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There are 26 men who have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as head coaches. There are two other current coaches — Bill Belichick and Andy Reid — who are certain to join them.
Some started winning as soon as they put whistles around their necks: George Halas went 10-1-2 as a 25-year-old rookie coach in 1920. Paul Brown was 12-2 with the 1946 Browns in the old AAFC. John Madden was 32 when he took over the Raiders in 1969, and he promptly went 12-1-1 with them.
Twelve had losing records in their first year. And not just so-so under-.500 records, either, but the kind of lopsided losing marks that take years to overcome in a league in which they used to play as few as 12 games in a year and still play just 17.
This isn’t to say Jets head coach Robert Saleh — 4-13 in his first season — is bound for a bust at Canton. If you take a look at the vast expanse of NFL history, and the men who have coached the various franchises since 1920, there is something that stands out significantly:
There have been far more bad coaches than good coaches. There have been way, way more forgettable coaches than immortal ones.
But even some the very best had to scuffle. Almost all had perfectly good reasons for being so bad: expansion teams, or teams with expansion-level talent. Not every coach is George Seifert, gifted a Super Bowl-caliber team by Bill Walsh; or Matt LaFleur, Aaron Rodgers lottery-ticket holder.
Here are the first-time Hall of Famers (or future Hall of Famers) with the very worst debuts. Maybe some of these names can give Saleh solace. You really never know.
12. Tom Landry, 1960 Dallas Cowboys, 0-11-1 (.000)
The Cowboys were an expansion team, but did manage to tie Landry’s old team, the Giants, 31-31, the next-to last week of the year. It took seven seasons, but by 1966 the Cowboys were winners, losing back-to-back NFL title games to Vince Lombardi’s Packers.
11. Jimmy Johnson, 1989 Dallas Cowboys, 1-15 (.063)
After Year 1, the Johnson-Jerry Jones combo was nearly laughed out of the NFL. By Year 5, they had won back-to-back Super Bowl championships.
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10. Chuck Noll, 1969 Pittsburgh Steelers, 1-13 (.071)
Noll won his first game, 16-13 over the Lions, then lost his next 16 and 30 of his first 42. But the losing yielded one epic draft pick after another. By 1980, he had four rings.
9. Bill Walsh, 1979 San Francisco 49ers, 2-14 (.125)
Walsh’s first team featured a washed-up running back named O.J. Simpson — but also a rookie backup QB named Joe Montana. Within two years, the magic had begun.
8. Greasy Neale, 1941 Philadelphia Eagles, 2-8-1 (.200)
Joe Judge could have used Neale, who went 2-9 in his second season, as a guide. Despite Neale’s 4-17-1 start, by decade’s end the Eagles had won two NFL titles. If that epilogue happens for Judge, it’ll be in a different city.
7. Bill Parcells, 1983 Giants, 3-12-1 (.219)
Whenever John Mara takes a deep breath before firing a coach, he surely remembers how close George Young came to whacking Parcells after his first year and bringing in Howard Schnellenberger — a sliding-doors moment that only would’ve altered 40 years of Giants history.
6. Weeb Ewbank, 1954 Baltimore Colts, 3-9 (.250)
Ewbank was a Paul Brown protégé who spent three years rebuilding the roster. He hit a winning Powerball ticket in 1956 when John Unitas — cut a year earlier by the Steelers — came calling. The Colts won back-to-back in 1958 and ’59. Nine years later, Ewbank won Super Bowl III with the Jets.
5. Marv Levy, 1978 Kansas City Chiefs, 4-12 (.250)
Levy might’ve been just as good a coach in Kansas City as he was in Buffalo, but coaching a stable of Hall of Famers with the Bills helped steer him to four Super Bowls.
4. Bud Grant, 1967 Minnesota Vikings, 3-8-3 (.273)
After Grant’s first-year baptism, the Vikes went 11 straight years without a losing record under him, and the Purple People Eaters made four Super Bowls.
3. Andy Reid, 1999 Eagles, 5-11 (.313)
Reid’s learning curve lasted those 16 games. In 23 years as a head coach, he’s had a losing record in only three seasons, none since arriving in Kansas City in 2013.
2. Tony Dungy, 1996 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 6-10 (.375)
Dungy’s first season was also the only losing season he endured in 13 years of bringing the Bucs to the brink and the Colts over the top.
1. Bill Belichick, 1991 Cleveland Browns, 6-10 (.375)
Belichick is such a symbol of relentless success now that it always seems imperative to remember that four games into his tenure in New England, his record was 36-48. Things got better from there.
Vac’s Whacks
At a time in my life when I thought my sports heroes were also genuine superheroes, Clark Gillies was larger than life. Much later, I got to know him a little and was happy to know my instinct as an 8-year-old was right on. He was everything we want our idols to be. Godspeed to him. And thanks for so many wonderful memories.
It isn’t possible to enjoy a book more than I enjoyed “The Rise,” a wonderfully written tale of Kobe Bryant’s origin told beautifully by Mike Sielski.
Our man Jay Horwitz points out that Gil Hodges is on something of a Hall of Fame hot streak. Last August, he was inducted into the New York State Baseball Hall of Fame, and in May he’ll go into Indiana’s. And then, of course, July 22 he’ll finally take his rightful place in Cooperstown.
Everyone has 3-4 songs that become essential to the soundtrack of their lives, and I don’t know many from my generation for whom “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” wasn’t high on that list. Thank you, Meat Loaf. Holy cow, I think he’s gonna make it …
Whack Back at Vac
Robert Lewis: I’ve read and heard nothing but good things about the new Giants GM. Hopefully he can turn it around. The concern is what will happen if he doesn’t agree with the approach and evaluations of talent of the Mara and Tisch family members who participate in running the football operation? Are Mara and Tisch going to have his back?
Vac: Whatever else you want to say about the way they run their football team, John Mara and Steve Tisch are honorable men. If they say it’s the GM’s show, I believe them.
Dennis Zielinski: Unless one was to vote for PED guys, I don’t think I have ever seen a more undeserving bunch of candidates. The often-used Hall of the Very Good is truly on point.
Vac: One of the many very real problems with the steroid issue is that the five men who in a vacuum would be no-doubt shoo-ins — Bonds, Clemens, Sosa, Manny, A-Rod — are anything but shoo-ins.
@NYRfan46: Six mostly terrible games over wild card weekend just shows how terrible expanded college playoffs would be.
@MikeVacc: Would there be mismatches? Of course. There are now in the four-team format. But should that exclude all teams who win FBS conferences from at least having a shot at the brass ring? I still say no.
Richard Siegelman: I sure hope good guy Rafael Nadal wins the Australian Open so that nasty Novak Djokovic is no longer tied for most majors won at 20. And I hope Roger Federer eventually drops Novak down to third. Even if Djokovic reluctantly gets vaccinated, it can’t erase his previous irresponsibility and lying about his vaccination status.
Vac: Every time you weaken and start to think, “Maybe he isn’t so bad …”
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