NFL.com Head Coach Power Poll

[RiverDog]

I know pro-bowls are kind of a dumb way of measuring excellence and that winning teams get more pro-bowlers, but the 49ers have had 8, 9, and 8 pro-bowlers in Harbaugh's three seasons. A lot of those guys made their first pro-bowls under Harbaugh. From 2003 to 2010 the 49ers were mostly crappy and averaged roughly 2 pro-bowlers per season.

He definitely inherited a roster with some talent on it, but at the same time I think it's pretty obvious he's one of the best coaches in the league at maximizing his existing roster.

I'm not rapping Harbaugh. He's a great coach. But #3 when he's Lombardi-less is too high. It's like saying Dan Marino was better than Joe Montana.

Think of it this way: If Harbaugh and Carroll were both on the market, which coach do you think would get the best offer?

 

[kearly]

Think of it this way: If Harbaugh and Carroll were both on the market, which coach do you think would get the best offer?

Tough answer. Harbaugh is more universally respected as a coach and is much younger. But all those teams that have wanted to copy Seattle the last couple years would probably go all out for Carroll.

For me the top four coaches:

1. Carroll
2. Harbaugh
3. Belichick
4. Payton

Then there's everyone else.

 

[hawknation2014]

Harbaugh is more universally respected as a coach

The Times They Are A-Changin'. That may have been true pre-Super Bowl, but it is no longer the case. Carroll now has more momentum than any other coach. He is the most well-liked coach in the NFL by the players and is a favorite to repeat this year. Where Harbaugh was handed a team full of Pro Bowlers, GMs respect the way Carroll has built his team from nothing.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

Think of it this way: If Harbaugh and Carroll were both on the market, which coach do you think would get the best offer?

Tough answer. Harbaugh is more universally respected as a coach and is much younger. But all those teams that have wanted to copy Seattle the last couple years would probably go all out for Carroll.

For me the top four coaches:

1. Carroll
2. Harbaugh
3. Belichick
4. Payton

Then there's everyone else.

How can you put Carroll and Harbaugh above Belichick? Dudes won 3 SB's and is roundly considered one of the greatest minds in football.

Homeritis strikes again!

 

[ZagHawk]

Think of it this way: If Harbaugh and Carroll were both on the market, which coach do you think would get the best offer?

Tough answer. Harbaugh is more universally respected as a coach and is much younger. But all those teams that have wanted to copy Seattle the last couple years would probably go all out for Carroll.

For me the top four coaches:

1. Carroll
2. Harbaugh
3. Belichick
4. Payton

Then there's everyone else.

How can you put Carroll and Harbaugh above Belichick? Dudes won 3 SB's and is roundly considered one of the greatest minds in football.

Homeritis strikes again!

Seriously, gotta give credit it where it's due. 3 SBs, 5 appearances, and what did it say 11 playoffs in the last 14 years?!? As much as we're DREAMING of the Seahawks being the next dynasty. Belichick actually accomplished having a Dynasty in the salary cap era. As much as I hate his interviews, he's one hell of a coach.

 

[hawknation2014]

Seriously, gotta give credit it where it's due. 3 SBs, 5 appearances, and what did it say 11 playoffs in the last 14 years?!? As much as we're DREAMING of the Seahawks being the next dynasty. Belichick actually accomplished having a Dynasty in the salary cap era. As much as I hate his interviews, he's one hell of a coach.

I too would put Belichick No. 1 and Carroll No. 2. However, it should be acknowledged that Belichick hasn't won a Super Bowl in ten years. Also, his career is somewhat tainted by his blatant cheating in Spygate. I do think Carroll needs to win a second Super Bowl to have a legitimate claim at No. 1. Coughlin also has an argument to be ahead of Carroll due to his two Super Bowls.

If Carroll were to repeat this year, then the entire media landscape would shift under our feet. Carroll would be close to truly sanctified ground.

 

[Scottemojo]

Coughlin is a hard coach to figure. When his teams are bad, they are terrible. When they win super bowls, they muddle through the season before doing it. But come playoff time, he can go on the road anywhere and win. And devise a plan for any team they face.

Sean Payton has a purpose for every word he says. He knows when to stay out. He stays out of Ryan's way, and Ryan is going to make that D fearsome.

