Andy Reid vs Tom Landry vs Don Shula

[74_75_78_79_]

As it's already been opined here by some, and me agreeing, Andy is the recent HC whose career thus far you can compare to both Landry and Shula. Each of the three with at least 25 seasons, two World Championships, and basically the same amount of playoff appearances and division wins.

Belichick also with such longevity, but SIX Lombardis along with three additional SB-appearances, and a staggering above-700 playoff record, keeps him well above up on 'Rushmore' (though Shula's overall career is .665 to Hoodie's .660).

I mapped out a Top Ten HCs of All Time recently, keeping Landry and Shula tied to round out the list. But then right after felt that maybe Andy should get in there; and maybe even be placed higher than them. One less conference championship than both Tom and Don, but pretty much the same overall accolades thus far while only into his 25th year. But Shula has the overall win-%age over him.

What are your takes? Who's 1-2-3 of this trio IYOs?

Not that these alone should be what determines things, but some numbers below.
My apologies for any inaccuracies.

Andy Reid (so far)
25th season, six games in
18 playoff berths
13 division titles
Regular season: 251-139-1 (.643)
Post-season: 22-16 (.579)
Total: 273-155-1 (.638)

Tom Landry
29 seasons
18 playoff berths
13 division titles
Regular season: 250-162-6 (.605)
Post-season: 20-16 (.566)
Total: 270-178-6 (.601)

Don Shula
33 seasons
19 playoff berths
14 division titles
Regular season: 328-156-6 (.676)
Post-season: 19-17 (.528)
Total: 347-173-6 (.665)


EDIT - here I go again forgetting about Steve Owen! And he is one who I would want to place well into a revised Top Ten. He coached more than twenty seasons, also won two World Championships, and appeared in six other LCGs! Despite being beneath .600 overall once you factor in those LCG defeats (and two other playoff losses), I'd think to place Steve above all three whom this thread features due to those eight total LCGs! And '50 and '51 vs Paul Brown - now in the modern era, mind you - has to give "the best Giants HC ever" even more points.

[racepug]

This'll probably surprise some people but my pick is Coach Landry. Going 18 straight seasons (or whatever it was) w/o suffering a losing record in the N.F.L. is truly remarkable. He (handily) won his one H2H match-up vs. Coach Shula in a S.B. and, let's face it: if not for the "Steel Curtain" Coach Landry might very well have won a couple more S.B.s. Reid? Naaahh - I'd take Coach Landry over him, too.

[JohnTurney]

This'll probably surprise some people but my pick is Coach Landry.

Not saying I necessarily agree but one more talking point to help the case for Landry is his expertise on both sides of the ball
known for his defense but he also called the offensive plays --- not his entire career but a lot of it.

And it was a multiple offense -- mixed things up more that some for his era obviously nothing like now.
Also his defense was innovative -- his own brand, his first defense back in the day was a combination of Neal and
Owen but th Flex and it's keys and reads are all his, IMO

But I'd give him the edge for doing both sides of the ball anyway

[RichardBak]

Tough choice. But hell, Reid and Shula never flew a bomber in wartime, so with all things basically being equal I'll go with Landry.

Plus Landry was part of the fedora football coaches club (Lombardi, Halas, et al). Looking correct on the sidelines earns him a few extra points.

[rhickok1109]

Don't forget that Landry started with an expansion team. As a result, he began his career with five losing seasons and went 18-46-4 over that span. Reid and Shula didn't have that handicap.

[Bryan]

I think Reid is an underrated coach, but I would put Shula and Landry above him. When Reid left Philly, the fan base was happy to see him leave. Too many poor postseason performances, whether it's a fair or unfair assessment.

I think with Reid and Landry, you can point to specific strategic acumen as to why they were successful. I think Shula is more vague. He seemed to succeed by force of personality and wasn't tied to specific 'systems'. I think this is illustrated by having the greatest run offense and the greatest (at the time) passing offense during his career. I'm not sure how significant this is, but I think that Shula's 72-73 Dolphins teams were superior to any team produced by Landry or Reid. Finally, if aliens came to earth and the fate of the world was dependent on beating the aliens in a football game, I'd choose Shula over Landry and Reid.

[Gary Najman]

This'll probably surprise some people but my pick is Coach Landry. Going 18 straight seasons (or whatever it was) w/o suffering a losing record in the N.F.L. is truly remarkable. He (handily) won his one H2H match-up vs. Coach Shula in a S.B. and, let's face it: if not for the "Steel Curtain" Coach Landry might very well have won a couple more S.B.s. Reid? Naaahh - I'd take Coach Landry over him, too.

There were 20 straight seasons, and even Belichick couldn’t tied it.

[Brian wolf]

They are all great coaches with QBs that helped their legacy but they all have one thing in common ... they lost alot of championship games that keep them off Rushmore, though Shula is there for me ... anyone that can have great teams with Joe Robbie as an owner deserves kudos ... haha

[racepug]

This'll probably surprise some people but my pick is Coach Landry.

Not saying I necessarily agree but one more talking point to help the case for Landry is his expertise on both sides of the ball
known for his defense but he also called the offensive plays --- not his entire career but a lot of it.

And it was a multiple offense -- mixed things up more that some for his era obviously nothing like now.
Also his defense was innovative -- his own brand, his first defense back in the day was a combination of Neal and
Owen but th Flex and it's keys and reads are all his, IMO

But I'd give him the edge for doing both sides of the ball anyway

Another thing I give Coach Landry credit for is his use of computers to determine other teams' tendencies. Pretty advanced for that era. I didn't appreciate it at the time but now it all makes complete sense to me. And isn't that what is generally referred to as "analytics" these days? Coach Landry - ahead of his time.

[Jay Z]

I'm less impressed with Landry. Mainly because I think the Flex was a crappy pass defense. You can't win with sacks very often. The Ice Bowl is a case in point. Eight sacks, but the Packers still won with passing on a poor field. Cowboys were more concerned with being flashy and innovative than going for the throat.

Shula was probably the best regular season coach ever. Too many teams that wilted under pressure in the playoffs though. Landry really didn't have that problem, the Cowboys would get beat but it was usually close.

Reid is different in that his championship victories were actually close, instead of just the couple of seasons where his team could blow everyone away. I suppose you could call the 1972 Dolphins playoff run close, but that felt more like a team dinking around than one that was really challenged. Two championships in a long coaching run, about the same to me. Shula got let go in Baltimore as well, the move from Philly to KC doesn't bother me.