Best coach of all time?

[Freomaniac]

No disrespect to all the past coaches. If you want to become The greatest coach of all time, Do something that is considered unthinkable/Impossible: Coach Fremantle to their very 1st AFL flag.

 

[Squibo]

As for the question itself, it depends on how you want to look at it. Do you simply want to look at flags won and % of wins, or do you take an alternative approach which factors in the teams and lists each coach had at his disposal and in the cases of those who actually won something building from a very minimal base. If so, do they instantly go ahead of multiple premiership winning coaches?

I'd probably have Norm Smith as #1 just edging out Allan Jeans. Both very successful coaches, 6 flags in 10 years for Norm and 4 over an extended period for Jeans at two clubs.

Norm was the driving force behind Melbourne's domination in the 50's and even in 1965 when he was inexplicably sacked (yes he was reinstated a week later but it's still perhaps the dumbest decision ever in AFL history), Melbourne had started strongly and looking like continuing their success of 1964. My other major reasoning for putting Norm at #1 is simply, look what's happened to the club since. Now I'm not one to believe in the 'Norm Smith Curse' as it's dubbed but for a club so strong both on and off the field to be dismantled in the space of a few years post Norm's sacking and take a further 20 odd until they would make the finals again shows how influential and important he was to the success of the club. Yes they lost Barassi to Carlton but they still had tons of potential to continue their dominance.

As for Jeans, well it's hard to argue against somebody who's lead St. Kilda to their one and only flag, taken an extended period out of coaching and returned to guide the monster that was Hawthorn in the 80's, winning 3 flags from 7 consecutive grand finals. 7 consecutive grand finals alone is an extraordinary feat regardless of how good Hawthorn were at the time. I've heard a handful of his speeches; a brilliant motivator and it's no wonder that he got the very best out of his players.

While I'd put those two a step above the rest, the great reality of these opinions is that there's probably a pool of around 20 coaches who you can make a solid case for. I'm actually curios to whether or not today's game (assistant coaches, medicos, fitness guys, etc) allows for a coach to considered as the sole driving factor behind a clubs sustained success and take his part in the elite club of coaches.

 

[Grongey]

Allan Jeans was a great coach, just ahead of Leigh Matthews.

 

[nick2397]

Adelaide -Graham Cornes

Brisbane -Leigh Matthews

Carlton - David Parkin

Collingwood - Jock McHale

Essendon - Kevin Sheedy

Fremantle - Ross Lyon

Geelong - Chris Scott

Chris Scott

Age

48

Ht

182cm

Wt

89kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

16.6

4star

K

11.2

4star

HB

5.4

4star

M

5.1

5star

T

1.6

4star

G

0.4

3star

No current season stats available

D

13.2

4star

K

10.2

4star

HB

3.0

3star

M

2.2

3star

T

2.8

5star

G

0.4

3star

Gold Coast - Damien Hardwick

Greater Western Sydney -Leon Cameron

Leon Cameron

Age

52

Ht

185cm

Wt

82kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

17.2

4star

K

12.4

5star

HB

4.7

3star

M

3.6

4star

T

0.9

3star

No current season stats available

D

20.8

5star

K

14.4

5star

HB

6.4

4star

M

3.6

4star

T

0.8

3star

Hawthorn - John Kennedy Snr

Melbourne - Norm Smith

North Melbourne - Denis Pagan

Port Adelaide - Mark "Choco" Williams

Richmond - Tom Hafey

St. Kilda - Allan Jeans

Sydney - Jack Bisset (South Melbourne in the 1930s)

West Coast - Mick Malthouse

Western Bulldogs - Rodney Eade