90. Gary
Williams
Career Coaching Record: 668-380 (.637 Winning Percentage)
Gary Williams had 4 successful stints as a head coach, but he will be best remembered for his success at the University of Maryland. From 1989-2011 Williams made Maryland basketball a perennial NCAA Tournament team. He even led them to multiple Final Four appearances. His 2000-2001 team went to the Final Four and the 2001-2002 team won the whole thing. Along the way, the Terrapins made 11 consecutive NCAA appearances. That 11 year run was quite unexpected at the time because of sanctions placed on the team by the NCAA because of the previous coach. This made Williams job much more difficult at Maryland as did the fact that the university was still shocked by the tragic death of Len Bias. However, once he lead them to a surprise Sweet Sixteen run in 1994 he kept them a major player until 2005. Gary Williams remains the only coach to win the national championship without a single McDonald's All-American on the roster. He had far less talent and was still successful. The playing surface for the University of Maryland is currently named Gary Williams Court. His legacy remains quite strong at the University.
89. Marv
Levy
CFL Career Coaching Record: 43-31-4 (.577 Winning Percentage)
NFL Career Coaching Record: 143-112 (.561 Winning Percentage)
Levy actually started out in college with a below average record. This was not indictive of the future success that he would have. Most of that bad record was from a terrible stint at Cal in his second coaching gig. Marv Levy started out coaching with a 14-6 record over two seasons with New Mexico, followed by a disastrous stint at Cal and a mediocre stint at William and Mary before turning to the pro game.
His winning percentage over his career and lack of a Super Bowl championship, would make you believe that he was good enough to be considered, but not included on this list. However, Marv Levy won two Grey Cup championships in the CFL having a very successful career with Montreal. He was also one of the most successful coaches in the playoffs with the Buffalo Bills. Levy was 11-8 in the playoffs with the Bills, leading that team to four straight Super Bowls in the early 90s. Super Bowl losers rarely advance in the playoffs the following season and Levy brought the team back to the big game 3 other times after that initial loss. From 1988 through 1997, the Buffalo Bills had the highest winning percentage in the NFL. They also won 6 AFC East division titles during that timeframe. Marv Levy is the winningest coach in Bills history, 1988 NFL Coach of the Year, and three time AFC Coach of the Year. In 11 full seasons with the Bills, Levy made 8 playoff appearances and won the division more than half of the time. This despite being in the same division as Dan Marino and Don Shula. Marv Levy has a lot to do with Marino never getting a ring.
88. Sid
Gillman
AFL/NFL Career Coaching Record: 123-103-7 (.543 Winning Percentage)
Sid Gillman was incredibly successful at coaching both college and professional. He coached in either the AFL or NFL for 18 seasons and 10 seasons of college ball. During that timeframe, Gillman had only 5 losing seasons in 28 years. None of those were in college, where he won 81% of his games. That college record includes one undefeated season and 3 conference championships out of 4 years in a conference. His teams were independents the other 6 seasons.
Gillman also enjoyed quite a bit of success in professional football having a winning record quite often. He won an AFL championship in 1963 for the Chargers a few years before the Super Bowl. It is still the Chargers only championship in either the AFL or the NFL. The downside of that is that it was Gillman's only playoff win. So, although he has a league championship and a fantastic record, he only has one playoff victory. His overall playoff record is 1-5 which prevents him from being higher on the list. With his winning percentage, the only Chargers championship ever, and his overall portfolio he fits in nicely at 88. Gillman won 1 AFL title, 5 AFL division championships, and 1 NFL conference championship in his time coaching professionally.
His influence on the game is incredible even outside of his record. Through his coaching tree if you work down, you see Chuck Knoll, Joe Gibbs, Bill Walsh, Tony Dungy, and many other Hall of Fame level coaches. Chuck Knoll is right below Sid Gillman having been his assistant. The influence of this fine coach is legendary.
