5 worst coaches to win the Super Bowl
By John Buhler
Baltimore Ravens. Super Bowl XXXV. Brian Billick. 3. player. 26.
The 2000 Baltimore Ravens won its first Super Bowl with one of the NFL’s all-time great defenses, crushing the New York Giants in Tampa, Florida in Super Bowl XXXV. Though he had a successful nine-year tenure as the head coach of the Ravens (1999-07), Brian Billick had a lot of help in being able to win his only Super Bowl as a head coach.
Besides its absolutely loaded roster on the defensive side of the ball, Billick had many future NFL head coaches on his staff with that 2000 Ravens team. Marvin Lewis went on to coach the Cincinnati Bengals, Rex Ryan would go on to coach the New York Jets and the Buffalo Bills, and Billick’s brother-in-law Mike Smith would lead the Atlanta Falcons.
Billick’s coaching tree is arguably more impressive than what he did in his nine years in Baltimore. While Billick’s 2000 Ravens team won Super Bowl XXXV over the Giants, he was only 80-64 during the regular season (55.6% winning percentage) and 5-3 in the NFL Playoffs (62.5%). Combining both seasons, Billick went 85-67 as a head coach for the Ravens, winning 55.9% of their games.
Since current head coach John Harbaugh has already won a Super Bowl and gotten the Ravens to more AFC Playoff berths than did Billick, Harbaugh will surpass Billick as the greatest head coach in franchise history in 2016, if he hasn’t already. Billick was an average coach if it weren’t for the 2000 Ravens who went 12-4 en route to a Super Bowl XXXV victory over the Giants.
Next: 2. Gary Kubiak, Denver Broncos, Super Bowl 50