National Football League

Hall of Fame-caliber coaches are at an all-time low

Published Oct. 20, 2016 4:48 p.m. ET

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Everyone is searching for reasons as to why the on-field NFL product appears to be slipping.

The practice restrictions in the 2011 collective bargaining agreement certainly have something to do with it. At the end of the last decade, Don Shula used to have three-a-day padded training camp practices with full tackling in the South Florida heat. Now the average is probably one session with thudding every other day. The CBA also helped to eliminate many veteran players from rosters and replaced them with younger and cheaper versions. Some think the quarterbacks aren't good enough today, although I disagree with that theory. And don't forget that the college game has changed as well with practice restrictions, and the best players are leaving from school early. That certainly doesn't help.

But if I were to pinpoint one reason why the game just doesn't seem to be as good and compelling as it used to be, I would point to the headsets. We are in the midst of a brain drain, if you will, among NFL head coaches and it's difficult to see that improving.

Consider this: In 1985, you had six future Hall of Fame coaches roaming the sidelines and doing battle (Don Shula, Tom Landry, Chuck Noll, Bill Walsh, Joe Gibbs, Bill Parcells). Thirty-one years later, you have one: Bill Belichick. Maybe you could make the argument for Pete Carroll, but how many others?

Let's even take a take step further by looking at good coaches who could hold their own with the best in their era. Certainly it's a subjective list, but I came up with 10 additional good coaches in 1985. Some were no-brainers (Chuck Knox, Bud Grant, Bum Phillips, Tom Flores, Dan Reeves, Don Coryell), while others could be argued (Raymond Berry, Mike Ditka, Sam Wyche, John Robinson). That's a total of 16 good-to-great coaches in the then 28-team league, or 57 percent. Kids today don't understand that those of us who grew up in the 1980s used to tune into NFL games because of the coaching matchups. Just in the NFC East alone, you couldn't wait to watch Landry, Gibbs and Parcells match wits, and cross-divisional matchups that mixed in Walsh, Shula and Noll were a treat. Even watching a Wyche, Knox, Flores, Coryell or Reeves team (to name a few) was going to be worth your time because they were creative and/or well coached.

Flash forward to today and there's only one coaching matchup that would cause you to stop everything and watch, Belichick vs. Carroll. That's it. (Although Carroll vs. Bruce Arians this Sunday night isn't bad at all). The list of remaining good coaches today is definitely a point of contention considering that Andy Reid has never won a Super Bowl, Gary Kubiak was mediocre with the Texans, some Packers fans ask for Mike McCarthy's firing on a weekly basis, and Mike Tomlin's in-game strategies can be picked apart (sorry, Peter King). But my list for good coaches, with a chance to be discussed for Canton, would be: Carroll, John Harbaugh, Reid, McCarthy, Mike Zimmer, Kubiak, Sean Payton, Arians and Tomlin.

Arians and Zimmer haven't even reached a Super Bowl yet, Kubiak has won one, and Payton could be looking at his third straight losing season (would be fifth .500 or worse season in past 10), so we're stretching to get a total of 10 good-to-great coaches in 2016 after a definite contender (Tom Coughlin) was let go after last season. That's stretching to get to 31.3 percent of the league is adequately coached.

Gary Kubiak

You also could make the argument that the best coaches after Belichick aren't even in the NFL, be it Nick Saban and Jim Harbaugh in the college ranks, or Bill Cowher and Jon Gruden in the television booth.

That's a significant drop off even from a decade ago, when Belichick and Hall of Famers like Gibbs, Parcells and Tony Dungy had significant competition from Marty Schottenheimer, Mike Shanahan, Cowher, Mike Holmgren, Dick Vermeil, Dennis Green, Gruden, Brian Billick, Reid and Saban. Nearly half the league (46.9%) had at least good coaching in 2005.

Apply the same rationale to quarterbacks. Tom Brady is definitely in, Drew Brees is nearly a sure thing, and Ben Roethlisberger, Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson have at least a good shot if they stay on their current career trajectories. Philip Rivers, Andrew Luck, Eli Manning and Cam Newton look like they'll at least be discussed.

It's not a passer problem, it's a coaching issue, and the future doesn't look a lot brighter.

In a decade, the good coaching ranks have slipped from 46.9% of the league to 31.3%. Considering that Belichick, Reid, Zimmer, Carroll and Arians are either in their 60s or close to it, the ranks are threatening to dwindle even more. Forget about replenishing the number of good coaches; who is going to step up and at least be adequate to replace those that leave?

Maybe Rex Ryan, Dan Quinn, Jason Garrett or Bill O'Brien takes the next step. It's certainly possible that hotshot coordinators like Teryl Austin, Kyle Shanahan, Frank Reich and Sean McDermott will bring new bloodonce ready for their shot. Perhaps retreads like Josh McDaniels, Eric Mangini, Jim Schwartz and Scott Linehan will be better the second time around, if given the chance. Maybe Saban, Harbaugh, Jim Mora Jr. and David Shaw jump back to the pros from college. Or maybe Gruden, Cowher and Shanahan decide to give it one more shot.

It could happen a number of different ways, but the bottom line is the NFL needs an infusion of good thinkers that can at least approach holding their own with the likes of Belichick. Not too long ago fans would tune in specifically for the coaching matchups, a meeting of the minds. With the current brain drain, fans are more likely to tune out due to the poor coaching.

Bring on the brains. Please.

DOWN THE COACHING DRAIN

This article originally appeared on SI.com.

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