87. Al
Maguire
Al Maguire was a coaching legend for the Marquette Warriors(now the Golden Eagles). He is one of very few coaching legends to retire immediately after winning a championship. Maguire did this after leading Marquette to their only basketball championship ever in 1977. The team would not return to the Final Four without Maguire until the time of Dwayne Wade. The schools only Final Four appearances have come in 1974, 1977, and 2002. The Wade led Golden Eagles went in 2002, a year after Al Maguire passed away. Those other teams to make the Final Four for Marquette were led by coach Maguire. Each of those years, they advanced to the championship game. Marquette advanced to the postseason 11 times under Coach Maguire, 9 of those times were appearances in the big tournament, and 8 of those were finishes in the Sweet 16 or better. During one of their rare NIT appearances, they won the NIT. Their other NIT appearance, they were runner-up. Maguire advanced to an incredible 4 Elite 8's in a 13 year period. That means on average this team was one of the 8 best in college basketball every three years. Little independent Marquette was a great team led by Al Maguire. He put that program on the map.
86. Billy Martin
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Billy Martin is of course known for multiple stints with the New York Yankees. Billy though actually coached for 5 different teams in his 16 years as a manager.His winning percentage was much higher with the Yankees and the Twins than in his other stops. Both pennants and the World Series title came as coach of the New York Yankees. His off the field antics as a player and manager were his undoing, because he actually knew baseball quite well. He got into alteractions often though with players, and those that ran the organizations he worked for. His first Yankee stint ended despite constantly having elite teams because of public feuds with star outfielder Reggie Jackson. Martin had the guts to stand up to Steinbrenner and take Reggie Jackson out for Paul Blair (one of the most underrated players in baseball history). Martin was brought back after his first firing in New York mid-season 1979 and fired after the season following another off the field altercation. Billy Martin also famously chased a young Ken Griffey Jr. out of the Yankee clubhouse while Sr. played for the team and yelled at Al Leiter for lifting weights telling him instead to do long toss to strengthen his arm. One of the most famous coaches in Yankee history was about to manage the team again in 1990 for the 6th time, but unfortunately passed away in December of 1989.
85. Mike
Martin
Mike Martin is the legendary baseball coach at FSU. He is the best coach in history to not win a national championship. The fact that he has not won a national championship prevents him from being higher on the list and allows you to argue some others ahead of him. Despite not winning a championship, Martin still has a winning record in the postseason at 135-77 (.637 Winning Percentage). It is not like he gets knocked out every year. He has a couple of conference titles though. Martin is an 11 time metro conference champion a five time ACC champion, a 7 time ACC coach of the year and a 6 time metro coach of the year. Since the ACC split divisions in 2006, the Seminoles have won the ACC Atlantic every year except that first season in 2006. The regular season title has been won by FSU in the ACC 9 times, again proving Martin's excellence in the regular season.
In 35 seasons at Florida State, Martin's Seminoles have advanced to at least an NCAA regional every single year. 15 of those times they have advanced to the College World Series. During 8 other seasons they advanced at least one round going to the NCAA Super Regionals. The Super Regional is the equivalent of the Sweet 16 in March Madness. So for 23 seasons, Martin led the Seminoles to at least the Sweet 16. 15 of those times were to at least the Elite 8. They have advanced to the championship game 2 times, losing each time. My favorite thing about Mike Martin though is this quote "there is never a wrong time to do the right thing." Mike Martin is a good guy and a class act. If a player violates team rules he follows through. He has suspended players during the CWS and cost himself a title on multiple occasions because it was the right thing to do. Most would wait until after the season to do so, but not Mike Martin. He is one coach truly deserving a title, and hopefully will get one before he hangs them up for good.
84. John
Thompson
John Thompson coached Georgetown basketball from 1972 until his resignation mid-season 1999. During that time, he turned Georgetown into a National Powerhouse and consistent championship threat. He failed to make the playoffs his first three seasons, but reached postseason play in each of the 20+ years after his first three. Those postseason appearances included an incredible 19 trips to the NCAA tournament. He also advanced to the Elite 8 or better 7 times in his time at Georgetown. They made it all the way to the championship 3 times. Georgetown won their only title in school history in 1984 under Thompson. They threatened to win quite a few more especially the two seasons where they reached the title game. Michael Jordan wouldn't have any of it during one of those championship games though. This team was consistently good and consistently a threat under Thompson. Unlike the recent Georgetown teams, this team was never an easy out either and rarely was upset. Take away two historic wins by North Carolina and Villanova and Georgetown has three NCAA championships pushing Thompson further up the list. As it sits, John Thompson is the 84th best coach of all-time.
