NFL: Each team’s greatest head coach in franchise history

New York Jets: Weeb Ewbank (1963-73)

It’s actually really hard to find a great coach in New York Jets history. Bill Parcells had their best winning percentage all-time (.604) but was there for just three seasons. Still, his 29-19 record looks impressive when compared to some of the other options.

In fact, Parcells is one of just two coaches in their history to boast a winning record, the other being Al Groh who followed Parcells, but was there for only one season — a year where the team went 9-7. Their first coach came close to a winning record but finished with a 14-14 mark, as Sammy Baugh was a consistent 7-7 in both 1960 and 1961.

With all that being said, the winner for the Jets top coach goes to the only one to ever lead them to a Super Bowl win. Weeb Ewbank coached Gang Green for 11 seasons. He joined them in 1963 after spending the previous nine seasons with the then-Baltimore Colts, where he won two NFL Championships.

Ewbank took over a team that was 5-9 the prior season and it took him several years to turn things around. He ended up leading them to three-straight winning campaigns, spanning from 1967 through 1969. In the middle of that stretch was when he and quarterback Joe Namath knocked off his former team 16-7 in Super Bowl III.

It was a shocking game. Namath guaranteed a victory, which seemed like a longshot, as the NFL was still superior to the young AFL. However, they pulled it off and for that reason, Ewbank takes the cake here.