Greatest coaches in all of sports

[Lennys Tap]

Pat Summit?  What has she done?

From everything I know about Pat Summit she was a great coach and a fine person. Maybe she didn't have to make any "compromises" to be great - but if she didn't it was because she had so little competition for much of her run. For me, that alone removes her from the top of this list.

[MU82]

From everything I know about Pat Summit she was a great coach and a fine person. Maybe she didn't have to make any "compromises" to be great - but if she didn't it was because she had so little competition for much of her run. For me, that alone removes her from the top of this list.

Does it also remove Auerbach? How about any Yankee manager in the pre-free-agent era?

[PBRme]

 Al Mcguire

Then everyone else

[GGGG]

Al is the GOAT

Not really.

[warriorchick]

From everything I know about Pat Summit she was a great coach and a fine person. Maybe she didn't have to make any "compromises" to be great - but if she didn't it was because she had so little competition for much of her run. For me, that alone removes her from the top of this list.

No one has ever built a dominant powerhouse program from less than what she had to start with - in any sport.  She had literally no budget and no staff. After games, she had to take the uniforms home and wash them in the basement of her apartment building, FFS.

She is the reason that people now pay attention to women's college basketball.

[MU82]

No one has ever built a dominant powerhouse program from less than what she had to start with - in any sport.  She had literally no budget and no staff. After games, she had to take the uniforms home and wash them in the basement of her apartment building, FFS.

She is the reason that people now pay attention to women's college basketball.

Agreed, chickadee. Summit is an absolute no-brainer on this list.

[GGGG]

No one has ever built a dominant powerhouse program from less than what she had to start with - in any sport.  She had literally no budget and no staff. After games, she had to take the uniforms home and wash them in the basement of her apartment building, FFS.

She is the reason that people now pay attention to women's college basketball.

The items you mention in the first paragraph were faced by pretty much every other women's basketball coach at the time so I'm not sure she could get extra credit for those things.

Her record speaks for itself.

[Spotcheck Billy]

Crean

[muwarrior69]

Victor Tikhonov

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Tikhonov_(ice_hockey,_born_1930)

[MU82]

Victor Tikhonov

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Tikhonov_(ice_hockey,_born_1930)

That's a great addition, 69er.

[brandx]

Victor Tikhonov

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Tikhonov_(ice_hockey,_born_1930)

Kinda like Phil Jackson. He had the BEST players every time he won a champiuonship. USSR was a huge country and he had the best of the best. And it is not like he had to go up against NHL players to win. Back then,almost all of his world championships were won against amateur players.

I don't mean to say he wasn't a great coach, but even a good coach with the best players will be extremely successful.

[GGGG]

And Anatoli Tarasov was probably better anyway.

[MU82]

Kinda like Phil Jackson. He had the BEST players every time he won a champiuonship. USSR was a huge country and he had the best of the best. And it is not like he had to go up against NHL players to win. Back then,almost all of his world championships were won against amateur players.

I don't mean to say he wasn't a great coach, but even a good coach with the best players will be extremely successful.

I don't know enough about Russian hockey. But I do know that Phil Jackson was a great coach. Jordan, Kobe and Shaq had lots of coaches over the years. Jordan and Kobe only won when Jackson was their coach, and Shaq only won when either Jackson or Riley was his coach (the latter time near the end of his career when Wade carried the Heat).

[muwarrior69]

I don't know enough about Russian hockey. But I do know that Phil Jackson was a great coach. Jordan, Kobe and Shaq had lots of coaches over the years. Jordan and Kobe only won when Jackson was their coach, and Shaq only won when either Jackson or Riley was his coach (the latter time near the end of his career when Wade carried the Heat).

Yeah! I don't buy that either. I would guess there are coaches who have lost with the "best" players too.

[GGGG]

I can see an average coach winning a championship with the best players.  But 11 of them?  Nah...

[MU82]

I can see an average coach winning a championship with the best players.  But 11 of them?  Nah...

Yeah ... he was just lucky ... 11 times.