Tag: Tom Landry

How 12 football head coaches fared as the replacements for legends like Bill Belichick and Nick Saban

Who replaced Bear Bryant, Don Shula and John Madden and how did they do?

During one of the craziest weeks of football in recent memory, we saw the end of an era for legends like Bill Belichick and Nick Saban.

Belichick, 71, and Saban, 72, are easily two of the greatest coaches that the sport has ever seen. Next season, college football will look very different without Saban coaching Alabama. Meanwhile, the NFL will also look very different without Belichick coaching the Patriots.

Both teams will have huge decisions about how to fill these massive shoes. While there are some interesting candidates for the gig in New England and the job in Tuscaloosa, can either live up to the reputation that Belichick and Saban built?

We looked back at some of the most legendary coaches in football history, both in the NFL and in college football, to learn how these replacements have typically fared.

The results are a fairly mixed bag but if there is one thing we learned, it is that it is not easy to replace someone as accomplished as either of these two Hall of Fame-caliber coaches.

Chiefs HC Andy Reid tied Tom Landry on NFL’s all-time regular season wins list

#Chiefs head coach Andy Reid tied Tom Landry for fourth place on the NFL’s all-time regular season win list on Sunday night.

Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid secured his 250th regular season win on Sunday night against the New York Jets. That mark ties legendary Dallas Cowboys skipper Tom Landry for the fourth-most all-time in NFL history and is yet another feather in Reid’s cap heading into the meat of Kansas City’s 2023 schedule.

Regular season wins are hard to come by in the modern NFL, and Reid has proven to be among the most adept coaches in the game at racking them up over the course of his career with the Chiefs.

The team’s victory on Sunday marked his 120th regular season win as Kansas City’s head coach, a mark that sits at second place in Chiefs franchise history behind the incomparable Hank Stram, who has 124.

With any luck, Reid will be able to beat Stram’s record later this year as Kansas City looks to defend its Super Bowl title.

Ranking 8 best assistant coaches in Giants history

From Marty Schottenheimer to Vince Lombardi, Giants Wire ranks the eight best assistant coaches in New York Giants history.

The New York Giants are closing in on a century of existence and many famous and powerful names have worn the blue over that time.

When it comes to head coaches, the Giants have had some great ones — Bill Parcells, Tom Coughlin, Jim Lee Howell, and Steve Owen — and some notable ones in Allie Sherman, Jim Fassel, and Alex Webster.

But what the Giants are really known for is grooming head coaches; men who worked for the club and went on to become some of the great head coaches in NFL history.

Here are eight of those names.

Win over Bengals would give Chiefs HC Andy Reid second-most postseason wins in NFL history

Andy Reid is set to pass Tom Landry for second place on the NFL’s all-time playoff wins list if he can lift the #Chiefs over the #Bengals on Sunday. | from @TheJohnDillon

Kansas City Chiefs HC Andy Reid is set to make history if he can lift his team over the Cincinnati Bengals this evening. He’s already one of the winningest coaches in NFL history and the postseason is no different.

After defeating the Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC divisional round, Reid tied legendary Dallas Cowboys coach Tom Landry for second place on the NFL’s all-time leaderboard for playoff wins. With one more win, Reid would take sole ownership of second place in NFL postseason victories behind only New England Patriots HC Bill Belichick (31).

Reid is unlikely to be invested in this accomplishment at this juncture, as he is more likely focused on making a run at the Super Bowl. That said, the fact that he is in a position to surpass Landry in any category highlights the excellent track record that he has put together as a head coach in the NFL. He collected his 10th playoff win with the Chiefs in Kansas City last week and became the first head coach to get to double-digit playoff wins with two separate franchises.

Matched up against a bitter adversary that knocked him out of the postseason last year, Reid is sure to bring his best game plan of the season into the AFC Championship Game. A win would notch another impressive achievement to add to his already-lengthy resume of success.

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Jerry Jones wants Mike McCarthy to coach the Cowboys as long as Tom Landry and fans were in disbelief

Jones can’t be serious. Can he???

Still reeling from their latest humiliating playoff defeat, the Dallas Cowboys are busy picking up the pieces as they prepare for the 2023 offseason. But before Dallas dives into the thick of free agency and preparation for the 2023 NFL Draft, head coach Mike McCarthy had a few choice words while reflecting on the year that was during a Thursday press conference.

When McCarthy was asked about his future after two consecutive deflating defeats in January, he noted he had a vote of confidence from owner Jerry Jones. Scratch that — he seemed to have a full endorsement.

Per McCarthy, Jones apparently wants him to coach the Cowboys as long as the legendary Tom Landry, who was once at the helm of Dallas for almost three decades.

Uh, alright?

