The Best NFL Coaches of All Time

Ranker Community
Updated October 19, 2023 44.9K votes 4.5K voters 39.7K views
Over 4.5K Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of Greatest NFL Coaches of All Time
Voting Rules
Only NFL coaches. College football coaches don't count unless they've coached in the NFL
Latest additions: Lou Saban, Matt LaFleur, George Clark
Most divisive: Sean Payton

The best NFL coaches of all time are hands down the best men ever to lead their respective National Football League teams into battle. There are reasons why these men have teams, stadiums, video game franchises and that little thing given away annually to the Super Bowl champion named after them. These are the best NFL coaches to have ever lived, period.

Regardless of which NFL team you root for, there is little doubt that the vast majority of football fans would agree that Vince Lombardi is the greatest football coach in the history of mankind. As a forefather to the NFL, Lombardi coached the Green Bay Packers in the 1960s, leading them to five championships in a seven-year span including wins in the first two Super Bowls ever. His inspirational words are still widely used today as is his name which graces the title of the Lombardi Trophy, awarded to the annual champion of the National Football League.

But there are many more legendary NFL coaches of past and present that also deserve a place on this list for their brilliance, inspiration and undeniable success on the field. Coaches like Tom Landry, Don Shula, George Halas, Paul Brown and Chuck Noll were the leaders in the league a few decades ago while the best current NFL coaches like Bill Belichick, Mike Tomlin and Sean Payton continue to improve upon their already legendary status in NFL history.

How do you define which NFL coach is the best of all time? Is it from their championships and wins or do you look at their entire career to compare one body of work to another? However you do it, vote, add to or re-rank this list of the best NFL coaches of all time.

Ranked by
  • Vince Lombardi
    1

    Vince Lombardi

    New York City, New York
    2,330 votes
    Vincent Thomas Lombardi (June 11, 1913 – September 3, 1970) was an American football player, coach, and executive in the National Football League (NFL). He is best known as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers during the 1960s, where he led the team to three straight and five total NFL Championships in seven years, in addition to winning the first two Super Bowls at the conclusion of the 1966 and 1967 NFL seasons. Lombardi began his coaching career as an assistant and later as a head coach at St. Cecilia High School in Englewood, New Jersey. He was an assistant coach at Fordham, at the United States Military Academy, and with the New York Giants before becoming a head coach for the Green Bay Packers from 1959 to 1967 and the Washington Redskins in 1969. He never had a losing season as a head coach in the NFL, compiling a regular season winning percentage of 72.8% (96–34–6), and 90% (9–1) in the postseason for an overall record of 105 wins, 35 losses, and 6 ties in the NFL.Although Lombardi was noted for his gruff demeanor and "iron discipline", he was far ahead of his time in creating a supportive environment for gay players, and he emphatically challenged existing Jim Crow Laws, and provided leadership to break the color barrier in football. He once said that he "... viewed his players as neither black nor white, but Packer green". Lombardi is considered by many to be the greatest coach in football history, and he is recognized as one of the greatest coaches and leaders in the history of all American sports. The year after his sudden death from cancer in 1970, he was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and the NFL Super Bowl trophy was named in his honor.
  • Bill Belichick
    2

    Bill Belichick

    Nashville, Tennessee
    3,018 votes
    William Stephen Belichick ( or (; born April 16, 1952) is an American football coach who serves as the head coach of the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). His extensive authority over the Patriots' football operations effectively makes him the general manager of the team as well. He holds numerous coaching records, including winning a record six Super Bowls as the head coach of the New England Patriots, and two more as defensive coordinator for the New York Giants. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest coaches in NFL history by current and former players, his peers, and the press.Belichick began his coaching career in 1975 and became the defensive coordinator for New York Giants head coach Bill Parcells by 1985. Parcells and Belichick won two Super Bowls together before Belichick left to become the head coach of the Cleveland Browns in 1991. He remained in Cleveland for five seasons but was fired following the team's 1995 season. He then rejoined Parcells, first in New England, where the team lost Super Bowl XXXI, and later with the New York Jets. After being named head coach of the Jets, Belichick resigned after only one day on the job to accept the head coaching job for the New England Patriots on January 27, 2000. Since then, he has led the Patriots to 16 AFC East division titles, 13 appearances in the AFC Championship Game, and nine Super Bowl appearances, with a record six wins. Belichick has won eight Super Bowl titles in total from his combined time as an assistant and head coach. Belichick is the NFL's longest-tenured active head coach, as well as the first all-time in playoff coaching wins with 31 and third in regular season coaching wins in the NFL with 261. He is one of only three head coaches who have won six NFL titles. He was named the AP NFL Coach of the Year for the 2003, 2007, and 2010 seasons.
  • John Madden
    3

