I sometimes like to explore the negative, so I've done a few sports-related posts about the worsts. As in the worst MLB Rookies of the Year, worst MLB Cy Young award winners, and worst Super Bowl winning starting quarterbacks. Today I'd like to do the same for the head coaches who have won Super Bowls. Just to get this out of the way, clearly all of the 36 guys who have won Super Bowls were at least competent, if not good, or very good, or even excellent. So this is trying to determine the worst of the still best, or at least worst of the at least good for one year coaches. Also, determining ability for head coaches isn't as cut and dried as for the players themselves (which also can be controversial, but less so, in my opinion). Because, obviously, coaches don't play. If they have a roster of bad players, even the best coach in the universe won't be able to win much. And, conversely, with a squad of great players, even a mediocre coach will probably win quite a few games, almost despite themselves. So it's kind of a chicken or the egg conundrum. So, picking the worst coaches has more than the usual subjectivity to it. To try to add some objectivity to this problem, I'm going to use some statistics. For judging head coach effectiveness, I think the best metrics are wins and losses. So I'll have some charts on these, in various forms. At the end I'll throw out my, at least somewhat subjective picks for the worst head coaches to win a Super Bowl. As usual, NFL fans will probably disagree with some, or maybe most of my picks. Feel free to comment with the reasons why. Anyway, let's get started.
Let's start with the coaches with the fewest regular season wins for a Super Bowl winning head coach. Several of these guys are still active, meaning they'll almost certainly add to their career win totals. I'll mark these with asterisks (*). Also, of course, some guys didn't coach that long, which obviously means they'll have fewer wins. So these numbers need to be taken with a huge grain of salt, so to speak. I'm starting out with the weakest stat. Finally, both of the coaches for the Super Bowl being played tomorrow, Mike Vrabel of the Patriots and Mike MacDonald of the Seahawks, will qualify for this list--I'll update it when I can with whoever is the winner. Coaches elected to the Hall of Fame will have this noted as well, with the abbreviation HOF.
11) 96 Vince Lombardi, Green Bay Packers, Washington Redskins, 2 Super Bowl appearances, 2 Super Bowl wins, also 3 NFL titles in the pre-Super Bowls time in the NFL coached from 1959-67, and 1969. HOF.
9) (tie) *92 Sean McVay, Los Angeles Rams, 2 Super Bowl appearances, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 2017-25 (still active).
9) 92 Bill Walsh, San Francisco 49ers, 3 Super Bowl appearances, 3 Super Bowl wins, coached from 1979-88. HOF
8) 82 Gary Kubiak, Houston Texans, Denver Broncos, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 2006-13, and 2015-16.
5) (tie) 80 Bruce Arians, Indianapolis Colts, Arizona Cardinals, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 1 Super Bowl appearance, I Super Bowl win, coached from 2013-21.
5) 80 Jimmie Johnson, Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins, 2 Super Bowl appearances, 2 Super Bowl wins, coached from 1989-93, and 1996-99. HOF.
5) 80 Brian Billick, Baltimore Ravens, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 1999-2007.
4) 64 Doug Pederson, Philadelphia Eagles, Jacksonville Jaguars, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 2016-20, and 2022-24.
3) *59 Nick Sirianni, Philadelphia Eagles, 2 Super Bowl appearances, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 2021-25, still active.
2) 40 Barry Switzer, Dallas Cowboys, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 1994-97.
1) 28 Don McCafferty, Baltimore Colts, Detroit Lions, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 1970-73.
Let's turn now to winning percentage, for the playoffs. Again, we'll go least worst to most worst. Also, like before active coaches will be marked with an asterisk (*), since their records might change.
13) .563 John Madden, Oakland Raiders, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 1969-78, with a playoff record of 9-7. HOF.
11) (tie) .556 Tom Landry, Dallas Cowboys, 5 Super Bowl appearances, 2 Super Bowl wins, coached from 1960-88, with a playoff record of 20-16. HOF
11) .556 Jon Gruden, Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 1998-08, and 2018-21, with a playoff record of 5-4.
10) .545 Dick Vermeil, Philadelphia Eagles, St. Louis Rams, Kansas City Chiefs, 2 Super Bowl appearances, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 1976-82, 1997-99, and 2001-05, with a playoff record of 6-5. HOF.
8) (tie) .542 Mike Holmgren, Green Bay Packers, Seattle Seahawks, 3 Super Bowl appearances, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 1992-2008, with a playoff record of 13-11.
8) *.542 John Harbaugh, Baltimore Ravens, New York Giants, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 2008-25 (still active), with a playoff record of 13-11.
7) .528 Don Shula, Baltimore Colts, Miami Dolphins, 6 Super Bowl appearances, 2 Super Bowl wins, coached from 1963-95, with a playoff record of 19-17. HOF.
3) (tie) .500 Pete Carroll, New York Jets, New England Patriots, Seattle Seahawks, Las Vegas Raiders, 2 Super Bowl appearances, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 1994, 1997-99, 2010-23, and 2025, with a playoff record of 11-11.
3) *.500 Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints, Denver Broncos, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 2006-21, and 2023-25 (still active), with a playoff record of 10-10.
3) *.500 Mike McCarthy, Green Bay Packers, Dallas Cowboys, Pittsburgh Steelers, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 2006-18, 2020-24, and 2026-. (still active), with a playoff record of 11-11.
3) .500 Mike Ditka, Chicago Bears, New Orleans Saints, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 1982-92, and 1997-99, with a playoff record of 6-6. HOF as a player, but not as a coach.
