The 25 Greatest Coaches of the Century
Recognizing Gregg Popovich's retirement.
Photo: Public Domain
Gregg Popovich of the Spurs has formally retired from coaching after a season cut short by illness. He ends his NBA career as the all-time leader in wins. He also has five league championships, tied for the third-most ever.
At the end of 2024, I listed the 25 greatest athletes of the century. Pop's retirement inspired me to create a similar list for the coaches in the four major American leagues: NBA, NFL, NHL, and Major League Baseball.
I looked at their career accomplishment only from the 1999-2000 through the 2023-24 seasons (NBA and NHL) and 2000-2024 seasons (NFL and MLB). Titles from previous years, such as those won by Pat Riley, Joe Torre, Phil Jackson, or Popovich himself, were not grandfathered in.
Because the sports are so different, I ignored winning percentages; one expects higher winning percentages from football coaches than baseball managers. I also ignored how many losing seasons coaches had; some may have taken over a rebuild, while others inherited elite teams. Also, I ignored the total number of playoff appearances because it's easier to make the playoffs in some leagues than in others.
One element that is the same in each of the leagues is an annual championship. A coach may have had the most talented team; if he wins one title, that might only mean that he didn't screw it up. However, if he wins more than one, he's doing something right in his job.
In all, 69 coaches won a title in the first quarter of the 21st century. The NHL and MLB saw 20 different coaches/managers each. The NFL had 17 different coaches, and the NBA had 12.
My other consideration borrows from college basketball. Making the "final four" or the semifinal round proves the team is a serious contender for the championship, and the coach deserves some credit. (If the team wasn't a serious contender, but made the semifinal round anyway, that's an even greater credit to the coaching.) Reaching the semifinals is extraordinarily difficult; the more often a coach gets his team to this elite stage, the more elite the coach himself is.
So here's how they will be ranked. First consideration goes to the number of championships, and then the number of semifinal appearances. I will list the championship number with the semifinal number in parentheses.
I have made one exception, ranking current Dallas Stars head coach Peter DeBoer (no titles) ahead of all the one-championship coaches. That's because he has seven semifinal appearances; only four other coaches have attained that mark.
Bill Belichick, NFL: 6 (13)
Phil Jackson, NBA: 5 (7)
Gregg Popovich, NBA: 4 (9)
Steve Kerr, NBA: 4 (6)
Bruce Bochy, MLB: 4 (4)
Andy Reid, NFL: 3 (11)
Joel Quinneville, NHL: 3 (6)
Erick Spoelstra, NBA: 2 (7)
Jon Cooper, NHL: 2 (6)
Tony LaRussa, MLB; 2 (6)
Dave Roberts, MLB: 2 (6)
Terry Francona, MLB: 2 (4)
Daryll Sutter, NHL: 2 (4)
Mike Sullivan, NHL: 2 (2)
Tom Coughlin, NFL: 2 (2)
Peter DeBoer, NHL: 0 (7)
Joe Torre, MLB: 1 (5)
Paul Maurice, NHL: 1 (5)
Joe Maddon, MLB: 1 (4)
Tyronn Lue, NBA: 1 (4)
Dusty Baker, MLB: 1 (4)
Rick Carlisle, NBA: 1 (4)
Peter Laviolette, NHL: 1 (4)
John Harbaugh, NFL: 1 (4)
Joe Girardi, MLB: 1 (4)
Mike McCarthy, NFL: 1 (4)
Mike Babcock, NHL: 1 (4)
Where there's a tie (such as the bottom eight), I used subjective preference, such as the enormous pressure of Joe Maddon ending the Cubs' World Series drought and Ty Lue being the most successful coach in the history of two franchises (Cavaliers and Clippers).
There are some questionable guys on the list, and it would look different if we chose finals appearances over semifinals (e.g., Mike Tomlin and Pete Carroll would be ahead of John Harbaugh and Mike McCarthy).
For each of the top coaches, they had the good luck of having an exceptional player or two on their teams. But that's true of virtually every champion. Popovich's one great player throughout the five championships was Tim Duncan. If Duncan wanted to leave, he could have. If Duncan wanted Popovich fired, it would have happened.
Popovich was doing something right!
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