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Hiring Super Bowl winning coaches


Larry Brown #43

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I did a little research and discovered something interesting about coaches who have won Super Bowls.

It seems as though people assume that hiring a coach who has won a Super Bowl with another franchise will be a good thing, because there's a good possibility that the coach will help your team win one.

Interestingly, this has never actually happened--not even once--in the history of the Super Bowl.

I put together what I believe is a complete list of coaches who have won at least one Super Bowl with one team, who were later hired as head coach by another team. I'm limiting it to coaches who won SUPER BOWLS, not pre-Super Bowl NFL Championships, to keep this in the modern era (As I recall, Don Shula won a championship with the Baltimore Colts before winning the Super Bowl with Miami. Maybe there were others).

Now, just because these coaches never won a Super Bowl again elsewhere, it doesn't mean each was a bad hire for their next team. We'll never know if Vince Lombardi would have won a Super Bowl with the Redskins, because he died after his first season here, and he was clearly a great hire. Also, Parcells, one might argue, was a good hire for each of the teams he later coached.

Nevertheless, it's interesting to see that no coach has EVER won a Super Bowl with one team and then won another Super Bowl with a different team.

Here are the nine applicable coaches and how they fared. Does this change anyone's opinion on hiring Cowher? I'm not suggesting it should or should not. Just throwing it out there:

Vince Lombardi

Won Super Bowls I & II as head coach of Packers. Coached Redskins for one year before his untimely death.

Hank Stram

Won Super Bowl IV as head coach of Chiefs. Coached Saints for two years (1976-77) without a Super Bowl appearance.

Tom Flores

Won Super Bowl XVIII as head coach of Raiders. Coached Seahawks (1992-94) without a Super Bowl appearance.

Mike Ditka

Won Super Bowl XX as head coach of Bears. Coached Saints (1997-99) without a Super Bowl appearance.

Bill Parcells

Won Super Bowls XXI and XXV as head coach of Giants. Coached Patriots, Jets, and Cowboys without a Super Bowl win.

George Seifert

Won Super Bowl XXIV as head coach of 49ers. Coached Panthers (1999-2001) without a Super Bowl appearance.

Jimmy Johnson

Won Super Bowls XXVII and XXVIII as head coach of Cowboys. Coached Dolphins (1996-99) without a Super Bowl appearance.

Mike Holmgren

Won Super Bowl XXXI as head coach of Packers. Currently coaching Seahawks (1999-present) without a Super Bowl win.

Dick Vermeil

Won Super Bowl XXXIV as head coach of Rams. Coached Chiefs (2001-05) without a Super Bowl appearance.

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And that is because they are expected to produce a superbowl in 2 or 3 years and if they don't they are deemed a failue, meanwhile most of those coaches were probably on the job for more than 3 or 4 years before they got their first SB. The only exception is walrus face Holmgren who has had all the time in the world to replicate that and still can't get the job done.

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Vince Lombardi - One year, died.

Hank Stram - Two years with the 'Aints...

Tom Flores - Two years only, Seahawks were nothing until Holmgren.

Won Super Bowl XVII as head coach of Raiders. Coached Seahawks (1992-94) without a Super Bowl appearance...

Mike Ditka - 'Aints again, and 2 years...

Bill Parcells - No win, but went with the Pats, and set up the Jets, and Cowboys rosters for chances even when he left....

George Seifert - Won with Bill Walsh's left over team mainly...

Mike Holmgren - Went with the Seahawks who sucked in the playoffs until him...

Dick Vermeil - Went with Eagles first, then took the Rams, then Chiefs were in playoffs most years....

Decent stats...I just dont think they show as much when you look at the certain teams they came from and went to...'Aints twice...an expansion Panthers...then the others had decent success...I am not all for Cowher...but these do not blow me away and make me not want him...we have a set up he could run with....just my :2cents:

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You forgot to add Jimmy Johnson to your list.

I'm on the fence with Cowher, but this list wouldn't change my opinion either way. Just because it hasn't been done, doesn't mean it's impossible. Parcells, Holmgren and Vermeil all came close to doing it. As did Don Shula.

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Decent stats...I just dont think they show as much when you look at the certain teams they came from and went to...'Aints twice...an expansion Panthers...then the others had decent success...I am not all for Cowher...but these do not blow me away and make me not want him...we have a set up he could run with....just my :2cents:

Fair enough. I wasn't trying to argue it one way or the other. It just struck me as interesting that it's never happened.

As I said above, I wasn't suggesting that they were all bad hires. Some were, some weren't. But it may suggest that you have a better shot at sustained success by hiring someone who hasn't already built their name and reputation in another city. It's debatable.

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Incorrect. Re-read above. Shula won a pre-Super Bowl NFL Championship with Baltimore. Never won a Super Bowl coaching the Colts. As stated above, I'm solely focusing on the modern era.

you're right. - He got Baltimore to Superbowl and lost - my bad.

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Fair enough. I wasn't trying to argue it one way or the other. It just struck me as interesting that it's never happened.

As I said above, I wasn't suggesting that they were all bad hires. Some were, some weren't. But it may suggest that you have a better shot at sustained success by hiring someone who hasn't already built their name and reputation in another city. It's debatable.

Very much agreed as well, I am not sold on any of our candidates right now, I will cheer either way...just thought I would point out a few things, thanks for the research as well...

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interesting list, thanks for putting it together... to me, cowher is best judged on taking a small market team that had horrible turnover to the playoffs the majority of his career... add to his team a budget and you have a dynasty... I love GW but want the chin...

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