CBS: NFL's 20 greatest coach-quarterback duos: Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes looking to join list

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By Bryan DeArdo
Jul 10, 2020 at 12:50 pm ET
21 min read

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Earlier this month, Patrick Mahomes signed a 10-year extension that will keep him in Kansas City through the 2031 season. With his quarterback secured for the longterm, Chiefs coach Andy Reid did not rule out coaching for the duration of Mahomes' contract. That's great news for Chiefs fans but not so great news for opposing NFL defenses that will have to face against Kansas City's dynamic duo in the years to come.

If what they did during the past two seasons is any indication of what's to come, Reid and Mahomes appear destined to eventually be on the Mount Rushmore of the greatest coach/quarterback duos in NFL history. The league has had a slew of great coach/quarterback pairings over the years, partnerships that have helped shape dynasties while changing the way the game is played today.

Given Reid's desire to coach well into the 2020s (at least), we decided to take a look at the greatest coach/quarterback duos in NFL history, a list that Reid and Mahomes will surely join sometime in the near future.

Here is the criteria used to make this list:

Championships won together
Other notable achievements/accolades won during their time together
Number of years spent working with one another
The level of impact each coach/quarterback had on the other's career
Their combined legacy within the NFL
Where does your favorite coach/quarterback duo rank on the all-time list? Let's find out.

20. Tom Coughlin/Eli Manning
Championships won together: 2
Greatest moment: Super Bowl XLII
While they had more non-playoff seasons than playoff seasons together, Coughlin and Manning helped orchestrate two of the most improbable postseason runs in NFL history. In 2007, the Giants upset the Cowboys and Packers in the playoffs before shocking the previously undefeated Patriots in Super Bowl XLII. Four years later, Manning helped lead the Giants back to the Super Bowl, where they again upset the Patriots in dramatic fashion.

A two-time Super Bowl MVP, each of Manning's five Pro Bowl seasons came under Coughlin, who served as Manning's coach during his first 12 seasons with the Giants. During that span, the Giants won 102 games despite playing in one of the NFL's most competitive divisions.

19. Tom Flores/Jim Plunkett
Championships won together: 2
Greatest moment: Super Bowl XV
Flores, the first Latino quarterback in NFL history, got the most out of Plunkett, the first Latino player to win the Heisman Trophy and, to this day, the only Latino player selected No. 1 overall in the NFL draft. After failing to live up to expectations in New England, Plunkett thrived with the Raiders after taking over as the team's starting quarterback in 1980. During their first four seasons together, the duo helped lead the Raiders to two Super Bowl victories. Plunkett earned MVP honors in Super Bowl XV, throwing for 261 yards and three touchdowns in Oakland's 27-10 win over the Eagles. Plunkett became the first Latino player to win Super Bowl MVP, while Flores became the first Latino coach to win the Super Bowl.

"As you look back, I think we're both proud of the fact that we came from, at that time, a minority group of people, who could take a lot of pride of what we accomplished," Plunkett said during an interview with NFL Films. "We're proud of the fact that we are Mexican American, where we came from, what we accomplished. And people can look up to that and strive to achieve for success in their own right, and that's all good."

18. Weeb Ewbank/Joe Namath
Championships won together: 1
Greatest moment: Super Bowl III
Despite being drafted by the NFL's Cardinals at No. 12 overall, Namath chose to play in the Jets after being the AFL team's No. 1 overall pick in the 1965 draft on the same day. Namath's decision proved to be the right one, earning a Pro Bowl selection during his rookie season. Two years later, Namath became the first player to throw for over 4,000 yards in a season. The following year, Namath helped lead the Jets past the Raiders in the AFL title game. New York's reward was a showdown with the heavily favored Jets in Super Bowl III. The game was personal for Ewbank, who won two titles with the Colts before Baltimore fired him after the 1962 season.

In Super Bowl III, Ewbank's coaching and Namath's mastery of the Jets' offense helped propel New York to a shocking 16-7 victory. Namath, who shortened his drop back in order to beat the Colts' formidable pass rush, completed 17 passes while not throwing an interception. He did not throw a single pass during the fourth quarter while instead choosing to hand the ball to Matt Snell, who pushed Baltimore's defense to the tune of 121 yards and a touchdown on 30 carries. The win not only gave the AFL much needed legitimacy, it helped turn the Super Bowl into the spectacle that it is today. It also punched Namath and Ewbank's eventual ticket to the Hall of Fame.

