Top 5 coaches now

I can't believe people are actually singing the praises of guys like Kubiak, Payton, Nolan, Gruden, Marinelli but then bashing Gibbs

That's ridiculous. Let's see (putting aside Gibbs' 3 rings, 100+ victories, etc.). Let's just look at some of their highlights from the last two seasons:

Gibbs: Playoff win following 2005 season
Kubiak: One season, losing record, no playoffs
Payton: One season, 10-6, NFC Championship game....also lost a game to Gibbs
Nolan: 2 seasons, 2 losing records, lost to Gibbs
Gruden: Same number of wins and losses the past two seasons as Gibbs...lost to Gibbs in playoffs
Marinelli:One season, 3-13It's frusterating, aint it.

Record is a really bad way to evaluate coaches IMO...but then again, theres really no good way to evaluate coaches. Almost everything a coach does is represented by a figure that is 90+% decided by someone else, being a player, an assistant coach, a general manager, etc.

You almost have to look for the guys who always seem to be on the cutting edge of football innovation, because thats really all a coach can do to consistently give his team/organization an advantage.

I think Gibbs has done an excellent job of that through the years. So has Belicheik and Reid, and even Mike Nolan recently.

Still, its really, REALLY hard to rank coaches with any degree of accuracy. So I pretty much say, after the top 5, if the players like em, then hes a good coach. If they dont, hes a bad coach. Is there really any other way to do it?

It's frusterating, aint it.

Record is a really bad way to evaluate coaches IMO...but then again, theres really no good way to evaluate coaches. Almost everything a coach does is represented by a figure that is 90+% decided by someone else, being a player, an assistant coach, a general manager, etc.

You almost have to look for the guys who always seem to be on the cutting edge of football innovation, because thats really all a coach can do to consistently give his team/organization an advantage.

I think Gibbs has done an excellent job of that through the years. So has Belicheik and Reid, and even Mike Nolan recently.

Still, its really, REALLY hard to rank coaches with any degree of accuracy. So I pretty much say, after the top 5, if the players like em, then hes a good coach. If they dont, hes a bad coach. Is there really any other way to do it?

Well I guess one way to look at it is "What if they all coached the Detroit Lions? How would each of these coaches mentioned in this thread do with that roster?"

By the way, how funny is it to read about how Andy Reid has done such a great job considering he had no WRs or RBs really to work with. Did I miss something? Isn't he the one that put that roster together in the first place?

Anyway, call me a homer but I still take Gibbs any day of the week over just about any coach. His biggest problem last season was ceding too much control. I think he'll take it back this year. I've got a good feeling that he and Saunders have figured out how to effectively work together this year.

Well I guess one way to look at it is "What if they all coached the Detroit Lions? How would each of these coaches mentioned in this thread do with that roster?"

By the way, how funny is it to read about how Andy Reid has done such a great job considering he had no WRs or RBs really to work with. Did I miss something? Isn't he the one that put that roster together in the first place?

Anyway, call me a homer but I still take Gibbs any day of the week over just about any coach. His biggest problem last season was ceding too much control. I think he'll take it back this year. I've got a good feeling that he and Saunders have figured out how to effectively work together this year.Maybe this deserves its own thread, but one of the reasons for Mark Brunells success over the last two years (for those who understand relative success) is that he did get a lot of YAC from his receivers. Been in the top 5 in YAC in both 05 and 06.

Except Donovan McNabb was No. 1 in YAC both years. I hear people still trashing Philly for not investing in any offensive weapons for McNabb, well he's got more offensive help than any team in the NFL the last two seasons.

And to me, thats a testament to the way Reid has built his roster.

Anyway, we have three years of Gibbs 2.0 to evaluate, and from that we know...not very much. I do know I would not rank a coach with one year of experience ahead of him, and a lot of coaches in this league aren't that good. Gibbs is still a top 5-6 coach in this league, and just because he may not win a fourth superbowl here does not mean hes incapable. A few lucky bounces and who knows, 2007 could be the year!

I beg you not to start any thread that has to do with Brunell. I don't want to read anymore "Well they go to church together, so Gibbs loves Brunell"

I beg you not to start any thread that has to do with Brunell. I don't want to read anymore "Well they go to church together, so Gibbs loves Brunell"Duely noted. I could pass it off as a McNabb thread...

I keed, I keed.

I have very little love for Reid I think he has been able to shine as the best of the dammed.

Since Reid's inception as the Eagles HC the NFC has not had one single team that is dominant unlike the AFC with the Patriots Chargers and Colts who are always competitive the NFC has been a bubbling pot of mediocre teams where the scum rises to the top and it can be any team that gets there.

When you look back to the 80s you have Gibbs ducking it out with Parcells and Landry in the NFCE Bill Walsh's 49ers, Ditkas Bears... you think in 20 years time people are really look back and talk about the nearly men of the NFL and lament about Rieds Eagles? It will all be about the AFC and the Patriots and Dungys Colts .

To compare Gibbs to Payton ...well out there .... Payton may be the next HoF coach in waiting but he like smith managed to catch the lightning in the bottle in 2006 and that carried the saints far but not far enough. It will be interesting to see how things pan out

I mentioned Coughlin as an afterthought because of the success he had in Jacksonville. He hasn't had the same success in New York, hence why he didn't make my top 5.

Fisher and Del Rio are players' coaches. Good motivators, and they've been able to do great things without too many superstars. John Fox in Carolina is the same way, just a few more tools than Del Rio has. Lovie Smith has the Bears on the verge of greatness, and did it with a stellar defense and a mediocre quarterback (see Billick during their Super Bowl year). Andy Reid's Eagles have set the tone for the NFC East for several years now, aside from the 2005 season when McNabb went down.

Gibbs
Reid
Bill B in NE
Shanahan
Holmgren

I love Joe Gibbs as much as anyone. BUT LET'S KEEP IT REAL AROUND HERE. How can anyone have Joe Gibbs in the top 5??? That is just ridicules. People need to stop living in the past.

1. Bill B.
2. Andy R.
3. Tony D.
4. Jeff F.
5. Lovie Smith

you giving lovie smithy props for one good year? lets see more out of the bears before we go anointing anyone