Last month, Mike Pettine was hired to be the head coach of the Cleveland Browns, their third head coaching hire since 2011. It’s pretty obvious that great NFL franchises don’t bounce between coaches like this, but how extreme is the Browns’ awfulness?
At the other end of the spectrum is the Pittsburgh Steelers, who are on just their third coach since the late 60s. In fact, the Browns have hired 13 head coaches (not including interim) since the Steelers brought in Chuck Noll in 1969.
The infographic below shows the span of each NFL team’s last three head coaches and when those coaches have won Super Bowls. I chose to go back three because some teams (Ravens, Texans) have only had three head coaches in their franchise’s history.
It’s a very nice chart, though I’d prefer if it stated the actual year markers on the graph, or really a small note anywhere on the picture stating that the lines denoted were decade markers.
The teams with the longest tenured coaches also have the most stable and patient ownership. The teams with the shortest tenured coaches have stupid owners.
In 2007, Bill Wirtz Sr. finally keeled over and died after running (read: ruining) the Chicago Black Hawks for 41 years. In 2010, three years after he croaked, his son Rocky Wirtz built a Stanley Cup champion and won a second in 2013. Good ownership matters – paying money to keep players, hiring a good GM and coach, building fan support, etc. Rocky Wirtz did all of that.
Al Davis and William Clueless Ford were as shitty a pair of owners as Bill Wirtz. If those NFL teams and their fans are lucky, the new owners will be more enlightened and educated.