17. Don Coryell/Dan Fouts
Championships won together: 0
Greatest moment: 1981 divisional round
The Chargers literally caught lightning in a bottle in 1978, when the team hired offensive mastermind Don Coryell the same year the league made several rule changes that helped open things up for the quarterbacks. Coryell immediately took advantage of the new rules while allowing Dan Fouts (who won just 12 games during his first five years as the Chargers' quarterback) the freedom to throw the ball downfield at his leisure.

The result was one of the most explosive passing offenses the league has ever seen. From 1979-82, Fouts led the league in passing each season while leading the Chargers to a 39-18 regular season record. In the divisional round of the 1981 playoffs, Fouts threw for 433 yards and three touchdowns while helping the Chargers escape Miami with a 41-38 overtime win over the Dolphins. The following season, Fouts, the 1982 Offensive Player of the Year, led the Chargers to a thrilling come-from-behind win over the Steelers in the wild card round. The Chargers were never able to get to the Super Bowl, however, as San Diego lost consecutive AFC title games in 1980 and '81.

"We'll be judged base upon our failures but also upon our entrainment value and how people remember us," Fouts told NFL Films in a documentary on the '81 Chargers. "People remember the San Diego Chargers as a team that they enjoyed watching.

"All I care about is the fans. If they liked it, great. Some will be critical. Some will say, 'Ah, they never one the big one.' But you know what? We tried, and we had fun trying. We did leave our mark. We will not be forgotten."

16. Marv Levy/Jim Kelly
Championships won together: 0
Greatest moment: 1990 AFC Championship
They never won the big one, but Levy and Kelly are the only coach/quarterback duo in NFL history to appear in four consecutive Super Bowls. In their first of four AFC championship game victories, the Bills routed the Raiders, 51-3, behind a 300-yard passing performance by Kelly, who, along with his coach, has a bronze bust in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Kelly was the perfect quarterback to run Levy's fast-paced system, which was appropriately known as the "K-Gun" offense.

"Marv is such a great, great man," Kelly recently told USA Today. "When you talk about leadership, it starts at the top, but for us Marv Levy knew how to treat us. He knew how to massage our egos to a point where we knew that if we didn't come together as a team we were going to be just like any other team."

15. Hank Stram/Len Dawson
Championships won together: 3 (2 AFL, 1 Super Bowl)
Greatest moment: Super Bowl IV
Dawson toiled in Pittsburgh and Cleveland for a combined five years before joining the Dallas Texans in 1962. With Stram as his coach, Dawson earned All-Pro honors that season while guiding the Texans to an AFL title. Four years later, the duo of Stram and Dawson helped the Chiefs (the franchise changed names and cities in 1963) win another AFL title to earn the right to face the Packers in Super Bowl I. While the Chiefs came up short in that game, they made up for it three years later, with Dawson earning MVP honors in Kansas City's 23-7 win over the Vikings in Super Bowl IV, the final game played before the AFL-NFL merger.

Dawson put together a Hall of Fame career while playing for Stram, who has also earned a bronze bust in Canton. A seven-time Pro Bowler, Dawson led the league in completion percentage eight times and touchdown passes on four different occasions.

14. Mike Shanahan/John Elway
Championships won together: 2
Greatest moment: Super Bowl XXXIII
Elway had already put together a Hall of Fame career by the time Shanahan (who won a Super Bowl with the 49ers as Steve Young's offensive coordinator) came to Denver in 1995. But with Shanahan's help, Elway finally became a champion, as the Broncos won back-to-back Super Bowls during Elway's final two seasons. Elway, after playing second fiddle to Terrell Davis in Super Bowl XXXII, was unleashed by Shanahan during Super Bowl XXXIII, throwing for 336 yards and scoring two touchdowns in his final NFL game.

While Shanahan had a significant influence on Elway, Elway also made an influence on Shanahan. With the Broncos holding a slim lead over the Chiefs in the divisional round of the 1997 playoffs, Shanahan was debating whether or not to send out his offense on fourth and short. But after Elway told Shanahan to "beat Marty [Schottenheimer] at his own game," the Broncos punted, and eventually edged the Chiefs in route to the franchise's first Super Bowl win.

13. Tony Dungy/Peyton Manning
Championships won together: 1
Greatest moment: 2006 AFC Championship
While he was already performing at an All-Pro level, Manning's career went to another level after Dungy (following a successful run in Tampa Bay) arrived in Indianapolis in 2002. During their second season together, Manning led a dominant Colts offensive attack that did not punt one time during their divisional round playoff victory over the Chiefs. The following season, Manning broke Dan Marino's single season touchdown passes mark en route to winning his second consecutive MVP award.

