NFL: Each team’s greatest head coach in franchise history
By Randy Gurzi
NFL head coaches have a difficult job, as they deal with multiple personalities and some incredibly huge egos while trying to come up with a perfect gameplan week after week. It’s not a job for everyone, as it takes long hours, patience and of course, a lot of knowledge of the game of football.
There have been plenty of instances where a coach is excellent in one area but still cannot succeed. We have all seen it where a defensive or offensive coordinator is a star in that position, but can’t get it done as a head coach.
A good example of this is Josh McDaniels who left the New England Patriots in 2009 to go coach the Denver Broncos. He was unable to duplicate the success he had as the offensive coordinator for New England and is now back in that same role.
Wade Phillips is another solid example. The former Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator is one of the best to ever call defenses, but never found success as the main man in multiple head coaching opportunities. With all that being said, we look at the best coach for all 32 franchises, starting with the Arizona Cardinals.
Arizona Cardinals: Don Coryell (1973-77)
The Cardinals have been around for a long time. They entered the NFL as the Chicago Cardinals back in 1920 and moved to St. Louis in 1960. They remained there until 1987 when they headed to the Phoenix metropolitan area.
During their days in St. Louis, they had their best coach in franchise history in the form of Don Coryell. The former San Diego State Aztecs head coach made the leap to the NFL in 1973.
He coached the Cardinals and had three-straight seasons with double-digit wins from 1974 through 1976. During that span, they won their division twice — the only times they did so during their St. Louis tenure.
An incredibly innovative offensive mind, Coryell’s air attack was wildly popular and quarterbacks loved playing for him. The Cardinals haven’t had a lot of success despite their long history, but Coryell gave them a strong stretch that they should be proud of.