5 worst coaches to win the Super Bowl
By John Buhler
. Baltimore Colts. Super Bowl V. Don McCafferty. 1. player. 46
Don McCafferty is easily the most forgotten Super Bowl winning head coach, as his 1970 Baltimore Colts went on to beat the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl V in Miami, the first season the Colts were in the AFC because of the AFL/NFL merger.
Many would just assume that Don Shula was still in Baltimore, as he was the head coach of the Colts in their Super Bowl III loss to the New York Jets. However, Shula went to Miami and this was McCafferty’s team. Actually it was still Johnny Unitas’ team who led the Colts to their first Super Bowl in franchise history.
McCafferty wasn’t a head coach for very long in the NFL, as he was only an NFL head coach for four seasons. He stayed with the Colts through the 1972 season before taking over for the 1973 Detroit Lions. He unfortunately suffered a fatal heart attack while cutting the grass before the start of the 1974 NFL season. McCafferty was only 53 years old.
As an NFL head coach, McCafferty’s teams went a combined 28-17-2 (.617 winning percentage). While he was 4-1 in the postseason, one has to wonder what could have been had McCafferty had been able to coach the Lions for more than just one NFL season. Maybe they would have made it to a Super Bowl by now?