The absurdity of someone McCarthy lasting as long in Dallas as its arguably greatest-ever coach aside, it doesn’t look as bad when you note Landry’s initial resume. Under Landry, the Cowboys didn’t have a winning season during his first six years (!) in Dallas in the 1960s. But, eventually, the man famous for wearing a top hat on the sideline turned the Cowboys into a perennial powerhouse for the better part of his head coaching career until his ouster in the late 1980s.

In 2023, I sincerely doubt McCarthy matches Landry’s longevity, let alone comes close. The Cowboys, as constructed, are more or less ready to win titles now. Jones might say he wants McCarthy to lead his team for years to come, but most won’t so readily accept postseason shortcomings with squads that should theoretically fare better. Landry’s Cowboys were so horrid at the start because he was enlisted with the mammoth task of bringing them to their current relevance in the first place.

That is not the case for McCarthy. At all.

To continue coaching the Cowboys, McCarthy will probably have to learn how to manage a late-game situation in a tight playoff game properly. Something he, rather ironically, hasn’t done in decades around pro football.

But if Jones desires more extended mid-winter misery, by all means, McCarthy might be the perfect delivery person for such a mission. Of course, Jones could just be ensuring McCarthy stays comfortable in his current digs. But then again, this is the owner who kept Jason Garrett on for a decade despite just two whole playoff wins. So, I wouldn’t put it past him!

Washington Super Bowl Coach stands alone

As Sean McVay and Zac Taylor look to win their first Super Bowl Sunday, we shall never forget Joe Gibbs won three Super Bowls with three different quarterbacks.

How is it that one coach stands out in contrast to all Super Bowl champion coaches?

Vince Lombardi won the first two Super Bowls with Bart Starr as the Green Bay Packers starting quarterback. Don Shula and Miami won two with Bob Griese. Tom Landry steered Dallas to two Super Bowl trophies with Roger Staubach at the helm. Chuck Noll and the Pittsburgh Steelers won four Super Bowls in the 1970s with Terry Bradshaw behind center.

Tom Flores and the Raiders won two with Jim Plunkett as the leader of the offense. Bill Walsh was the head coach with Joe Montana the field general for three Super Bowl crowns for the 49ers. The 49ers won two more with head coach George Seifert coaching and Montana and Steve Young as signal-callers.

Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer both coached the Cowboys to Super Bowl rings with Troy Aikman taking the snaps from center. Denver’s Mike Shanahan as head coach and John Elway in the pocket for the Broncos won it all twice.

Tom Coughlin’s NY Giants took the crown twice with Eli Manning the on-field general. Last but certainly not least, New England’s Bill Belichick won six rings with Tom Brady as the quarterback.

Seifert is the only one above to win a second Super Bowl with a second quarterback (Montana and Young).

There is also Marv Levy and the Bills who went to multiple Super Bowls with Jim Kelly under center — and lost. Likewise, Dan Reeves led Elway and the Broncos to three Super Bowl appearances — they also lost all three.

Yet, there is one other coach to win more than multiple Super Bowls with more than one quarterback, Joe Gibbs of the Washington Redskins. Gibbs not only won more than one Super Bowl with more than one quarterback, he accomplished the feat three times!

Gibbs led Washington to Super Bowl trophies with Joe Theismann, Doug Williams and Mark Rypien winning Super Bowls XVII, XXII and XXVI.

Starr, Griese, Staubach, Bradshaw, Montana, Young, Aikman and Elway are already in the Hall of Fame. Without question Brady will be in the HOF and Eli Manning a 2-time SB MVP is likely to be elected to the HOF. Only Jim Plunkett is likely to not make the HOF.

By contrast, Theismann was only an All-Pro once (1983), and Williams and Rypien were never All-Pro. Rypien had a great year only in 1991. Williams though never even a pro-bowler, was a veteran leader and had huge moments like the playoff win at Chicago (1987) and a nearly perfect 2nd quarter in Super Bowl XXII, earning the MVP.

Joe Gibbs is distinctive among Super Bowl coaches with multiple wins, doing so with three non-Hall of Fame quarterbacks.  Hats off to Coach Joe, who is remarkably now age 81. The Washington franchise and fans were certainly blessed to have enjoyed Joe Jackson Gibbs as head coach.

Throwback Thursday: Giants upset Cowboys in 1980

In the latest Giants Wire Throwback Thursday, we head back to 1980, when the lowly New York Giants upset Tom Landry’s Dallas Cowboys.

The 1980 season was one of the worst in the history of the New York Football Giants. After a 41-35 road victory against the St. Louis Cardinals to open the season, Big Blue lost eight straight games before they would win another.

That win came in Week 10 against the Dallas Cowboys, a team they had lost 12 consecutive and 14 out of 15 games to. Their last win over Dallas had come in 1974, their last home win in 1970.

On Nov. 9, the Cowboys came into Giants Stadium with a 7-2 record and were headed back to their usual spot in the NFC playoffs. The Giants were headed to the bottom of the NFC East and a 4-12 season that would earn them the second overall pick in the 1981 NFL draft (which turned out to be Lawrence Taylor).