2) .474 Tony Dungy, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Indianapolis Colts, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 1996-2008, with a playoff record of 9-10. HOF.
1) .400 Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers, 2 Super Bowl appearances, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 2007-25, with a playoff record of 8-12.
Okay, let's get to the statistic that is arguably the best indicator of a head coach's ability--their overall regular season won-loss record. The following will be the ones with the lowest winning percentage, again, listed least worst to most worst.
9) (tie) .556 Jimmie Johnson, Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins, 2 Super Bowl appearances, 2 Super Bowl wins, regular season record of 80-64. HOF.
9) .556 Brian Billick, Baltimore Ravens, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 1 Super Bowl win, regular season record of 80-64.
8) .552 Mike Shanahan, Raiders, Denver Broncos, Washington Redskins, 2 Super Bowl appearances, 2 Super Bowl wins, coached from 1988-89, 1995-08, and 2010-13, with a regular season record of 170-138.
7) .531 Tom Coughlin, Jacksonville Jaguars, New York Giants, 2 Super Bowl appearances, 2 Super Bowl wins, coached from 1995-2002, and 2004-15, with a regular season record of 170-150.
6) .527 Tom Flores, Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders, Seattle Seahawks, 2 Super Bowl appearances, 2 Super Bowl wins, coached from 1979-87, and then 1992-94, with a regular season record of 97-87.
5) .524 Dick Vermeil, Philadelphia Eagles, St. Louis Rams, Kansas City Chiefs, 2 Super Bowl appearances, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 1976-82, 1997-99, and 2001-2005, with a regular season record of 120-109.
4) .522 Gary Kubiak, Houston Texans, Denver Broncos, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 2006-13, and 2015-16, with a regular season record of 82-75.
3) .511 Jon Gruden, Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 1998-08, and 2018-21, with a regular season record of 117-112.
2) .502 Weeb Ewbank, Baltimore Colts, New York Jets, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 1 Super Bowl win (plus 2 NFL titles in 1958 and 1959), coached from 1954-73, with a regular season record of 130-129-7.
1) .492 Doug Pederson, Philadelphia Eagles, Jacksonville Jaguars, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 2016-20, and 2022-24, with a regular season record of 64-66-1.
Okay so there's some background about head coaching statistics for the men who won Super Bowls. So, who do I think are the worst coaches to win? With all the subjectivity admitted, let's get to my candidates. I think regular season winning percentage is the strongest statistic for a head coach, so that's going to be my main decider. With a few caveats, as I'll get into.
5) Brian Billick, Baltimore Ravens, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 1999-07, with a regular season record of 80-64 (.556), and a playoff record of 5-3 (.625). He's on here because he had a lackluster winning regular season winning percentage, and only the 1 Super Bowl appearance and win. Essentially he had one great year, and then mediocrity. The fact that he wasn't given any jobs after the Ravens fired him seems damning, too.
4) Gary Kubiak, Houston Texans, Denver Broncos, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 2006-13, and 2015-16 with a regular season record of 82-75 (.522), and a playoff record of 5-2 (.714). Like Billick, he basically had one great year. His 4th worst regular season winning percentage is telling, to me.
3) Jon Gruden, Raiders, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 1998-08, and 2018-21, with a regular season record of 117-112 (.511), and a playoff record of 5-4 (.556). Or the 3rd worst regular season winning percentage, and a mediocre playoff record, too.
2) Doug Pederson, Philadelphia Eagles, Jacksonville Jaguars, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 2016-20, and 2022-24, with a regular season record of 64-66-1 (.492), and a playoff record of 5-3 (.625). This one kills me to admit, since as an Eagles fan I'll forever be grateful for Pederson's win for the 2017 season, the first NFL title I got to witness, as their last one had been in 1960, in the pre-Super Bowl days. But, I have to acknowledge his stature compared to his peers, and he is the only Super Bowl winner with a losing regular season record. Add that to his alleged inability to get along with management and the owner in Philadelphia (leading to his abrupt departure), and his lackluster time with the Jaguars, and that's why he's listed here.
1) Barry Switzer, Dallas Cowboys, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 1994-97, with a regular season record of 40-24 (.625), and a playoff record of 5-2 (.714). Some readers might be scratching their heads at this, since his winning percentage is fine, as is his playoff record. But there's more to it. Switzer was given control of a team that had just won the last 2 Super Bowls, since owner Jerry Jones' ego and (alleged) drunken bragging caused previous coach Jimmie Johnson to resign. So, Switzer's Super Bowl win wasn't really due to his efforts--Johnson built and organized that team into a juggernaut, and Switzer just got lucky. The fact that Switzer resigned so quickly, and was never hired by another NFL team as head coach gives credence to this opinion, I think.
If you're wondering why Jimmie Johnson, Mike Shanahan, Tom Coughlin, Tom Flores, Dick Vermeil, and Weeb Ewbank aren't in this overall worst 5, despite relatively low regular season winning percentages, it's because Johnson, Shanahan, Coughlin, and Flores all won 2 Super Bowls, Ewbank won the 2 additional NFL titles in pre-Super Bowl days, and Vermeil at least went to a 2nd Super Bowl, even if he lost it. Finally, Don McCafferty might have qualified for a position on this list, since his coaching career was so brief, but this shortness was due to his sudden death from a heart attack in the off season before the 1974 season. So we don't know how his coaching would have turned out, obviously.
Once again, this post is a bit of a departure from my normal "worst of" lists, since it's more subjective due to the nature of judging head coaches' ability. If you disagree, that's okay--these are just my opinions.