Two years later, Manning and Dungy finally bested the Patriots (who had defeated the Colts in two of the previous three postseasons) in the 2006 AFC Championship Game. Two weeks later, the duo won their first and only Super Bowl together, as Manning took home the MVP trophy after the Colts defeated the Bears in Super Bowl XLI. Manning would go onto win his third MVP award in 2008, Dungy's final season as the Colts' head coach.

12. Weeb Ewbank/Johnny Unitas
Championships won: 2
Greatest moments: 1958 NFL Championship
Before becoming the first head coach to lead an NFL and an AFL team to championships, Ewbank spent 13 years as a high school head coach before getting his first NFL head coaching job in 1954. In 1956, the Colts acquired Johnny Unitas, who quickly developed into one of the greatest quarterbacks in league history. Faced off against the Giants in the 1958 NFL Championship Game, Unitas' 349 passing yards helped Baltimore defeat New York in the first overtime game in league history. The Colts again defeated the Giants in the following year's NFL title game, as Unitas threw for 264 yards and two scores in Baltimore's 31-16 victory.

During his seven seasons with Ewbank, Unitas was selected to six Pro Bowls while winning the first of his three league MVP awards in 1959. The two faced off against each other in Super Bowl III, with Ewbank's Jets coming out on top in the greatest upset in Super Bowl history.

11. Mike Holmgren/Brett Favre
Championships won together: 1
Greatest moment: Super Bowl XXXI
After serving as Joe Montana and Steve Young's offensive coordinator in San Francisco, Holmgren was tasked with molding the raw talents of Favre, who was traded from Atlanta to Green Bay before the 1992 season. While they certainly had their growing pains, Holmgren and Favre won a Super Bowl and two NFC titles during their seven seasons together. Favre, who scored three total touchdowns in Green Bay's win over New England in Super Bowl XXXI, won three consecutive league MVP awards from 1995-97. The two also grew an affinity for one another that was on display during Favre's jersey retirement ceremony.

"People think that we didn't get along very well and that I was probably too hard on him," Holmgren said. "And, at times, I was. But the reason I was was [that] I recognized how talented he was and what he could do. I wasn't right about everything, but I was right about that. And I knew it was my job to harness that energy a little bit, to teach him the offense and help him be a better player.

"I've had the privilege of coaching some great quarterbacks in my career, but I gotta tell you, he was like the son I never had."

10. John Madden/Ken Stalber
Championships won together: 1
Greatest moment: Super Bowl XI
With "The Snake" as his quarterback, Madden's Raiders appeared in five consecutive AFC championships games from 1973-77. In 1976, Oakland lost just one game en route to its first championship, a 32-14 win over the Vikings in Super Bowl XI. During that span, Stabler developed into one of the league's top players, earning four Pro Bowl selections while winning league MVP in 1974. While Stalber's athleticism and bravery in the pocket played a significant role in his success, the freedom he received from Madden truly allowed him and his teammates to reach their potential.

"He basically pitched the playbook to me and said, 'Go win,'" Stalber told NFL Films in 2006. "He made me a better player to have that responsibility. What comes out of your mouth is going to dictate a lot of success. You have the ability to take people from a two car garage to a three car garage from what you call in the huddle."

Together, the duo achieved immortality. Madden was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2006. Stalber, who died in 2015, posthumously joined him in Canton in 2016.

9. Jimmy Johnson/Troy Aikman
Championships won together: 2
Greatest moment: Super Bowl XXVII
Aikman's reaction to Johnson receiving his 2020 Hall of Fame induction news tells you everything you need to know about the impact Johnson had on Aikman's career. After choosing not to play for Johnson (twice) during his college years, Aikman was finally paired with the former University of Miami coach in 1989. After going winless as a rookie, Aikman would quickly blossom into one of the NFL's best passers, earning six consecutive Pro Bowl selections from 1991-96. Aikman's best two seasons (1992-93) were under Johnson, who left the Cowboys after leading Dallas to back-to-back Super Bowl wins.

After defeating the 49ers in the NFC title game, Johnson's Cowboys overwhelmed the Bills in Super Bowl XXVII. Johnson's team was spearheaded by Aikman, who threw for 273 yards and four touchdowns while completing 70% of his pass attempts. The following season, Aikman, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2006, led the NFL in completion percentage, as Dallas successfully defended its title.

