Greatest Coaches of All Time

Toe Blake presided over the dominant Montreal Canadiens of the 1950s and 1960s. He began his career winning five straight Stanley Cups before rounding out his career with another three in his final four seasons.

Joe McCarthy is tied with fellow Yankees great Casey Stengel for the most World Series titles for any manager, with seven. In 24 seasons with the Yankees, Cubs, and Red Sox, McCarthy never had a losing season.

After two decades of dominance in New England, Bill Belichick has set himself apart as the greatest coach in NFL history. Belichick’s Patriots have been to nine Super Bowls in his 19 full seasons at the helm, winning six of them. That is tied for the most Super Bowls won by any franchise and the most for any single coach — and Belichick is showing no signs of slowing down.

In major American sports history, no coach has guided his team to more championships than the Zen Master Phil Jackson. He was able to manage the personalities of players like Michael Jordan and Dennis Rodman and win six titles in his time with the Chicago Bulls before taking over a Los Angeles Lakers team with Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. He won five more titles in his 11 seasons in Los Angeles.

Over his 30-year career, Scotty Bowman won nine Stanley Cups — five with the Montreal Canadiens, three with the Detroit Red Wings, and another with the Pittsburgh Penguins — the most of any coach in NHL history. He also holds the NHL record with 1,244 victories. No other coach has even reached 900.