biggie. Posted March 8, 2023 Share Posted March 8, 2023 Factoring out the game itself, what were the biggest coaching mismatches in SB history? Belichick/Martz in SB36 comes first to mind for me. This matchup is the #1 reason NE won imo. Another one was Shanahan/Reeves in 33. Reeves at this point was the original Jeff Fisher and a relic of the past; he was simply no match for the more modern Shanahan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TecmoSuperJoe Posted March 8, 2023 Share Posted March 8, 2023 Ray Malavasi vs. Chuck Noll Forrest Gregg vs. Bill Walsh Sam Wyche vs. Bill Walsh George Seifert vs. Bobby Ross Some of those games were close though, so whatever. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InRodWeRust Posted March 8, 2023 Share Posted March 8, 2023 Super Bowl XXXV Bucs VS Raiders. Jon Gruden had Bill Callahan's number all game. It was his old team so he seemed to know exactly what they were doing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronjon1990 Posted March 8, 2023 Share Posted March 8, 2023 (edited) Maybe not a popular one here but based on careers.... Tony Dungy vs. Lovie Smith? Dungy was a team builder and had numerous successful seasons, very easily could have won another SB or two with what he did, and possibly could have remained a contender for another decade or more considering how young he was when he retired. Although he had 2 other good years, the success Lovie Smith had in 2006 seems like an aberration as his teams were rarely, if ever, particularly competitive at a true contender level. I like Lovie, but as a HC, he's out of his depth. Dungy was one of the best of the last 30 years. Huge mismatch, imo. Edited March 8, 2023 by ronjon1990 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scar988 Posted March 8, 2023 Share Posted March 8, 2023 Bill Belichick vs. Dan Quinn. Dan was SOOOO overmatched and he held his own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notthatbluestuff Posted March 8, 2023 Share Posted March 8, 2023 Mike Shula vs Wade Phillips in SB50. You didn't say head coaching mismatches. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steelersfan43 Posted March 9, 2023 Share Posted March 9, 2023 Bill Cowher had outcoached Barry Switzer like crazy in super bowl XXX.But Neil O'Donnell give up 14 free points to the cowboys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TankWilliams Posted March 10, 2023 Share Posted March 10, 2023 On 3/8/2023 at 12:57 AM, ronjon1990 said: Maybe not a popular one here but based on careers.... Tony Dungy vs. Lovie Smith? Dungy was a team builder and had numerous successful seasons, very easily could have won another SB or two with what he did, and possibly could have remained a contender for another decade or more considering how young he was when he retired. Although he had 2 other good years, the success Lovie Smith had in 2006 seems like an aberration as his teams were rarely, if ever, particularly competitive at a true contender level. I like Lovie, but as a HC, he's out of his depth. Dungy was one of the best of the last 30 years. Huge mismatch, imo. People hate on Lovie Smith, but I think recency bias is a thing here. His biggest flaw as a coach in Chicago was choosing an offensive coordinator to delegate that to, but the teams were always extremely disciplined, well conditioned, and very cohesive. Despite having maybe the worst GM in the NFL in Jerry Angelo for basically his entire career in Chicago, the teams he put out almost always over performed based on their talent. Dungy was clearly a better coach, but Lovie in his hayday was a great coach too, and I think honestly the Bears would have had a much better 2010s decade with him around then all the garbage coaches they threw into the lineup in his stead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugashane Posted March 10, 2023 Share Posted March 10, 2023 3 hours ago, TankWilliams said: People hate on Lovie Smith, but I think recency bias is a thing here. His biggest flaw as a coach in Chicago was choosing an offensive coordinator to delegate that to, but the teams were always extremely disciplined, well conditioned, and very cohesive. Despite having maybe the worst GM in the NFL in Jerry Angelo for basically his entire career in Chicago, the teams he put out almost always over performed based on their talent. Dungy was clearly a better coach, but Lovie in his hayday was a great coach too, and I think honestly the Bears would have had a much better 2010s decade with him around then all the garbage coaches they threw into the lineup in his stead. Idk. Angelo put together a good group with guys like Harris, Forte, Briggs, Tillman, etc. Drafted Hester, signed Peppers, and so on. Sucked on offense mostly though. No way can be be in the bottom of all GMs of that decade. Nowhere near the top but not even close to the worst. Lovie was beloved by the players but was never a good HC imo. He didn't adapt and his defenses were average more often than not. He had only 4 years where the defense was top 10 in ppg, and he has really never won anywhere consistently. He has a losing record in the pros and college and he couldn't help but have floundering offenses wherever he went. Lovie was good enough to beat bad teams but had like a .333 record vs winning teams. Hell he only had back to back winning seasons once in his entire career. That's a mediocre coach. That being said Dungy gets overrated too. Manning and Tom Moore were what led the Colts to be constant powerhouses each season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biggie. Posted March 10, 2023 Author Share Posted March 10, 2023 I think there's a lot of revisionist history when it comes to Dungy; they didn't become consistent winners that were a lock to reach the playoffs until he was hired. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugashane Posted March 10, 2023 Share Posted March 10, 2023 7 hours ago, biggie. said: I think there's a lot of revisionist history when it comes to Dungy; they didn't become consistent winners that were a lock to reach the playoffs until he was hired. Idk. Mora had went to the playoffs with Manning two straight years then the defense was one of the worst in the league. While the defense seemed to bounce back and froth from elite to mid they had a top 5 scoring offense for 5 straight years and was 17th and 13th his only 2 other years. His defense ( and them being healthy) is a massive reason for the Super Bowl and I won't disregard that, but just having an average defense with a top 5 scoring offense almost makes you a lock of the playoffs year in and year out. I don't believe Mora wins a ring in IND but making the playoffs was pretty much cake with prime Peyton. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TankWilliams Posted March 10, 2023 Share Posted March 10, 2023 8 hours ago, Sugashane said: Idk. Angelo put together a good group with guys like Harris, Forte, Briggs, Tillman, etc. Drafted Hester, signed Peppers, and so on. Sucked on offense mostly though. No way can be be in the bottom of all GMs of that decade. Nowhere near the top but not even close to the worst. Lovie was beloved by the players but was never a good HC imo. He didn't adapt and his defenses were average more often than not. He had only 4 years where the defense was top 10 in ppg, and he has really never won anywhere consistently. He has a losing record in the pros and college and he couldn't help but have floundering offenses wherever he went. Lovie was good enough to beat bad teams but had like a .333 record vs winning teams. Hell he only had back to back winning seasons once in his entire career. That's a mediocre coach. That being said Dungy gets overrated too. Manning and Tom Moore were what led the Colts to be constant powerhouses each season. After the '03 draft, what can you say Jerry Angelo did well? He hit on Hester, Greg Olsen, and Matt Forte. Look at drafts from '05 until he was fired and be prepared to cry. He hit on Briggs and Tillman in 03 and then he was no better than a monkey picking names from a hat after that point, occasionally you'll find someone but most of the time his drafts were embarrassing. He was one of the worst GMs because he was allowed to go on for so long riding on the coattails of a couple superstars, Urlacher first and foremost who wasn't even his pick. I will agree to disagree on Lovie. Lovie when he was with the Bears was 81-63, and never had a proper offense. So much of his career was Jay Cutler + a ballhawking defense and he still managed nearly 20 more wins than losses in his tenure. His career wasn't successful after he left Chicago, but if you also look at the situations he joined, I can't say many coaches would have walked in and had a ton more success. The Illini college football program has been a joke for decades, and you can't really look at this season in Houston or his two years in Tampa without noticing how little talent those teams had at the time. Tampa had Mike Glennon as a starter in '14 and rookie Jameis Winston and a pretty weak roster in '15. Not saying Lovie is a world beater, he certainly isn't some HOFer in waiting, nor will he/should he get another NFL HC chance, but he definitely turned quite a few bad Bears teams into teams that won more games than they should have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandyMossIsBoss Posted March 11, 2023 Share Posted March 11, 2023 (edited) edit- Since I bothered to write it I’m leaving this, but I totally disregarded OP’s actual question. “Factoring out game itself” KC offensive brain trust vs Eagles defensive brain trust has to be up there. Yes Mahomes is already a legend but he was throwing to wide open guys all night, and hardly ever pressured, against a D that had been very good. That was a coaching masterclass. Compare it to the other side of the ball, where Eagles had similar success but it was more about the talent mismatch than the coaching from my perspective. Edited March 11, 2023 by RandyMossIsBoss 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slappy Mc Posted March 11, 2023 Share Posted March 11, 2023 Tom Coughlin vs Bill Belichick Super Bowl XLII Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsoxsuck05 Posted March 13, 2023 Share Posted March 13, 2023 On 3/11/2023 at 3:07 PM, Slappy Mc said: Tom Coughlin vs Bill Belichick Super Bowl XLII Bill made the dumbest decision of that game when he passed up a make-able FG for a 4th and 13 end zone shot. Honestly it's hard to judge Coughlin as a coach because he was more of a classic CEO type that deferred to both of his coordinators. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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