ESPN Insider Mike Sando asked eight current general managers, four former general managers, four personnel directors, four executives, six coordinators, and four position coaches to provide a 1-5 rating (1 being the best and 5 being the worst) for each head coach in the NFL.
To no surprise, New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick came in first place with an average voting score of 1.07. Belichick received 28 number-one votes and two number-two votes, largely because of his great success with the Patriots since 2000. The team has three Super Bowl victories and 11 consecutive seasons with double-digit wins. They've missed the playoffs just three times in fourteen years (2000, 2002 and 2008) and had only one losing season (2000).
The others in what was considered "Tier 1" also included Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll and longtime New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton. Carroll won the Super Bowl with the Seahawks last season and has made the playoffs in three of his first four seasons with the team, most notably in 2010 when Seattle became the first 7-9 squad to win their division and then win a playoff game. Carroll received an average score of 1.23 with 23 number-one and seven number-two votes.
Payton didn't trail Carroll by too much with his average score of 1.30, thanks to 22 number-one votes, seven number-two votes, and one number-three vote. Payton has coached the Saints since 2006 and delivered the franchise's first Super Bowl victory against Peyton Manning and the Colts back in 2009. The team has made the playoffs five times under Payton's tenure and amassed a 73-39 record with a 6-4 record in the postseason (he was suspended in 2012 for the Bountygate Scandal).
Other notable coaches ranked in the poll include Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid (ranked fourth with a 1.67 average); New York Giants coach Tom Coughlin (fifth with a 1.73 average); Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy (sixth with a 1.77 average); Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin (seventh with a 1.77 average); San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh (eighth with a 1.80 average); and Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh (ninth with a 1.87 average).
Tennessee Titans coach Ken Whisenhunt (20th), Minnesota Vikings coach Mike Zimmer (24th), Washington Redskins coach Jay Gruden (25th), Houston Texans coach Bill O'Brien (26th), and Detroit Lions coach Jim Caldwell (27th) are all first-year head coaches or with new teams for this upcoming season and still ranked ahead of Dallas Cowboys coach Jason Garrett (30th) who has been with the team for three and a half seasons.
Check out the rest of the rankings here if you're an ESPN Insider.