83. Frank Chance
Frank Chance is a Hall of Fame player for the Chicago Cubs that should also be a Hall of Fame coach. Chance was the player/manager for the Cubs for 8 seasons, the Yankees 2 seasons, and just the manager of the Red Sox for 1 season. In his 8 years with the Cubs, Chance led them to 4 National League Pennants and 2 World Series titles. He averaged beating the entire National League in half of his seasons in Chicago. Frank Chance has the highest winning percentage of a manager in Cubs history at .664 with the Cubs. His biggest accomplishment by far though is that he led the Cubs to their only 2 titles in World Series history. The team has appeared in the game 10 times (4 trips from Chance) and won only twice (both from Chance).
82. Joe
Paterno
When it comes to Joe Paterno you have to evaluate his overall body of work just like everyone else. For him, this is the most difficult due to over a decade of vacated wins and a sex abuse scandal that shook the sports universe. To me, it seemed he was absolutely a lock for the list, but those two factors made it incredibly difficult to place him somewhere. Most people are in one of two camps on Paterno, either he absolutely neglected his duty in a leadership position and doesn't belong on the list at all or he is a legendary coach that did nothing wrong and belongs in the top 25. I happen to lean towards him neglecting his duty, but I am not there 100% which is why I placed him at 82.
Paterno towards the end of his career was a figurehead. Let's be honest. He was not coaching the games and seemed to care about his legacy a great deal. Was it his legacy that seemed to lead a cover-up of the abuse scandal? The emails were pretty clear in saying that Joe Paterno had a huge influence in covering up the heinous crimes of Jerry Sandusky. Even Paterno said, "I should have done more." One of his coaches reported a despicable act to his head coach and there is no evidence Paterno did anything positive. I agree though that there is no evidence that he didn't report it to his superiors. The fact that the investigator ended up dead back in the early 2000s adds a whole new layer of creepy to this mess, but Paterno could have had nothing to do with that as well. Honestly, I don't know what to think about Paterno, but I lean towards him helping cover-up the biggest scandal in sports history. This scandal absolutely should have resulted in vacated wins, as it did. Had, this scandal come out into the public eye, no sane parent would let their kid attend a university that allowed a sex predator to walk around. I don't buy it. I could be wrong, but I don't buy it.
However, even with that scandal, one must acknoweldge Paterno as an all-time great ON THE FIELD. Even with the vacated wins, Paterno still won 69% of games played. They won two national championships, were ranked constantly and played in numerous high level bowls. For his 1983 championship, he beat Vince Dooley who has already been listed on this countdown and his Georgia Bulldogs. During the 1987 Fiesta Bowl, Penn State beat Miami and legendary coach Jimmy Johnson for his second national championship. Paterno was fantastic for the Nittany Lions and a living legend until his death. Just before his death though, all the scandal with Sandusky was revealed. Sandusky was an assistant of Paterno from 1966-1999, so take that for what it is worth. He was embraced by the Penn State program until his arrest.
Whatever your opinion is of Joe Paterno, please do not say he died of a broken heart. Be intellectually honest with yourself. The man died of cancer. Cancer sucks, but to say it was a broken heart is a joke.
81. Jack
Ramsey
College Career Coaching Record: 234-72 (.765 Winning Percentage)
NBA Career Coaching Record: 864-783 (.525 Winning Percentage)
During his career, Ramsey coached 4 NBA franchises. Those franchises are not historically good, but Ramsey managed them brillantly. They were the Philadelphia 76ers, the Buffalo Braves (who then moved to San Diego and became the Clippers, now the LA Clippers), the Portland Trail Blazers, and the Indiana Pacers. Two of those teams to this day have not won an NBA title (LA and Indiana) and one (Portland) won their only NBA title under Jack Ramsey. He led the Blazers to the 1977 NBA championship in his most successful as a head coach. Probably the most successful fact about Dr. Jack though is that he led his teams to the playoffs in 16 of 20 full seasons as an NBA head coach. He led 4 bottom feeder teams to the postseason an incredible amount of times.
Percentage wise, Ramsey was an even better coach in college. While a coach at St. Joe's, Ramsey won an incredible 76% of his games. During his first season as head coach, Ramsey led St.Joe's to their first Big 5 title and their first ever postseason birth. Ramsay led St.Joe's to a total of 7 Big 5 titles, 10 postseason births, 5 top finishes in the MAC, and most impressively a Final Four appearance.That 1961 appearance in the Final Four is the only appearance in the history of St.Joe's. The school has made 7 appearances in the Sweet Sixteen and 4 of those teams were led by Jack Ramsey.
- Noland
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