Somebody asked me recently if I like Sean McDermott as a coach. Well, as a Bills fan for the past 45 years, I have to say, yes, he's certainly been been better than a lot of our coaches. Then, today I came across one of those links on ESPN for "The Worst Head Coaches in NFL History" and was expecting to find at least Harvey Johnson and possibly Jim Ringo represented, but, alas, neither appeared, likely forgotten in their 5-45-1 ineptitude - and the fact that it occurred in Buffalo. Yes, younger Bills fans, if you think your team is bad these days, fathom that winning percentage (it's .100 for the mathematically challenged). It was achieved in four seasons over 10 years - luckily only two were consecutive. Of course, Lou Saban, who is actually one of the most remarkable coaches in Bills history, appeared smack in the middle of all that.
Anyhow, this all inspired me to come with an all-time ranking of Bills head coaches over the years. I feel like I have some familiarity with all of them except the initial guy - Buster Ramsey - as I became a Bills fan in 1974 - during "The Second Age of Saban" (Lou, not Nick) and as Saban started with the Bills in their third year (1963) I feel connected to everything that came after him.
I grouped these in tiers, starting at the top:
Championship Winners
1. Marv Levy: Well, so, Levy didn't win a Super Bowl, so no NFL championship, but he did win four AFC titles, which I guess is technically the same as Saban's AFL championships, because in 1964-65 there was no Super Bowl, and who's to say that the Bills could have beat the Browns or Packers anyway, although the '64 team was pretty awesome. We'll also get to Saban's baggage, but Levy was simply great as a Bills coach with a 112-70 (.615) regular season record and a 19-11 playoff record - not to mention a place in the Hall of Fame. The only argument against Levy is that his teams were stacked, but it's important to note that he was the one who first discovered Bill Polian, the architect of the great '90s teams, when Levy hired Polian as a scout back in his days with the Kansas City Chiefs, so the two are inexorably linked.
2. Lou Saban: Lou's record with Buffalo was 68-45-4 (.605) in the regular season and 2-2 in the playoffs (smaller tournament back then) but those two wins produced two titles for the Bills in 1964 and 1965. After leaving Buffalo following the second title, Saban returned seven years later and built the Bills back up into a playoff team again. Saban is known as a coaching nomad, having made something like 20 stops in a long and winding career as a head coach at the high school, college and professional levels. But, his biggest successes came in Buffalo, where he turned a fledgling franchise into a champion, and after the team crumbled in the wake of his departure, returned and coached them up again. Of course, the Bills once again crumbled after he left the second time and Ralph Wilson wouldn't even put Saban on the Wall of Fame due to bad feelings over it.
Defensive Gurus:
3. Chuck Knox: Chuck Knox was a very good football coach - especially in the regular season. In 22 years as an NFL head coach (with three different teams, including the Rams twice), Knox was 186-147-1 (.558) and this was somewhat tainted by his last four seasons, when he failed to record a winning record. Unfortunately, he was 7-11 in the playoffs, so he was kind of like an old school Andy Reid, but Knox's specialty was defense. He began his head coaching career in 1973 with the Rams and proceeded to go 54-15-1 in six seasons but couldn't make it past the NFC Championship game, falling to the Cowboys or Vikings every year. So, in 1978, he ended up in Buffalo, taking over a team that had gone a combined 5-23 the previous two seasons. By Knox's second season, the Bills were 7-9 and had the eighth ranked defense in the league. The 1980 and 1981 teams featured top six defenses and both made the playoffs, losing in the divisional round. In the strike-shortened 1982 season, the Bills struggled to a 4-5 record, dropping their last three games to miss the playoffs. Knox and Wilson then had a disagreement over salary and Knox ended up going to Seattle, where he turned around the Seahawks and took them to the playoffs in the four of the next six years.
4. Sean McDermott: Yes, I am going to place Sean McDermott here, even though he arguably took over a mediocre team from Rex Ryan and made it, well, mediocre - so far at least. Sure, McDermott has yet to win a playoff game, but either has anyone else on this list after Knox (and he won one Wild Card game). I am basing this ranking on what I see as McDermott's potential. He seems to have a plan and has certainly developed a top notch defense. Now, if we can just fix that offensive thing...
5. Wade Phillips: Speaking of defense, Wade is regarded as one of the all-time great defensive coordinators , his reputation cemented when the Broncos shut down the Panthers to win the Super Bowl a few years back. Last year, he helped the Rams make it to the Super Bowl. With Buffalo, Phillips also had a top 10 defense that peaked in 1999, when the Bills went 11-5 before falling in the Music City Miracle game. Overall, Phillips had a 29-19 regular season and 0-2 playoff record with the Bills, so he really didn't do a bad job, but you still felt he was riding the wave of those great Levy teams. And, of course, he oversaw the whole Flutie vs. Johnson fiasco. Phillips was fired after an 8-8 season when he showed loyalty by refusing to fire some of his assistants (as I remember it, or maybe it was refusing to wear a headset on the sidelines).
