure, the Giants fell apart somewhat this year, but that is balanced by the extraordinary way in which they came together last year after being left for dead early in the season. And Coughlin proved that he can make subtle adjustments to his style while not compromising his intense attention to detail. Plus, remember what he did at his first NFL stop with the expansion Jaguars? Coughlin would clearly be a good choice for a brand new team.
8 — Ozzie Guillen
I know that people are going to take exception to this one. And I will state right now, for the record, that I fully appreciate the fact that my love for the Chicago White Sox could be influencing my vote here. But Ozzie did a great job last year of leading a White Sox team that no one thought would do anything into the playoffs. And, of course, he brought a World Series title home to Chicago for the first time in a century. And you have to understand, I grew up a Bob Knight guy — so Ozzie’s outburts and inappropriateness do not bother me as much as it bothers other people. (I also happen to think he there is a very real method to his madness a lot of times, but that’s a debate for another day.)
I was worried coming into last season that Ozzie may have lost the clubhouse after 2007, but the team proved last year that they still respect their manager and play hard for him. Toughness, fight, and will are never going to be a problem for an Ozzie Guillen-led team. I can understand arguments to the contrary, but this is my list for my team, and I’ll take Ozzie any day of the week. Plus, with Ozzie around I would never have to worry about Jay Mariotti coming into the locker room. That’s a huge plus right there.
9 — Bobby Cox
Consistency. Consistency. Consistency. I know the Braves have been down recently, but that does not erase the incredible consistency that Bobby Cox has shown as a manager. His greatest strength is being the leader of a very professional, winning organization that can weather storms and still win games and compete. I don’t doubt that he will have the Braves competing in the NL East again soon, and he is the type of leader that you can build a consistent winner around. Sure, his age is a problem if you’re looking long-term. But to get a franchise off the ground and on the right track, Bobby Cox is a great choice.
10 — Mike Singletary
I am going out on a limb with this one. But if my top criteria is toughness and defense, how can I leave Mike Singletary off? And I don’t know if most people realize this, but the 49ers finished the 2008 season winning 4 out of 5 games. This, of course, came in the aftermath of Singletary’s infamous pants-dropping incident and his sideline rebuke of Vernon Davis. Singletary is another guy, like Tomlin, who I think needs to be surrounded by solid Xs and Os assistants to be successful; but as a leader of men and as an organizational tone-setter, Mike Singletary is going to be very successful. I am actually thinking I should have moved him up on this list, but his limited experience is somewhat concerning. Still, if I was starting a new team in a new sport with Mike Singletary, I would feel very confident in my team’s direction.
Honorable mention: Jerry Sloan, Mike Scioscia, Ron Gardenhire, Andy Reid, Joe Torre, Terry Francona
For the record, when I started this list I was fully anticipating including college coaches. But each time I considered adding one, I came up against the caveat of whether or not recruiting is involved. There is no great way to compare college and pro coaches because such a huge part of college coaching is the ability to recruit. I would have loved to include guys like Pete Carroll, Urban Meyer, Nick Saban, and Roy Williams, but so much of their success hinges on bringing in the best recruiting classes each and every year. And my original thought was the my new footsketball franchise would be a pro team. And we all know how college coaches moving to the pros works out…
Obviously this list is just my opinion, and I open up the comments section for anyone and everyone to provide their our own. If you were starting a team in a new sport and you had the first pick in a head coach draft, who would you take?
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Okay, I need to go hit “Publish” right now, otherwise I may go up and switch Mike Tomlin to #1…