Jim Harbaugh does it his way and wins. His offensive blocking sets are NFL unique, his formations are weird, his pass routes are often really one man routes...and it works. He might be a class A douche nozzle, but he is a damn good coach.

John Harbaugh is what Jim would be like if Jim were not such a freak. Maybe the bad babysitter only got to one of the kids, I dunno.

Belichick gets pooped on because they haven't won since spygate, but he is awesome. He spots NFL trends and tries to get ahead of them. When he went to his 3 TE sets as a mainstay I thought he was nuts, but it worked. When Brady went down in game 1, he still got 11 wins.

If Pete could not choose his players, we aren't talking about him being this good. And since separating Pete the personnel guy from Pete the coach is impossible, lets just say top 5 and be done with it. Extra credit for how he handles the media.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

Coughlin is a hard coach to figure. When his teams are bad, they are terrible. When they win super bowls, they muddle through the season before doing it. But come playoff time, he can go on the road anywhere and win. And devise a plan for any team they face.

Old school hard ass coaches have a very hard time with bad teams.

When things are going well, players will buy into the Tyrant coaches like Parcells, Belichick and Coughlin because they see that way of doing things is working. But when things are going bad players (now more than ever) will say "F it, we're losing, I'm not going to listen to this A-hole." Then things snowball out of control, like it did for the Giants last year.

 

[kearly]

How can you put Carroll and Harbaugh above Belichick? Dudes won 3 SB's and is roundly considered one of the greatest minds in football.

Homeritis strikes again!

I probably am a homer, because I think if Carroll coaches until he's 70, he will have more rings than Belichick will. Rarely in NFL history have you seen a team this stacked, this young, this sustainable and so cutting edge.

Regarding Harbaugh, I honestly think that if you give him Tom Brady and put him in the AFC East, and he probably wins 14-15 games every year. Belichick has had success without Brady, but not on the same level as Harbaugh the last 3 years.

I respect Belichick because he's found different ways to win during his career. Some of his teams were better than any team Seattle or SF has yet fielded. But in terms of the current Patriots, swap them with the Rams and I don't think they make the playoffs last year. How do you weigh current excellence versus resume? I learn more towards the former when talking about who the best coaches in the NFL are RIGHT NOW.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

How can you put Carroll and Harbaugh above Belichick? Dudes won 3 SB's and is roundly considered one of the greatest minds in football.

Homeritis strikes again!

I probably am a homer, because I think if Carroll coaches until he's 70, he will have more rings than Belichick will. Rarely in NFL history have you seen a team this stacked, this young, and this cutting edge.

Regarding Harbaugh, I honestly think that if you give him Tom Brady and put him in the AFC East, and he probably wins 14-15 games every year.

So your power poll is from the future? In that case, I change my #1 to Chris Peterson.

I think he'll lead the Huskies to a couple Rose Bowls, then jump to the NFL where he'll win 4 SB's in 10 years with whoever hires him.

 

[kearly]

Eh, Peterson hasn't really done anything yet. Winning at Boise State is nothing new. I like him a lot as a coach and think that with time he will have success at UW, but he still has to prove himself coaching in a major conference, IMO.

Harbaugh inherited a team that hadn't reached the playoffs in almost a decade and became the first coach ever to reach the championship game in all of his first three seasons. Carroll took a cratering team full of old, crappy players and rebuilt it into a dynasty caliber organization in four years. And both of these guys did this in the same division, the toughest division the NFL has seen in a long time.

So it's not just about 2014, 2015, etc. It's about 2011-2013 too.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

So it's not just about 2014, 2015, etc. It's about 2011-2013 too.

So your power poll just happens to be in the time period Pete coached, how convenient! lol

It's a current coaches power poll, therefore it should be about every active coach in the league, and their accomplishments. Period. Not crystal ball future predictions, or recent success, or choose your own time frame of when you think the coaches should be judged on.

It's pretty cut and dry, so not sure why people are having such a hard time with this. We can debate spots #2-32, but there is no debating #1, it's Belichick.

 

[hawknation2014]

Eh, Peterson hasn't really done anything yet. Winning at Boise State is nothing new. I like him a lot as a coach and think that with time he will have success at UW, but he still has to prove himself coaching in a major conference, IMO.

