Who are the greatest QB/Head Coach combinations in NFL history?
A look at the conference championship games this weekend reveals that all four of the teams involved have top-flight quarterbacks and coaches.
There are many factors that go into winning pro football games and championships. However, it’s rare that teams can win consistently without a coach and a quarterback who are on the same page and form a brilliant partnership.
That’s been a given for the last six decades. In this piece, we look at the 10 best QB-coach combinations of all-time.
10. Fran Tarkenton and Bud Grant, Minnesota Vikings
There was a time that the Vikings were one of the most feared franchises in the NFL. They had a brutal defense and they dominated opponents in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Fran Tarkenton was a game-changing quarterback who confounded opponents with his ability to run, and he also had an exceptional arm. Tarkenton started his career as a rookie quarterback with the expansion Vikings under head coach Norm Van Brocklin, and the Dutchman hated Tarkenton’s tendency to run out of the pocket and play the position in an unconventional manner.
However, Tarkenton and Bud Grant had no such issues. When the Vikings reacquired Tarkenton in 1972, the stoic Viking coach encouraged Tarkenton to keep plays alive with his feet and then fire the ball downfield. Tarkenton threw for 47,003 career yards and 342 touchdowns during his career, and he led the Vikings to three Super Bowl appearances with Grant as head coach.
While the Vikings lost those Super Bowls – as well as a previous Super Bowl with Joe Kapp at quarterback – the Tarkenton-Grant combination was prolific and often spectacular.
Next: One great 49ers duo
9. Steve Young and Bill Walsh, San Francisco
Bill Walsh may have been the greatest offensive mind the game has ever known. He is undoubtedly one of the greatest teachers of the game and he was especially proficient at working with quarterbacks.
Young served a long apprenticeship before becoming one of the greatest quarterbacks the game has ever known. He started his career with the Los Angeles Express of the United States Football League, and when that league dissolved, he moved on to the Tampa Bay Bucs.
Young floundered in Tampa, but Walsh saw a potentially brilliant quarterback who could take over for Joe Montana at the appropriate time. Young took over during the 1991 season and he became one of the most accurate passers in NFL history. Walsh was able to harness Young’s talent and he helped turn him into a Hall of Famer.
While Young’s only Super Bowl would come with George Seifert as the 49ers’ head coach, he developed into one of the game’s greatest passers with Walsh mentoring him.
Next: The gunslinger and QB guru
8. Brett Favre and Mike Holmgren, Green Bay
Brett Favre was an unknown commodity when the Atlanta Falcons drafted him in 1991 out of Southern Mississippi and he was quite a raw prospect when the Green Bay Packers traded for him a year later.
However, there was no doubt about his physical talent. He was an excellent athlete with over-the-top arm strength and a quick release. Green Bay head coach Mike Holmgren knew that Favre needed development, and he had to learn how to read defenses and execute efficiently.
It was a huge task for Holmgren, because Favre’s execution in practice was not stellar. However, he often showed in games that he understood the offense and had the ability to execute it. Favre would go on to become one of the most prolific quarterbacks the game has ever known, and he would lead the Packers to a Super Bowl triumph following the 1996 season.
Favre and Holmgren would have been successful without each other, but together they were often devastating and helped return the Packers to glory.
Next: Two Green Bay legends
7. Bart Starr and Vince Lombardi, Green Bay
The numbers that Bart Starr put up during the 1960s don’t compare with quarterbacks from the last two decades.
Quarterbacks simply did not throw the ball as much and offensive concepts were not as well developed as they are now. However, Starr was the game’s pre-eminent leader during the 1960s and Vince Lombardi was the greatest coach in the history of the game.
Starr won Lombardi’s respect by standing up to him, and the duo became a nearly unbeatable combination. The Packers won five championships during the 1960s, including the first two Super Bowls.
Starr scored the winning touchdown in the famed Ice Bowl vs. the Dallas Cowboys in 1967, and his ability to throw the ball accurately and make big plays when it mattered most earned him a spot in the Hall of Fame as the quarterback of one of the greatest dynasties the game has ever known.
Next: Peyton's (Indy) Place
6. Peyton Manning and Tony Dungy, Indianapolis
Forget about the last six weeks of the current season when Manning struggled with velocity, accuracy and his decision-making with the Denver Broncos.
He is one of the greatest quarterbacks of all-time and the all-time leader in career touchdown passes and many other important statistical categories. He won his only Super Bowl following the 2006 season with Tony Dungy as his head coach.
