Best coaches of all time

[Hogskin]

Well, first I want to say, Pardee was OUTSTANDING as a player. As a coach, I would confirm Butz' comments and add that while my recollection of his stint is not vivid, I seem to recall that he was not a good disciplinarian - too soft. Maybe some others have a clearer memory of it. However, I do not feel he was put in an unfair situation - just another of those coaches that are pretty good on one level, but not as an NFL HC.

I personally did not know much about Joe Gibbs when he first took over as Redskin coach. And, of course, it was not looking too wonderful 5 games into the season (0-5). He sure didn't waste any time AFTER that start making us believers in him, though. The guy I really did not care for at first was Bobby Beathard. Early on, he made several player moves that I was not fond of - especially with some of the team veterans. Turned out Betheard was VERY good at drafting late-round picks, not great with round 1 guys (so it was good that he usually traded them). He and Joe went around and around over some personnel decisions late in his stay here.

[SmootSmack]

This is really interesting hearing about Pardee and Gibbs from you Hogskin and from you DBB. I had thought Pardee maybe got a bum rap since he seemed to do ok in Houston and he was coach of the year twice in the late 70's right?

Another question about Gibbs for you guys. It's more of a general question about assistant coaches really. Today we know all about offensive and defensive coordinators and who the hot head coaching candidates out there are. For just about everyone on this site, names like Lovie Smith, Mike Mularkey and Marvin Lewis were pretty commonplace before they became head coaches. Was it the same back when Gibbs was coaching in San Diego? Were football fans aware of the third person in the Coryell-Fouts-Gibbs triumvirate or were coordinators and assistant coaches not such a big deal?