Coming next: A Parade of Mediocrity.
Anyhow, this all inspired me to come with an all-time ranking of Bills head coaches over the years. I feel like I have some familiarity with all of them except the initial guy - Buster Ramsey - as I became a Bills fan in 1974 - during "The Second Age of Saban" (Lou, not Nick) and as Saban started with the Bills in their third year (1963) I feel connected to everything that came after him.
I grouped these in tiers, starting at the top:
Championship Winners
1. Marv Levy: Well, so, Levy didn't win a Super Bowl, so no NFL championship, but he did win four AFC titles, which I guess is technically the same as Saban's AFL championships, because in 1964-65 there was no Super Bowl, and who's to say that the Bills could have beat the Browns or Packers anyway, although the '64 team was pretty awesome. We'll also get to Saban's baggage, but Levy was simply great as a Bills coach with a 112-70 (.615) regular season record and a 19-11 playoff record - not to mention a place in the Hall of Fame. The only argument against Levy is that his teams were stacked, but it's important to note that he was the one who first discovered Bill Polian, the architect of the great '90s teams, when Levy hired Polian as a scout back in his days with the Kansas City Chiefs, so the two are inexorably linked.
2. Lou Saban: Lou's record with Buffalo was 68-45-4 (.605) in the regular season and 2-2 in the playoffs (smaller tournament back then) but those two wins produced two titles for the Bills in 1964 and 1965. After leaving Buffalo following the second title, Saban returned seven years later and built the Bills back up into a playoff team again. Saban is known as a coaching nomad, having made something like 20 stops in a long and winding career as a head coach at the high school, college and professional levels. But, his biggest successes came in Buffalo, where he turned a fledgling franchise into a champion, and after the team crumbled in the wake of his departure, returned and coached them up again. Of course, the Bills once again crumbled after he left the second time and Ralph Wilson wouldn't even put Saban on the Wall of Fame due to bad feelings over it.
Defensive Gurus:
3. Chuck Knox: Chuck Knox was a very good football coach - especially in the regular season. In 22 years as an NFL head coach (with three different teams, including the Rams twice), Knox was 186-147-1 (.558) and this was somewhat tainted by his last four seasons, when he failed to record a winning record. Unfortunately, he was 7-11 in the playoffs, so he was kind of like an old school Andy Reid, but Knox's specialty was defense. He began his head coaching career in 1973 with the Rams and proceeded to go 54-15-1 in six seasons but couldn't make it past the NFC Championship game, falling to the Cowboys or Vikings every year. So, in 1978, he ended up in Buffalo, taking over a team that had gone a combined 5-23 the previous two seasons. By Knox's second season, the Bills were 7-9 and had the eighth ranked defense in the league. The 1980 and 1981 teams featured top six defenses and both made the playoffs, losing in the divisional round. In the strike-shortened 1982 season, the Bills struggled to a 4-5 record, dropping their last three games to miss the playoffs. Knox and Wilson then had a disagreement over salary and Knox ended up going to Seattle, where he turned around the Seahawks and took them to the playoffs in the four of the next six years.
4. Sean McDermott: Yes, I am going to place Sean McDermott here, even though he arguably took over a mediocre team from Rex Ryan and made it, well, mediocre - so far at least. Sure, McDermott has yet to win a playoff game, but either has anyone else on this list after Knox (and he won one Wild Card game). I am basing this ranking on what I see as McDermott's potential. He seems to have a plan and has certainly developed a top notch defense. Now, if we can just fix that offensive thing...
5. Wade Phillips: Speaking of defense, Wade is regarded as one of the all-time great defensive coordinators , his reputation cemented when the Broncos shut down the Panthers to win the Super Bowl a few years back. Last year, he helped the Rams make it to the Super Bowl. With Buffalo, Phillips also had a top 10 defense that peaked in 1999, when the Bills went 11-5 before falling in the Music City Miracle game. Overall, Phillips had a 29-19 regular season and 0-2 playoff record with the Bills, so he really didn't do a bad job, but you still felt he was riding the wave of those great Levy teams. And, of course, he oversaw the whole Flutie vs. Johnson fiasco. Phillips was fired after an 8-8 season when he showed loyalty by refusing to fire some of his assistants (as I remember it, or maybe it was refusing to wear a headset on the sidelines).
Coming next: A Parade of Mediocrity.