While Manning was clearly the leader of the Colts offense – he did get quite a bit of help from offensive coordinator Tom Moore – Dungy deserves credit for letting his quarterback have the freedom he needed to turn the Colts into one of the game’s most explosive offenses.
5. Roger Staubach and Tom Landry, Dallas
The Dallas Cowboys came into their own when Roger Staubach took over at quarterback. He emerged from a battle with Craig Morton to take over the starting position, and while the two were close in terms of physical ability, Staubach had remarkable leadership qualities.
Tom Landry gave Staubach a brilliant and complex offense to run, and he did it expertly. The Cowboys were one of the league’s best teams during the late 1960s and early 1970s, but they had the reputation of a team that could not win the big game.
That changed when Staubach led the Cowboys to a 24-3 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl VI. Staubach and Landry would add a second Super Bowl title when they defeated the Denver Broncos 27-10 in Super Bowl XII.
Next: One of the greatest without a Super Bowl
4. Dan Marino and Don Shula, Miami
Everybody knows that Dan Marino never led the Dolphins to a Super Bowl title, and they lost their only appearance in the big game when they dropped a 38-16 decision to the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XIX.
However, Marino is at the top of nearly every scout’s list when it comes to arm strength and quick release. He was a remarkable talent who threw for 5,084 yards and 48 touchdown in 1984, and he led the NFL in passing yards five times during his career.
Shula was viewed as a conservative coach who loved the running game throughout the majority of his brilliant career, but he coached to the talent he had on hand. When he got his hands on Marino, he took advantage of the quarterback’s great talent and opened up the Miami offense.
Shula deserves credit for giving Marino freedom and not imposing his will and desire to run the football impede the quarterback.
Next: Broncos Past and Present
3. John Elway and Mike Shanahan, Denver
John Elway had been considered one of the greatest talents the game had ever seen from the time he was drafted in 1983. He carried the Denver Broncos on his shoulders, and he made his reputation when he led them on “The Drive” in the 1986 AFC Championship game in Cleveland.
That 98-yard fourth-quarter drive allowed the Broncos to tie the game and send it to overtime, and the Broncos won the game in the extra session. However, the Broncos lost three Super Bowls to the New York Giants, Washington Redskins and San Francisco 49ers, and Elway grew increasingly frustrated with Dan Reeves as his head coach.
Eventually, Reeves and the Broncos parted company, and Elway urged San Francisco offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan to take the job. Shanahan agreed, and the Broncos went on to win back-to-back Super Bowls over the Green Bay Packers and Atlanta Falcons.
Elway called it a career after the win over the Falcons, and his ability to close his career with two Super Bowl triumphs helped him become one of the game’s most legendary figures.
Next: Looking to add to the resume
2. Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, New England
Tom Brady was a sixth-round draft choice out of Michigan, and he appeared to have a future with the New England Patriots as Drew Bledsoe’s backup.
However, when Bledsoe was injured in the 2001 season, Brady got his chance to take over as the Patriots’ starting quarterback. Brady had studied his lessons well in the preceding year and a half, and he led the Patriots to an 11-3 record the rest of the season and a Super Bowl triumph over the St. Louis Rams.
Brady was a student of the game, and Bill Belichick helped the quarterback earn his Masters and Doctorate in New England. The Patriots would win two more Super Bowls and make four more appearances.
Brady’s accuracy, ability to read defenses and decision-making skills have made him one of the greatest quarterbacks, while Belichick is perhaps the greatest strategist ever and the second-best coach behind Lombardi.
Next: The greatest of all-time
1. Joe Montana and Bill Walsh, San Francisco
The 49ers were a mediocre organization before Bill Walsh was named head coach in 1979. That was also the same year they drafted Joe Montana out of Notre Dame in the third round.
There was nothing spectacular about their partnership early, as the Niners went 2-14 that season and Montana spent most of that season on the bench.
However, by 1981, Walsh had developed the Niners into an emerging team and Montana became one of the game’s top quarterbacks. They went 13-3 and the Niners won their first Super Bowl as they defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 26-21 in Super Bowl XVI.
Montana and Walsh would win two more Super Bowls together, and their partnership was simply astounding. When the 49ers needed a big play, Walsh would come up with it and Montana would execute it.
Montana would win one more Super Bowl with George Seifert as his head coach, but he developed into the game’s greatest quarterback under Walsh and helped turned the 49ers into one of the greatest NFL franchises ever.