It’s fairly well known that
John Madden boasts the best winning percentage in NFL history, at least in the regular-season.
He posted a remarkable 103-32-7 (.750) record during his 10-year head coaching career, all with Oakland.
The postseason, though, as we noted this weekend in the John Madden Story,
our tribute to this great NFL coach and personality, was not as kind. Madden’s Raiders went 9-7 in postseason play.
So in the cumulative coaching list we’ve used to size up coaches over the years, which takes postseason records into consideration, Madden is actually No. 2 all time. But no shame in that. After all, a perfectly fitting figure holds the No. 1 spot: Vince Lombardi. He won 9 of 10 postseason games and boasts an overall .740 winning percentage.
With the retirement of Tony Dungy at the end of the 2008 season (No. 8 all time with a .652 winning percentage), New England's Bill Belichick is the winningest active coach, with a 153-90 (.630) record. Belichick surpassed Joe Gibbs to climb into the top 10 this past season. Only two other active coaches enjoy a spot here on our list of the 30 most successful in NFL history: Andy Reid of Philadelphia and Wade Phillips of Dallas. Phillips, however, is the only coach on this list who never won a single playoff game (0-4).
Remember, Cold, Hard Football Facts.com is the only place where you can find an accurate list of coaching winning percentages. As we've discussed in the past, "official" NFL records inexplicably use three different formulas for calculating winning percentage for coaches, each of which yields different results.
NFL COACHES WITH THE BEST WINNING PERCENTAGE
(min. 100 games, combined regular season and postseason, as of end of 2009 season; active coaches in italics)
|
|
Coach |
Record |
Pct. |
Titles |
|
1 |
Vince Lombardi |
105-35-6 |
.740 |
5 |
|
2 |
John Madden |
112-39-7 |
.731 |
1 |
|
3 |
George Allen |
118-54-6 |
.684 |
0 |
|
4 |
Blanton Collier |
79-38-2 |
.672 |
1 |
|
5 |
George Halas |
324-151-31 |
.671 |
6 |
|
6 |
Don Shula |
347-173-6 |
.665 |
2 |
|
7 |
Ray Flaherty |
82-41-5 |
.660 |
2 |
|
8 |
Tony Dungy |
148-79 |
.652 |
1 |
|
9 |
George Seifert |
124-67 |
.649 |
2 |
|
10 |
Bill Belichick |
153-90 |
.630 |
3 |
|
11 |
Joe Gibbs |
171-101 |
.629 |
3 |
|
12 |
Curly Lambeau |
229-134-22 |
.623 |
6 |
|
13 |
Bill Cowher |
161-99-1 |
.619 |
1 |
|
14 |
Bill Walsh |
102-63-1 |
.617 |
3 |
|
15 |
Paul Brown* |
170-108-6 |
.609 |
3 |
|
16 |
Andy Reid |
107-69-1 |
.6073 |
0 |
|
17 |
Bud Grant |
168-108-5 |
.6068 |
0 |
|
18 |
Tom Landry |
270-178 |
.601 |
2 |
|
19 |
Mike Shanahan |
154-103 |
.599 |
2 |
|
20 |
Potsy Clark |
65-42-12 |
.597 |
1 |
|
21 |
Marty Schottenheimer |
205-139-1 |
.5957 |
0 |
|
22 |
Greasy Neale |
66-44-5 |
.5957 |
2 |
|
23 |
Mike Holmgren |
174-122 |
.588 |
1 |
|
24 |
Steve Owen |
153-108-17 |
.5809 |
2 |
|
25 |
Buddy Parker |
107-76-9 |
.5807 |
2 |
|
26 |
Mike Sherman |
59-43 |
.578 |
0 |
|
27 |
Hank Stram |
136-100-10 |
.573 |
2** |
|
28 |
Chuck Noll |
209-156-1 |
.572 |
4 |
|
29 |
Jimmy Conzelman |
88-64-17 |
.571 |
1 |
|
30 |
Wade Phillips |
70-53 |
.570 |
0 |
Ties included in winning percentage; they count has half a win and as a full game when calculating winning percentage.
* Includes only Paul Brown's NFL career. He was also a remarkable 52-4-3 (including playoffs) with four championships in his four years in the AAFC, giving him a career record of 222-112-9 (.660) and an unmatched seven pro football championships.
** Hank Stram won one AFL title and one Super Bowl. All other championships on the list are NFL/Super Bowl championships.