8. Don Shula/Dan Marino
Championships won together: 0
Greatest moment: 1984 AFC Championship
While they weren't able to win a Super Bowl together, Shula and Marino enjoyed a highly successful partnership during their 13 seasons together. With Shula as his coach, Marino was selected to nine Pro Bowls and was named an All-Pro on three different occasions. In 1995 (Shula's last season as the Dolphins' coach), Marino passed Fran Tarkenton as the NFL's all-time career passing leader.

Their best season together took place in 1984. Marino, coming off a successful rookie season, won league MVP honors after throwing for then single season records 5,084 yards and 48 touchdowns. Facing his childhood team -- the Pittsburgh Steelers -- in the AFC Championship Game, Marino threw for 421 yards and four touchdowns in the Dolphins' 45-28 victory. Marino and Shula's careers have both been immortalized in the Hall of Fame.

7. Tom Landry/Roger Staubach
Championships won together: 2
Greatest moment: Super Bowl VI
Staubach didn't become a full-time starter until age 29, but quickly made up for lost time, leading Dallas to its first Super Bowl title at the end of his first season as the team's starting quarterback. Staubach, who won Super Bowl MVP honors in the Cowboys' 24-3 win over the Dolphins, thrived under Landry's revolutionary offensive system, which featured an array of pre-snap motions while operating primarily out of the shotgun, a first in professional football.

Landry may have been the unquestioned leader of the Cowboys, but he was willing to compromise as it related to his Staubach's desire to make plays with his feet. Landry's system, along with having the freedom to take advantage of some of his peerless athleticism, made Staubach arguably the greatest quarterback of his era.

"He put up with my running, and I learned a lot from him as far as my preparation and reading keys," Staubach said of Landry, via Sports Illustrated. "He was a master at keying the defense and looking at the weak safety. (He'd say) 'If the weak safety goes strong, throw to the other side.' We had these different keys all the time. So he really taught me a lot about preparation and reading defenses, and I taught him that quarterbacks can make first downs."

6. Paul Brown/Otto Graham
Championships won together: 7 (3 in the NFL, 4 in the AAFL)
Greatest moment: 1950 NFL Championship
After winning four consecutive AAFL titles, the Browns joined the NFL before the start of the 1950 season. Despite playing in a considerably tougher league, Cleveland continued to dominate the competition, going 10-2 during the regular season before edging out the Giants in the first round of the playoffs. Facing the Rams (who had lost the previous year's championship game) in the NFL title game, Graham threw for 298 yards and four touchdowns, as the Browns bested the Rams, 30-28. The Browns would lose the next three championship games before winning back-to-back titles in 1954 and '55.

During their six seasons together in the NFL, the duo of Brown and Graham posted an overall record of 61-13-1. Graham, a seven-time All-Pro, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1965. Brown, whose 213 wins is the sixth highest total in NFL history, was enshrined in 1967.

5. Vince Lombardi/Bart Starr
Championships won together: 5
Greatest moment: 1967 NFL Championship
The first coach/quarterback duo to win the Super Bowl, Lombardi and Starr won five championships together that included three straight from 1965-67. Starr claimed MVP honors in Green Bay's wins over Kansas City and Oakland in Super Bowls I and II, while the Packers' success in those games ultimately led to Super Bowl championship trophy being named in Lombardi's honor.

The duo's greatest moment came in the 1967 NFL title game, a game that is better known as the "Ice Bowl." Trailing 17-14 with less than five minutes remaining, Starr methodically moved the Packers 67 yards to the Cowboys' 1-yard-line with 16 seconds remaining. After using his final timeout to talk things over with Lombardi, Starr called "31 Wedge," a running play for running back Chuck Mercein. But instead of handing off, Starr decided to keep the ball on a quarterback sneak. Following Hall of Fame guard Jerry Kramer's blocking, Starr barreled his way over the goal line, giving the Packers a second consecutive championship game victory over Dallas.

While Starr had great admiration for Lombardi, his ability to confront his coach when defending his teammates endeared him to his teammates.

"Bart was the only player that I ever saw — and Bart doesn't like to talk about this — stand up in front of team and say [to Lombardi], 'Wait a minute, Coach. Don't be criticizing us about that because that's not true. Let's get it right,'" former Packers' offensive lineman Bill Curry said during a 2006 interview with NFL Films. "And Coach Lombardi would actually concede to him."