    John Madden

    Austin, Minnesota
    1,751 votes
    John Earl Madden (April 10, 1936 – December 28, 2021) was an American football coach and sports commentator in the National Football League (NFL). He served as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders from 1969 to 1978, where he led to eight playoff appearances, seven division titles, seven AFL/AFC Championship Game appearances, and the franchise's first Super Bowl title in Super Bowl XI. Madden, who never had a losing season, holds the highest winning percentage among NFL head coaches who have coached at least 100 games.
  • Bill Walsh
    4

    Bill Walsh

    Los Angeles, California
    1,793 votes
    William Ernest Walsh (November 30, 1931 – July 30, 2007) was an American football coach. He served as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers and the Stanford Cardinal football team, during which time he popularized the West Coast offense. After retiring from the 49ers, Walsh worked as a sports broadcaster for several years and then returned as head coach at Stanford for three seasons. Walsh went 102–63–1 with the 49ers, winning 10 of his 14 postseason games along with six division titles, three NFC Championship titles, and three Super Bowls. He was named NFL Coach of the Year in 1981 and 1984. In 1993, he was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
  • Don Shula
    5

    Don Shula

    Grand River, Ohio
    1,901 votes
    Donald Francis Shula (January 4, 1930 – May 4, 2020)) was an American former professional football coach and player who is best known as the head coach of the Miami Dolphins, the team he led to two Super Bowl victories, and to the only perfect season in the history of the National Football League (NFL). He was previously the head coach of the Baltimore Colts, with whom he won the 1968 NFL Championship.Shula was named 1993 Sportsman of the Year by Sports Illustrated. He led his teams to six Super Bowls. The Dolphins repeated as Super Bowl champions the following season, as they defeated the Minnesota Vikings 24–7. He currently holds the NFL record for most career wins as a head coach, with 347. Shula was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1997.
  • Tom Landry
    6

    Tom Landry

    Mission, Texas
    1,797 votes
    Thomas Wade Landry (September 11, 1924 – February 12, 2000) was an American football player and coach. He was the original head coach of the Dallas Cowboys in the National Football League (NFL), a position he held for 29 seasons. During his coaching career, he created many new formations and methods, such as the now popular 4–3 defense, and the "flex defense" system made famous by the Doomsday Defense squads he created during his tenure with the Cowboys. His 29 consecutive years from 1960 to 1988 as the coach of one team are an NFL record, along with his 20 consecutive winning seasons, which is considered to be his most impressive professional accomplishment. In addition to his record 20 consecutive winning seasons from 1966 to 1985, Landry won two Super Bowl titles in VI and XII, five NFC titles, and 13 Divisional titles. He compiled a 270–178–6 record, the fourth-most wins all-time for an NFL coach, and his 20 career playoff victories are the second most of any coach in NFL history. Landry was also named the NFL Coach of the Year in 1966 and the NFC Coach of the Year in 1975. From 1966 to 1982, Dallas played in 12 NFL or NFC Championship games, a span of 17 years. Furthermore, the Cowboys appeared in 10 NFC Championship games in the 13-year span from 1970 to 1982. Leading the Cowboys to three Super Bowl appearances in four years between 1975 and 1978, and five in nine years between 1970 and 1978, along with being on television more than any other NFL team, resulted in the Cowboys receiving the label of "America's Team", a title Landry did not appreciate because he felt it would bring on extra motivation from the rest of the league to compete with the Cowboys. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1990.