RYou

ESPN Top 20 Coaches of All Time

20 John Macgraw, Baseball, NY Giants
19 Pat Riley, Basketball, LA Lakers, Miami Heat
18 Pat Summit, Basketball, Tennessee
17 Bobby Knight, Basketball, Indiana, Texas Tech
16 Joe Paterno, Football, Penn State
15 Bill Walsh, Football, San Francisco 49ers
14 Don Shula, Football, Miami Dolphins
13 Joe McCarthy, Baseball, NY Yankees
12 Bill Belicheck, Football , New England Patriots
11 Dean Smith, Basketball, North Carolina
10 Mike Krzyzewski, Basketball, Army, Duke
9 Casey Stengel, Baseball, NY Yankees, NY Mets
8 Dan Gable, Wrestling, Iowa
7 Phil Jackson, Basketball, Chicago Bulls, LA Lakers
6 Bear Bryant, Football, Maryland, Kentucky, Texas A&M, Alabama
5 Knute Rockne, Football, Notre Dame
4 Scotty Bowman, Hockey, Montreal, Pittsburgh, Detroit
3 Red Auerbach, Basketball, Boston Celtics
2 Vince Lombardi, Football, Green Bay Packers
1 John Wooden, Basketball, UCLA

RYou

I would argue Belicheck at No. 12 and ahead of Shula and Walsh. I don't think he's been around long enough to prove his deserves inclusion in the top 20, yet.

Joe Pa, they did mention his work off the field far exceeds that of any other coach. Hence, no Bobby Bowden.

ODH

Not a terrible list. I think Wooden is an excellent #1.
Cool to see Gable at #8. He is the only one from a "Olympic" sport.
There are only three baseball coaches on the list and no modern ones.
Casey Stengel & Knute Rockne are probably higher than they should be becasue of they have reached mythic status. Pat Summitt seems a little low on the list

therick

Good to see Scotty Bowman getting his due. 9 cups with three different teams is pretty amazing in any professional sport.

As for baseball, the old time guys (pre-free agent era) had it much easier if you were like McCarthy and Stengel and with a club like the Yankees. Players were yours until you wanted to trade them, or let them go. All contracts were year to year, so every guy was busting his hump to get a raise. Throw in that the Yanks had the most extensive scouting organization in the sport and it's obvious why they won. I'm not saying McCarthy and Stengel weren't good, I'm just saying that I wonder if anyone would have won with those Yanks with that many hall of famers on the field.

RYou

Casey Stengel had a horrible coaching record before he came to the Yankees. Same for Belicheck before his Patriots term.

Bobby Knight...there purely because he's recognized nationally. Would he be there if not for his antics?

RYou

11 Dean Smith, Basketball, North Carolina
10 Mike Krzyzewski, Basketball, Army, Duke


Dusty, are you up off the floor yet ?

bluestater

George Hallas? GEORGE HALLAS ISN'T ON THE LIST? VINCE LOMBARDI WOULD BE NO ONE WITHOUT GEORGE HALLAS!

__________________
• Fourth Place Medal

OldShamrock

So, by this list, Casey Stengel would be the greatest baseball manager of all time?? Hmmm. I agree with therick here. I know he won like 9 out of 10 in the 50s, but some of those teams would have won with just about anybody in there. I think Torre's winning pct was better as a Yankee than Stengel's and there's more parity now.

Woulda been cool to see Bo or Woody on this list.

OldShamrock

Wow, blue, I figured you would chime in with DITKA! Good call on Halas though...

Little known fact: Halas once played outfield for the Yankees.

therick

I'd say that Bobby Knight was able to get more out of average talent than any of the other coaches on the list. He's also the last coach to go unbeaten for an entire season and win the title, and has more championships than Dean Smith and equal to coach K. Also, to win 900 games is pretty impressive.