New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is the greatest head coach in the modern football era and it's not a contest. Belichick himself might worship the Paul Browns and the Vince Lombardis, but every other coach looks to Belichick as the gold standard.
So when Sports Illustrated constructed their Dream NFL Coaching Staff, there was only one correct choice for head coach.
"He’s seen by many as the NFL’s Darth Vader," SI's Doug Farrar writes, "but as a coach, a strategist, and a director of personnel, Belichick has no equal in the modern NFL. And when it’s all said and done, he may have no equal historically."
The dream coaching staff includes Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians as offensive coordinator and reigning Super Bowl champion Broncos coach Wade Phillips as defensive coordinator. I'm somewhat surprised Bills head coach Rex Ryan couldn't find his way as a coach on the defensive side of the ball.
But there's no question that Belichick is in a class of his own in coaching circles.
"Belichick has proven himself to be the most successful leader of the free agency era," Farrar writes, "when rosters turn over far more frequently than in the past. He’s maintained that success with several different base schemes: the run-heavy playbook of the early 2000s, the spread-style approach in 2007 and 2008, the two-tight end dominance from 2010 through 2012, and the hurry-up concepts of today.
"Throughout that time, he’s switched from 3–4 to 4–3 to hybrid base defenses with radically different personnel, and it’s always worked... all with the same result: amazing, consistent success."