Harbaugh inherited a team that hadn't reached the playoffs in almost a decade and became the first coach ever to reach the championship game in all of his first three seasons. Carroll took a cratering team full of old, crappy players and rebuilt it into a dynasty caliber organization in four years. And both of these guys did this in the same division, the toughest division the NFL has seen in a long time.

So it's not just about 2014, 2015, etc. It's about 2011-2013 too.

In Harbaugh's first year, the 49ers had nine Pro Bowlers. He inherited an insanely deep roster that was accrued over a decade of mediocrity with high draft picks. As his talented roster ages, how will he respond?

On the tangental point about Petersen, he has already accomplished quite a lot in his career with the highest winning percentage of any coach in the country. He has led his team to two undefeated seasons, five conference championships and two Fiesta Bowl wins, while beating teams like Oklahoma, Georgia, Virginia Tech, Chip Kelly's Oregon, etc., without any of his own top recruits. He has a huge rebuilding effort at Washington that is similar to what Carroll faced in 2010.

 

[kearly]

So it's not just about 2014, 2015, etc. It's about 2011-2013 too.

So your power poll just happens to be in the time period Pete coached, how convenient! lol

It's a current coaches power poll, therefore it should be about every active coach in the league, and their accomplishments. Period. Not crystal ball future predictions, or recent success, or choose your own time frame of when you think the coaches should be judged on.

It's pretty cut and dry, so not sure why people are having such a hard time with this. We can debate spots #2-32, but there is no debating #1, it's Belichick.

No, I'm just giving my opinion of who is doing the best coaching job right now. In terms of resume, it's obviously Belichick #1. In terms of current performance, I'd have him #3. In my fully subjective opinion.

 

[Seahawkfan80]

Eh, Peterson hasn't really done anything yet. Winning at Boise State is nothing new. I like him a lot as a coach and think that with time he will have success at UW, but he still has to prove himself coaching in a major conference, IMO.

Harbaugh inherited a team that hadn't reached the playoffs in almost a decade and became the first coach ever to reach the championship game in all of his first three seasons. Carroll took a cratering team full of old, crappy players and rebuilt it into a dynasty caliber organization in four years. And both of these guys did this in the same division, the toughest division the NFL has seen in a long time.

So it's not just about 2014, 2015, etc. It's about 2011-2013 too.

In Harbaugh's first year, the 49ers had nine Pro Bowlers. He inherited an insanely deep roster that was accrued over a decade of mediocrity with high draft picks. As his talented roster ages, how will he respond?

On the tangental point about Petersen, he has already accomplished quite a lot in his career with the highest winning percentage of any coach in the country. He has led his team to two undefeated seasons, five conference championships and two Fiesta Bowl wins, while beating teams like Oklahoma, Georgia, Virginia Tech, Chip Kelly's Oregon, etc., without any of his own top recruits. He has a huge rebuilding effort at Washington that is similar to what Carroll faced in 2010.

I figure it will take about 3 years for Petersen to get UW where you want it. As far as the OP, I would think Belicheat, Carroll, Harbaugh, and Coughlin. Only reason I say Harbie third is I think he had all the parts in place, just no discipline. Now they have that and have a couple more years in their window.....but we have the window closed and control the lock. :mrgreen:

 

[kearly]

In Harbaugh's first year, the 49ers had nine Pro Bowlers. He inherited an insanely deep roster that was accrued over a decade of mediocrity with high draft picks. As his talented roster ages, how will he respond?

On the tangental point about Petersen, he has already accomplished quite a lot in his career with the highest winning percentage of any coach in the country. He has led his team to two undefeated seasons, five conference championships and two Fiesta Bowl wins, while beating teams like Oklahoma, Georgia, Virginia Tech, Chip Kelly's Oregon, etc., without any of his own top recruits. He has a huge rebuilding effort at Washington that is similar to what Carroll faced in 2010.

I love Petersen and as a UW fan I think his hiring was a best case scenario after Sark left. I don't know if there is another college coach who turns more 2 and 3 star recruits into NFL draft picks. He does a great job getting his teams to take full advantage of underdog mentality in big games against very good teams.