In a textbook case of “any given Sunday,” the Giants, coached by Ray Perkins and led by second-year quarterback Phil Simms, rose up and bit Tom Landry’s bunch in a shootout.

In a back-and-forth game, the Cowboys took a 35-28 lead into the fourth quarter. The Giants scored 10 unanswered points to close out the game — a 20-yard TD pass from Simms to tight end Tom Mullady tied the game at 35, and Joe Danelo’s 27-yard field goal with 27 seconds to play was the winner.

The kick was set up by a flea flicker from Simms to running back Leon Perry back to Simms and then downfield to tight end Mike Friede. The Giants ran three running plays after that to set Danelo up for the win.

The defense allowed 35 points but was the key to the game as they intercepted Cowboys quarterback Danny White five times, four of those resulting in points.

Two of the interceptions were made by Pro Bowl linebacker Brad Van Pelt, who had been publicly lobbying the team to trade him, preferably to the Detroit Lions in his native state of Michigan.

“I had forgot what it feels like to win,” said the eight-year veteran after the game.

Simms threw for 351 yards in the game, the most by a Giants quarterback since Fran Tarkenton had 327 yards against St. Louis in 1969.

Friede, who played just two seasons, both for the Giants, had the best game of his career with seven receptions for 137 yards.

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Everson Walls: Cowboys takeaway artist’s true legacy lies in what he gave to teammate

Despite a historic rookie season and a role in two of the league’s greatest games ever, Walls greatest contribution was to an ex-teammate.

Legacy is a word that gets tossed around casually in the world of football. But what really makes for a lasting and meaningful legacy? Wins? Touchdowns? Championship trophies? Memorable moments? Mere statistics?

Yes, Everson Walls has all of those things attached to his name after a 13-year career in the pros. He’s probably most immediately remembered in the minds of Cowboys fans for his transcendent 1981 season when he snagged a whopping 11 interceptions as an undrafted rookie. Others may recall the freeze-frame images of his unique place in history in not one, but two of the biggest games of a generation.

The list of coaches who had a personal hand in Walls’s journey is a veritable who’s who of the sport’s most hallowed legends. But the legacy of the player himself is often lost in the fog of a decade’s worth of mostly lackluster Cowboys squads; he had to leave Dallas, for example, to earn the championship ring he unquestionably deserved.

He remains one of the Cowboys’ true greats, but none of his on-the-field accomplishments nor professional accolades tell the full story of Walls and what he meant to so many of his teammates… and one in particular.

Zero Club: Cowboys’ Larry Cole wanted no publicity, but his talent refused to cooperate

Fifty years after eschewing publicity as part of Dallas’s Doomsday defense, Larry Cole remains a beloved fixture for Cowboys fans.

Start ranking the most popular and best-known Cowboys players of all time, and it will take a while to get to him. His name isn’t hanging in the team’s Ring of Honor. He’s not instantly recognizable as a go-to media-darling representative of his era’s contributions to the sport. On his own thoroughly dominant teams, he was usually overshadowed by bigger stars with flashier nicknames. In the most famous photograph he appears in, his face isn’t even visible, the lens focused instead on a guy who wasn’t supposed to be there. For thirteen seasons, five Super Bowl appearances, and two world championships, he was practically anonymous.

That’s exactly how Larry Cole wanted it.

He and two of his defensive teammates formed the “Zero Club,” as in: zero attention. During the height of the Doomsday Defense of the 1970s, the Zero Club prided itself on wrecking games on Sundays, but staying decidedly out of the spotlight off the field. Their first commandment? “Thou Shalt Not Seek Publicity.”

But the story of Cole’s remarkable playing career transcended any attempt to stay under the radar.

America’s Team: Cowboys 10 most memorable Thanksgiving Day games

With 52 Thanksgiving games on their resume, the Cowboys have plenty of holiday memories to choose from. Cowboys Wire picks out the 10 best.

America’s Team is as much a part of the All-American holiday as parade floats and candied yams. The Dallas Cowboys will host their 53rd Thanksgiving Day game in 2020. This season’s edition will mark the tenth time Dallas has welcomed their division rivals from Washington for the traditional late afternoon tilt. That’s the most of any Cowboys Thanksgiving opponent.

Over the years, the club’s Thanksgiving Day series has created some of pro football’s most memorable moments, including several chapters that are absolutely indelible within the Cowboys’ own storied history. To celebrate, Cowboys Wire takes a look back through the archives to dish out the ten quintessential Thanksgiving games that have meant the most to the team.

But the feast can’t be all deep-fried turkey and pumpkin pie; mixed in with some of the franchise’s most satisfying wins are also a few standout games that didn’t go Dallas’s way. Consider them the unpleasant cranberry sauce that your weird aunt brings every few years and makes you have at least a small helping of.