4. Chuck Noll/Terry Bradshaw
Championships won together: 4
Greatest moment: Super Bowl XIII
Noll, when asked years later about working with Bradshaw, defined it as "businesslike." Bradshaw, whose growing pains during his time in Pittsburgh are well documented, didn't always appreciate the way he was coached by Noll, who made a conscious effort not to get too close to his players. But while their relationship was complicated, the results are prolific, as the duo won four Super Bowls in a six-year span between 1974-79. Bradshaw, after being known more for his athleticism earlier in his career, developed into a extremely proficient passer during Pittsburgh's second run of Super Bowl wins during the '70s.

The league's MVP in 1978, Bradshaw cemented his legacy as a big game quarterback in Super Bowl XIII, when he threw for then Super Bowl records 318 yards and four touchdowns in Pittsburgh's 35-31 win over the Cowboys. He won his second consecutive Super Bowl MVP the following season, throwing a pair of second half touchdowns in the Steelers' come-from-behind win over the Rams in Super Bowl XIV. Four decades removed from his last Super Bowl win, Bradshaw has come to appreciate the way he was coached by Noll, who joined his quarterback in Canton three years after Bradshaw was inducted in 1989.

"There's a lot of unanswered questions as to our relationship," Bradshaw recently told NFL Films. "As a football coach, he was just incredible ... When I think about Chuck, he made me tough."

3. Sean Payton/Drew Brees
Championships won together: 1
Greatest moment: Super Bowl XLIV
As far as individual statistics are concerned, no quarterback has enjoyed as much success as Brees has had -- over an extended period of time -- with Payton. With Payton as his coach, Brees has become the NFL's all-time career leader in passing yards (77,416) and touchdown passes (547). Brees has won seven passing titles while also leading the league in touchdown passes on four different occasions. He has also led the league in completion percentage six times that includes each of the past three seasons.

The duo's greatest moment together took place in Super Bowl XLIV. While Payton made history by executing the earliest attempted onside kick in Super Bowl history, Brees out-dueled Peyton Manning, throwing for 288 yards and two scores while completing 82% of his passes in the Saints' 31-17 victory over the Colts.

2. Bill Walsh/Joe Montana
Championships won together: 3
Greatest moment: Super Bowl XXIII
The perfect coach/quarterback duo, Montana executed Walsh's West Coast Offense to near perfection during the 1980s. Fittingly, the 49ers' dynasty began with Montana capping off an 89-yard drive with his game-winning pass to Dwight Clark in the 1981 NFC title game. Thee years later, Walsh's offense put on a clinic in Super Bowl XIX, with Montana passing for a then Super Bowl record 333 yards. He also rushed for 59 yards while leading the 49ers to a 38-16 win over the Dolphins.

With the 49ers trailing 16-13 late in Super Bowl XXIII, Montana again ran Walsh's offense to perfection, as he moved San Francisco's offense 92 games for the game-winning score. Montana's 10-yard touchdown pass to John Taylor -- on a play that was titled "20 halfback curl X up" -- was the final play call of Walsh's NFL career. Walsh received his gold jacket in 1993, while Montana followed suit in 2000.

"He was just a great coach, a great man and a great person," Montana recently said of Walsh, who died in 2007. "I wish I had a lot more time with him."

1. Bill Belichick/Tom Brady
Championships won together: 6
Greatest moment: Super Bowl XXXVI
The most successful partnership in NFL history, Belichick and Brady won six Super Bowls and nine AFC titles during their 20 seasons together. Belichick has become the first coach to win six Super Bowls, while Brady, the first four-time Super Bowl MVP, is on the Mount Rushmore as it relates to the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history. Many would argue that Brady, a three-time league MVP, is the greatest quarterback that's ever played.

While the two have shared many memorable moments, their first Super Bowl still takes the cake as Brady and Belichick's signature moment. With the score tied and the Patriots backed up on their own 17-yard-line with 1:21 remaining, Belichick opted not to play for overtime and instead put the game into the hands of his second-year quarterback. Brady, as he would do time and time again over the next 18 seasons, rose to the challenge, completing five passes for 53 yards to set up Adam Vinateri's game-winning field goal. The Patriots' 20-17 win over the Rams was the start of a dynasty, a dynasty that was capped off with Belichick and Brady sitting beside each other after being named to the NFL's 100th Anniversary Team.

"We have a great relationship," Brady said during the NFL Network's NFL 100 All-Time Team show. "We always have. It's been about winning. That's why I'm still playing today, it's because I want to win. There's nothing that's going to get in the way of that, and I feel like that's the same thing for him. And I know it appears that we differ in ways, but we're so similar in many ways that people would probably never see."
 
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