But instead of having one tough game a season, I need to see how he does with 6-8 tough games a season. Previous BSU coaches racked up wins too, then bombed when moving on to bigger schools. Not saying Petersen sucks, I think he is pretty good and will probably win at UW once he finds his QB. But until that happens, he's unproven in a major conference.

Harbaugh had 8 pro-bowlers in his first year, and most of them were not pro-bowlers in 2010. With the exception of Davis and Willis, the rest of the stars are guys that didn't really get to a pro-bowl level until Harbaugh showed up. You look at the areas where SF is the most impressive, they are spots where Harbaugh works his magic the most with players who were not doing much before he arrived. Namely, his unique OL schemes, his unique way of handling QBs, and his ability to put front seven talent in position to succeed. It has been incredible to watch Navarro Bowman and Aldon Smith get better and better every year.

Harbaugh's predecessor, Singletary, was probably the NFL's worst coach. That factors. But before Singletary the 49ers struggled with Nolan and Erikson, who are not terrible coaches.

 

[hawknation2014]

In Harbaugh's first year, the 49ers had nine Pro Bowlers. He inherited an insanely deep roster that was accrued over a decade of mediocrity with high draft picks. As his talented roster ages, how will he respond?

On the tangental point about Petersen, he has already accomplished quite a lot in his career with the highest winning percentage of any coach in the country. He has led his team to two undefeated seasons, five conference championships and two Fiesta Bowl wins, while beating teams like Oklahoma, Georgia, Virginia Tech, Chip Kelly's Oregon, etc., without any of his own top recruits. He has a huge rebuilding effort at Washington that is similar to what Carroll faced in 2010.

I love Petersen and as a UW fan I think his hiring was a best case scenario after Sark left. I don't know if there is another college coach who turns more 2 and 3 star recruits into NFL draft picks. He does a great job getting his teams to take full advantage of underdog mentality in big games against very good teams.

But instead of having one tough game a season, I need to see how he does with 6-8 tough games a season. Previous BSU coaches racked up wins too, then bombed when moving on to bigger schools.

Harbaugh had 8 pro-bowlers in his first year, and most of them were not pro-bowlers in 2010. You look at the areas where SF is the most impressive, and with the exception of Davis and Willis, the strongest areas are spots where Harbaugh works his magic the most with players who were not doing much before he arrived. Namely, his unique OL schemes, his unique way of handling QBs, and his ability to put front seven talent in position to succeed.

Harbaugh's predecessor, Singletary, was probably the NFL's worst coach. That factors. But before Singletary the 49ers struggled with Nolan and Erikson, who are not terrible coaches.

Dennis Erickson is a terrible coach . . . very similar to Sarkisian who I wish had been fired after his third year. He road Jimmy Johnson's coattails, much like Sarkisian did at SC under Carroll, and has been trash ever since while running programs into the ground.

The 49ers had FIVE Pro Bowlers in 2010 ( Frank Gore, Vernon Davis, Justin Smith, Andy Lee, and Patrick Willis) and they continued to accrue high draft picks. Some of their talent was not recognized because of the horrible coaching, but it was already there when Harbaugh arrived, including the most talented collection of linebackers ever assembled on one team and a number of top offensive linemen.

 

[kearly]

Dennis Erickson is a terrible coach . . . very similar to Sarkisian who I wish had been fired after his third year. He road Jimmy Johnson's coattails, much like Sarkisian did at SC under Carroll, and has been trash ever since while running programs into the ground.

The 49ers had FIVE Pro Bowlers in 2010 ( Frank Gore, Vernon Davis, Justin Smith, Andy Lee, and Patrick Willis) and they continued to accrue high draft picks. Some of their talent was not recognized because of the horrible coaching, but it was already there when Harbaugh arrived, including the most talented collection of linebackers ever assembled on one team and a number of top offensive linemen.

Erickson was a very good college coach at Idaho, Miami, and OSU. Not as much in the NFL, though I was bummed when the Seahawks fired him, he had the team going in the right direction, albeit slowly. At SF he was a fall guy for a collapsing team.

SF had talent when Harbaugh took over, it wasn't anything like the mess Carroll got.

