You have to be pretty smart to be an NFL head coach. The book smarts/IQ points are a plus. Management skills are imperative. Creating discipline and motivation is essential, but so is the ability to relate to players and (gulp!) the fans and media. The ability to evaluate talent and recruit players is a must.
A head coach also has to be smart enough to know he is not getting into this end of the business to be “average”… The expectation of winning and winning big defines his goal (and his job security) when all is said and done.
I was thinking about how we all have watched Andy Reid grow as a head coach of the Eagles (okay, no fat guy jokes, please) since he came here in 1999 after assisting Mike Holmgren at Green Bay. To demonstrate how quirky my brain has been acting lately, I heard an old song by Bobby Goldsboro (whom I never liked much) called “Watching Scotty Grow” as I was randomly surfing the radio dial yesterday. This song interrupted my reverie on why I am not smart enough to understand the difference between centrifugal force and centripetal force. I then free-associated to the other Bobby Goldsboro song, you know, the one where he plants the tree when his wife “Honey” dies… (“..See the tree, how big it’s grown, etc.”)…Suddenly I was back on football—“See Andy’s Tree, how big it’s grown…”
Andy Reid has built one impressive coaching tree.
Reid has been the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles since 1999 and is currently the longest tenured coach in the NFL. During that time, several of his former assistants have gone on to become head coaches themselves.
Cleveland Browns coach Pat Shurmur, Carolina’s Ron Rivera, Minnesota’s Leslie Frazier, St. Louis’ Steve Spagnuolo and Baltimore’s John Harbaugh all worked under Reid at some point in Philadelphia. Former Vikings head coach Brad Childress was also a Reid assistant in Philadelphia.
For Shurmur, who spent two seasons as the offensive coordinator for the Rams under Spagnuolo, the relationship with Reid goes back to Reid’s time in Green Bay. Reid was an assistant for former Packers coach Mike Holmgren, who had as his defensive coordinator Fritz Shurmur — Pat’s uncle.
“I’m very fond of those days,” Pat Shurmur said. “I used to go to Green Bay and stay with my uncle Fritz and aunt Peggy. I would go into the office with him. We’d go in early and work out and I’d hang around. As a tight ends coach at Michigan State, that was my first interaction with Andy Reid, who was the (Packers) tight ends coach. Andy is a very smart guy. I was trying to learn from him to be a better coach and then, obviously the interaction with Mike Holmgren and all the guys from that family of coaches. I’m very fond of those days and think of them often.”
Of course it all starts with Bill Walsh when you get into the history of the Andy Tree.
Bill Walsh coined the term West Coast Offense in Cincinnati, which he took with him to San Francisco. Though the offense itself has helped to win championships, he has also spawned a generation of coaches that might not run the same offense, but who share similar philosophies. The Bill Walsh Coaching Tree demonstrates Walsh’s continuing influence in the modern NFL. The tree’s roots start with coaches who worked directly under Walsh as assistants. These coaches include Mike Holmgren, Dennis Green, Sam Wyche, George Siefert, Jim Fassel and Paul Hackett. Others who worked for these coaches can say that they trace their lineage back to Walsh. What is important to point out is that almost all members of the main branch are offensive coaches.
The coaches from the main branch have almost all been successful and notable coaches. This includes either Superbowl wins (Holmgren and Seifert) or Superbowl appearances (Wyche, Fassel). Dennis Green did not lead a team to the Superbowl, but he did take the Minnesota Viking to the NFC Championship in 1998 with a 15-1 regular season record.
The next level, or branch, of the coaching tree, also includes mostly offensive coaches. They are not all as notable as the first branch of coaches, but they do include Superbowl winning coaches Mike Shanahan and Tony Dungy. Dungy, a defensive coach, spawned defensive head coaches, such as Lovie Smith and Rod Marinelli and Mike Tomlin.
Other coaches within the same branch of the Bill Walsh Coaching Tree include Ray Rhodes, Andy Reid, Steve Mariucci, Mike McCarthy, Mike Tice, Jon Gruden, Jeff Fisher and Brian Billick. Gruden and Billick both won Superbowls for their franchise, while Reid and Fischer have both made Superbowl appearances. Fisher is the only coach not to have an offensive background.
The lowest branch of the tree includes some successful coaches, such as Superbowl-winning coach Mike Tomlin, but it also includes some who had only short tenures as head coaches. These include Bruce Coslet (Jets) and Mike Mularkey (Bills). Also, it is almost the only branch of the tree where more than one defensive coach is represented.
The most significant point seems to be the philosophical views that have been spread broadly throughout the league. A common trait among most of these coaches is their conservative approach to the game, which helps during the regular season, but can hurt in the playoffs. Jack Del Rio is the only coach known for risk-taking, which can also be hit or miss. In the end, success among these coaches still seems to be tied to the West Coast Offense.
Bah…this old graphic turned out too small…
Seems to me from what I can make out, you can add Ron Rivera, Pat Shurmur, Leslie Frazier, Steve Spagnuolo and John Harbaugh…from Billick and Harbaugh you now have Rex Ryan… from Ray Rhodes you could have Sean Payton… and wasn’t Mike Smith of Atlanta under Jack Del Rio?
If I missed any guys in Andy’s Tree or Walsh’s, please let me know. I’m not that smart and could use the help.
UPDATE– To the Rescue!!!! This graphic on loan from the SBNation Gallery shows the origin of Andy’s side of the Bill Walsh Tree a lot better:
it’s a bit dated, but it gives you a better picture of the Holmgren fraternity of smart guys of which Andy is a member and a mentor…
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
