Rick Gosselin: A good coach goes a long way today
12:36 PM CST on Friday, December 12, 2003
Andy Reid has been the NFL's Coach of the Year twice this decade
already. He resurrected Philadelphia as a playoff contender in 2000 with
an 11-5 record, and he took the Eagles to the NFC championship game in
2002.
But this season may be Reid's finest as a coach. His offense ranks 20th
in the NFL and his defense ranks 18th. It took almost two months for
quarterback Donovan McNabb, his one offensive weapon, to get revved up,
and his defense has been riddled with injuries since training camp.
Yet the Eagles lead the East with a 10-3 record and hold the top seed in
the NFC heading down the stretch.
Reid is not alone in his coaching excellence this season. Bill Belichick
took the New England Patriots to the first Super Bowl championship in
franchise history in 2001. He's been an even better coach in 2003.
Not since 1995 has a team lost more than 29 games by starters because of
injury and still won a Super Bowl. Healthy teams generally are the
successful teams. The Patriots already have lost 73 games by starters
this season – yet Belichick has the team atop the AFC East with an 11-2
record and holding down the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
Is there any wonder why the stock of NFL coaches has shot through the
ceiling in recent years? Why Bill Parcells and Dick Vermeil would be
coaxed out of retirement? Why the Tampa Bay Buccaneers would send two
first-round draft picks to the Oakland Raiders in exchange for Jon
Gruden? Why Steve Spurrier would command a $25 million contract?
In a parity-driven league, an elite coach can be every bit the
difference-maker for a franchise as an elite quarterback or pass rusher.
That's what the 2003 season has taught us – great coaching can carry a
team beyond its talent level.
Reid and Belichick could easily be the MVP of their teams this season.
So could Vermeil with the 11-2 Chiefs, Parcells with the 8-5 Cowboys and
Marvin Lewis with the 7-6 Cincinnati Bengals. All three teams were
non-winners in 2002. All are playoff contenders in 2003.
Now more than ever, games are being won on the sideline.
So The Dallas Morning News polled 14 NFL executives in the last
week – men who hire coaches, all of whom holding the title of general
manager or higher – and asked them for their list of the league's top
three coaches.
Only 10 of the 32 coaches were mentioned by the panel, which included at
least one executive from each of the league's eight divisions. The
coaches receiving votes were Belichick, Bill Cowher, Tony Dungy, Jeff
Fisher, Mike Holmgren, Steve Mariucci, Parcells, Reid, Mike Shanahan and
Vermeil. Only three received first-place votes: Belichick, Parcells and
Vermeil.
On a 3-2-1 point system – three points for the first choice, two for the
second and one for the third – Belichick received 29 points from the
panel, Parcells 27, Vermeil 10, Fisher six and Holmgren, Reid and
Shanahan three apiece. Belichick and Parcells were selected as the top
coach by six voters apiece and Vermeil by two.
Belichick was the defensive coordinator on Parcells' two Super Bowl
championship teams in New York. Belichick won his own Super Bowl with
one of the game's biggest upsets in 2001, toppling the heavily-favored
St. Louis Rams. He has won this season despite using 41 different
starters.
"He's unflappable under pressure and an incredible strategist," one
voter said.
Parcells won those two Super Bowls with the Giants, took the Patriots to
another Super Bowl and the New York Jets to an AFC title game. If the
Cowboys reach the playoffs, Parcells will become the first coach in NFL
history to take four franchises into the postseason.
"He's on the Mount Rushmore of coaching with Lombardi, Halas and Shula,"
another voter said.
Vermeil took the Eagles to the Super Bowl in the 1980 season, then won a
Super Bowl almost 20 years later with the Rams. He took the Eagles and
Rams to the playoffs in the third year of rebuilding programs, and
Kansas City will go to the playoffs in his third season there.
"He took a decent, not great, team to a Super Bowl in Philadelphia, the
Rams haven't won since he left, and he's had extraordinary success this
season," a voter said.
Fisher took the Titans to a Super Bowl in 1999 and he's been to the
playoffs three times since then. He has an 89-65 career record.
"He's done it over time, he's done it with consistency and he's done it
different ways," another voter said. "He did it running the football,
and now he's doing it passing the ball."
E-mail rgosselin@dallasnews.com
