Greatest Coach

[Strike3Called]

Who's the greatest coach of our era?

[Razor Shines]

George Popovich. Greatest Water Polo coach of all time.

[Slyder]

In an era where "super teams" are bought there's been one constant.. San Antonio Spurs.

[Strike3Called]

*Gregg* Popovich

[BuckeyeRed27]

It's Pop, no question.

[cumberlandreds]

You need to define "our era". My era goes back to Wooden,Landry etc.......

[Assembly Hall]

You need to define "our era". My era goes back to Wooden,Landry etc.......

Dang, we are getting old!!!!!!!!!!

[cumberlandreds]

Dang, we are getting old!!!!!!!!!!

I am still just young enough not to remember Lombardi. :)

[Assembly Hall]

I am still just young enough not to remember Lombardi. :)


LOL.........I cant remember Halas or Rockne either!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ohayou]

Of those 6, Pop.

Regardless of what your opinion of women's basketball is, Geno Auriemma's success at UConn has just been ridiculous.

[Assembly Hall]

Regardless of what your opinion of women's basketball is, Geno Auriemma's success at UConn has just been ridiculous.


You got that right.

[SunDeck]

If it's my era, then it's probably Doc Counsilman.
If it's our era, I find it difficult to argue against Popovich or Belichik

[Assembly Hall]

If it's my era, then it's probably Doc Counsilman.


Wow...........definitely the best at his craft. Go Hoosiers.

[SunDeck]

Wow...........definitely the best at his craft. Go Hoosiers.

Might have been a homer call, but I am surrounded by NCAA banners and giant photographs of his greatest Olympic swimmers every lap I take at the pool on campus. One would be hard pressed to find a coach who's legacy was a changed sport (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/05/sports/doc-counsilman-83-coach-and-innovator-in-swimming.html) and an entire scientific discipline.

[dabvu2498]

If you're going there, you've almost got to go with Dan Gable.

[redsfanmia]

Bill Bowerman?

[SunDeck]

If you're going there, you've almost got to go with Dan Gable.

Nothing wrong with that choice. An amazing wrestler and coach.

[Assembly Hall]

Bill Bowerman?

As an old track guy, I couldn't argue with that one bit.

[M2]

Vicente Del Bosque

[redsfanmia]

i think Bob Knight would get my vote

[Assembly Hall]

i think Bob Knight would get my vote

It is a pretty interesting question. I date back to the early 70's and have been a sports fan all my life. Sundeck touched on something, and dab followed him up. I personally think that pro coaches are just in the right place at the right time. Very few have been inovaters......hard to tell what they actually did with the talent that was laid before them to "coach". Seems to me the guys that do the amateur gig are far better. They do something with raw talent. I dunno, just my thoughts.

[redsfanmia]

It is a pretty interesting question. I date back to the early 70's and have been a sports fan all my life. Sundeck touched on something, and dab followed him up. I personally think that pro coaches are just in the right place at the right time. Very few have been inovaters......hard to tell what they actually did with the talent that was laid before them to "coach". Seems to me the guys that do the amateur gig are far better. They do something with raw talent. I dunno, just my thoughts.
I think you are right, was Belichik a great coach with the Browns? Was Pitino a bad coach with the Celtics? Phil Jackson wasn't great with the Knicks the first go around. I think Larry Brown should be on this list too, all he does is win.

[SunDeck]

I think you are right, was Belichik a great coach with the Browns? Was Pitino a bad coach with the Celtics? Phil Jackson wasn't great with the Knicks the first go around. I think Larry Brown should be on this list too, all he does is win.

This is a tough question because then early coaches, those for whom a sport was still relatively immature, may seem more like pioneers. In an age where the margins between teams and collective talent are probably narrower, shouldn't Belichik get credit for creating and maintaining such a high level of performance over the long haul? With its draft system and salary cap, the NFL is designed to work against that and I would lean toward giving him credit for thriving in spite of the league limits.

[redsfanmia]

This is a tough question because then early coaches, those for whom a sport was still relatively immature, may seem more like pioneers. In an age where the margins between teams and collective talent are probably narrower, shouldn't Belichik get credit for creating and maintaining such a high level of performance over the long haul? With its draft system and salary cap, the NFL is designed to work against that and I would lean toward giving him credit for thriving in spite of the league limits.

I think Belichik is a great coach, I wish he coached my team

[George Anderson]

I think Belichik is a great coach, I wish he coached my team

Belichick is a great coach but his legacy is tarnished with both deflategate and spygate. No way he gets my vote.

[15fan]

If it's my era, then it's probably Doc Counsilman.

Truth.

My grandfather swam with Doc (long before he was Doc) at OSU. My dad swam for Doc at IU for a couple of years.

When I was in elementary school and we moved to Columbus, we'd go to the meets when IU swam at OSU. It was at the very tail end of Doc's coaching career. During one meet, he came up into the bleachers, sat with my family for about 15 minutes, and routinely kept in touch with my parents. I wish I had the perspective then that I have now. Doc was as large of a figure in swimming as anyone has ever been in any sport. My dad was never one of his star swimmers, but we are always part of Doc's family, just like the hundreds of other swimmers who suited up for Doc's teams at IU.