But he still added even more pro-bowlers and developed some elite players. Smith was one of the biggest and most damaging draft bust QBs of all time, and Harbaugh turned him into an efficient winner instantly. Would Kaepernick be starting in the NFL had he been drafted by most other teams? I doubt it. Before Harbaugh, the offensive line was not well regarded and had not earned a pro-bowler nod in some time. Staley was drafted in 2007, and made his first pro-bowl in 2011. Overnight, Harbaugh got elite production out of his run blocking and front seven play. And it happened because of how he schemes and coaches his players, not because he inherited a bunch of super-badasses that didn't really feel like trying under Singletary.

Per football outsiders, the NFC West has most of the worst division seasons in league history. For a while, the NFC West would own the record, and then break it the next year, this happened a few years in a row, while the Seahawks and Cardinals ruled the division. Even in the easiest division ever, the 49ers could not put together a winning season. The 49ers had a lot of high picks and a lot of good players, but put an average coach on that team in 2011 and I don't think they break through because so much of what made SF better related directly to how Harbaugh manages his OL, front seven, and QBs. The idea that Harbaugh inherited a SB team is mostly a myth that you rarely hear outside of our fanbase.

Don't really get why you had to bash Sark. I mean, he jumped ship for USC. Screw that guy. But in terms of his performance, he inherited one of the very worst teams in Pac-12 history and got them into the top ten nationally for yardage and scoring differentials in five years. I like Petersen, but I think it will be a while before he surpasses the 9 wins Sark had last year, despite inheriting a very nice defense and an offense with some good pieces.

Regarding Harbaugh at Stanford, you can't judge a college coach until he gets a few years in to get his guys. It's not like the NFL where you can turn over a roster in a couple years. By the time Harbaugh had his guys at Stanford, they were one of the best teams in the nation. Stanford was one of the Pac-12's worst teams when he got there. After he left, the team remained a powerhouse when given to his successor, Shaw. In the case of both Stanford and SF, both rose to prominence because of a dramatic improvement on the offensive and defensive lines. When it comes to building a team from the inside out, Harbaugh is one of the best in the business.

 

[sc85sis]

Eh, Peterson hasn't really done anything yet. Winning at Boise State is nothing new. I like him a lot as a coach and think that with time he will have success at UW, but he still has to prove himself coaching in a major conference, IMO.

Harbaugh inherited a team that hadn't reached the playoffs in almost a decade and became the first coach ever to reach the championship game in all of his first three seasons. Carroll took a cratering team full of old, crappy players and rebuilt it into a dynasty caliber organization in four years. And both of these guys did this in the same division, the toughest division the NFL has seen in a long time.

So it's not just about 2014, 2015, etc. It's about 2011-2013 too.

In Harbaugh's first year, the 49ers had nine Pro Bowlers. He inherited an insanely deep roster that was accrued over a decade of mediocrity with high draft picks. As his talented roster ages, how will he respond?

On the tangental point about Petersen, he has already accomplished quite a lot in his career with the highest winning percentage of any coach in the country. He has led his team to two undefeated seasons, five conference championships and two Fiesta Bowl wins, while beating teams like Oklahoma, Georgia, Virginia Tech, Chip Kelly's Oregon, etc., without any of his own top recruits. He has a huge rebuilding effort at Washington that is similar to what Carroll faced in 2010.

No one has a clue how Jim Harbaugh will respond over the long-term because he's never been anywhere long-term. It's a tribute to his coaching skill that he's moved up rapidly, but it also means that we don't know if he can sustain success for more than a handful years.

 

[Rainger]

Think of it this way: If Harbaugh and Carroll were both on the market, which coach do you think would get the best offer?

Tough answer. Harbaugh is more universally respected as a coach and is much younger. But all those teams that have wanted to copy Seattle the last couple years would probably go all out for Carroll.

For me the top four coaches:

1. Carroll
2. Harbaugh
3. Belichick
4. Payton

Then there's everyone else.

How can you put Carroll and Harbaugh above Belichick? Dudes won 3 SB's and is roundly considered one of the greatest minds in football.

Homeritis strikes again!

No You are just another caught up in the Media hype.
Fact is he hasn't won squat since they found out his methods and stopped them and since the D that he got from Carroll has never been the same.

He won when Brady passed for 3500 a season and he had a great D that he got from Carroll. He has not won since his D diminished, and Brady started throwing 5000 a season and he could no longer have film on this opponents practice.

How was he as a coach at Cleveland? Dude is really over Hyped.