[Assembly Hall]

I am just not a big believer in pro coaches being great coaches. There are exceptions in my mind, but they are very few. When it comes to the NFL, Bill Walsh and Bill Parcells come to mind. Walsh, for being an innovater and Parcells for just winning every where he went and turning organizations around. When I think MLB, I think Sparky and Jim Leyland. When I think the NBA........nobody really comes to mind. Phil Jackson fell into the gig in Chicago and then fell into another one in LA. Pop has done a marvelous job, but he also fell into something special.

I look to the college ranks and I see coaches that have done so much. They are dealing with athletes that come from nowhere and cultivate them.

Once again, just my thoughts.

[Revering4Blue]

I am just not a big believer in pro coaches being great coaches. There are exceptions in my mind, but they are very few. When it comes to the NFL, Bill Walsh and Bill Parcells come to mind. Walsh, for being an innovater and Parcells for just winning every where he went and turning organizations around. When I think MLB, I think Sparky and Jim Leyland. When I think the NBA........nobody really comes to mind. Phil Jackson fell into the gig in Chicago and then fell into another one in LA. Pop has done a marvelous job, but he also fell into something special.

I look to the college ranks and I see coaches that have done so much. They are dealing with athletes that come from nowhere and cultivate them.

Once again, just my thoughts.

Until the NBA changed the rules in '01 to allow zone defenses, which allowed NBA coaches to create mismatches by going smaller at times, the NBA game did not lend itself to innovation. Even though they never coached NBA champions, Don Nelson -- with his smaller Run TMC Warrior teams -- and Doug Moe -- His high-scoring, Alex English-led Nugget teams, which, believe it or not, were running Bob Knight's motion offense at warp speed -- were the closest to innovators at the NBA level.

While we are on the subject of the NBA, I have to concur with what was stated about Larry Brown, specifically, his ability to turn around virtually every team he coached. Also, INHO, Popovich > Phil Jackson. Popovich did not fall into a situation set up for sustained success as Jackson did twice. Pairing Duncan and Robinson together was no guarantee of several future championships, as the front office still had to place pieces around them. I have to give credit to Jackson for the fact that the final three Jordan-led championships occured despite the lack of both a rim protector and low post defender once Horace Grant and Bill Cartwright left town. And no, Rodman, at that point in his career was neither, as evidenced by the fact that Shawn Kemp torched him in the '96 finals, and the fact that Luc Longley spent the majority of two finals attempting to guard Karl Malone.

[Boston Red]

If you're going there, you've almost got to go with Dan Gable.

Anson Dorrance.

[bounty37h]

I like the Anson vote above, and would have to throw Dean Smith in, for my generation.

[Boston Red]

Dean is a bit championship-lite to be in the discussion IMO. Great coach and great man, but his teams didn't win enough the final two weekends in March (after ALWAYS getting to the Sweet 16).

[Assembly Hall]

Dean is a bit championship-lite to be in the discussion IMO. Great coach and great man, but his teams didn't win enough the final two weekends in March (after ALWAYS getting to the Sweet 16).


I disagree with you BR. I don't measure a coach by championships, but rather the effect he had on his "students". Dean definitely influenced many young men that played for him.

[Revering4Blue]

I disagree with you BR. I don't measure a coach by championships, but rather the effect he had on his "students". Dean definitely influenced many young men that played for him.

This, IMO, along with the fact that Smith was an innovator, is his largest legacy. Having previously spent 19 years of my life in the Triangle, I concur with those who extol the virtues of Coach Smith as a human being -- and this from someone having spent time at NC State. That stated, I agree word-for-word with Boston Red. Year after year, loaded Tar Heel teams flamed out short of the Final Four.

IMO, it is not so much about the Championships (or lack of them) as it is about whether or not said coach consistently got the most out of the talent at his disposal. Bob Knight and Adolph Rupp, for example, never had access to the kind of talent that Smith and Wooden utilized on a yearly basis.

[Kingspoint]

How quickly people forget Bill Walsh.

[Boston Red]

I disagree with you BR. I don't measure a coach by championships, but rather the effect he had on his "students". Dean definitely influenced many young men that played for him.

Well, if that's the case, the greatest coach is probably some 50 year high school football coach in Iowa somewhere.

[Assembly Hall]

Well, if that's the case, the greatest coach is probably some 50 year high school football coach in Iowa somewhere.

LOL......I know what you are saying. I didn't mean to come across that way. I just feel Smith is an all-time great, regardless of what his teams did come tournament time.

[Strike3Called]

Watching PTI right now and Tony Cornheiser just proved how Tony Larussa is a better coach than Pop. I gotta follow this guy on twitter.

[thatcoolguy_22]

Alex Ferguson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Ferguson) He made Manchester United the worldwide juggernaut it is today.

[Revering4Blue]

How quickly people forget Bill Walsh.

True.

Landry and Knoll, too,

[Assembly Hall]

True.

Landry and Knoll, too,


And how about Don Shula?

[Kingspoint]

And how about Don Shula?

All of them.


One can gather from the posts in this thread, that the truly greatest of the greatest coaches were innovators...pure innovators who were so successful that they reinvented the game.