Who is the greatest coach ever?
Dr. John R. Eggers
October 15, 2009
Who is the greatest coach ever?
Ron Gardenhire, manager of the Minnesota Twins, is in the running again for manager of the year. He has finished runner-up four times. This leads us to the question, who do you think is the greatest manager/coach of all time in any sport? In other words, who is the best coach ever? Who would you select?
As a loyal Minnesotan you might select John Gagliardi. Gagliardi is football coach for St. John's University in Collegeville. He became "America's winningest football coach” in 2003 when his team racked up 409 career victories. He now has around 460. Gagliardi is 77 years old and coached his first team in 1943.
Our friendly neighbor to the south, Iowa would submit a nominee for the best coach ever. Dan Gable was born in 1948 and lost only one match in his entire Iowa State collegiate wrestling career and won gold at the 1972 Olympic games in Munich. He was the head coach at the University of Iowa where he won 15 NCAA team titles from 1976-1998. Truly amazing.
Pat Summitt was born in 1952 and is the head coach of the Tennessee Lady Vols basketball team. Her Lady Vols won 8 national championships. She is the all-time winningest coach in NCAA basketball history, men or women in any division, and one of only two collegiate coaches with 1000 victories. She is still coaching.
Many people when they think of great coaches automatically think of Vincent Thomas Lombardi born in 1913. He was the head coach of the Green Bay Packers from 1959-67 and won five league championships during his nine years including the first Super Bowl. It wasn’t just his coaching record that set him apart but the way he handled his players and the things he taught them about life and living. If we graded coaches on respect earned and not victories, Lombardi would be at the top of the list.
Here is a coach you may not have heard about. William H. “Bill” Shellenberger, Lynchburg College’s legendary soccer coach who died just recently on September 7 at age 88. Coach Shellenberger led his teams to 31 consecutive winning seasons (1956 to 1987), setting a record of 371 wins, 167 losses, and 48 ties. He was named Coach of the Year 28 times. He must have had some magic.
Another coach you may not know is Dorothy Gaters, girls’ basketball coach at Chicago's John Marshall Metro High School. She has a phenomenal 655-70 record. In 24 years at Marshall, she won 90 percent of her games. She has a record seven state championships. Wow!
Can anyone top these great coaches?
Well there is John Robert Wooden, born October 14, 1910 who just celebrated his 99th birthday. He is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame as both a player (class of 1961) and as a coach (class of 1973). He was the first person ever enshrined in both categories. His 10 NCAA National Championships in 12 years while at the University of California at Los Angeles are unmatched by any other college basketball coach.
Many books have been written about John Wooden over the years. In reading several, a few stories come to mind.
Did you know that his first choice for a big time college coaching job was the University of Minnesota? The reason, it was closer to his family in Indiana. John Wooden played for Purdue University where he graduated with honors and earned a teaching degree.
At the time he was offered the UCLA job, his first choice was to become head coach in Minnesota. There were some complications with the Minnesota position, which needed clarification. The Minnesota officials said they would call by 6 p.m, UCLA was due to call at 7. When Minnesota didn’t call, UCLA called and Wooden said, “yes.” As he hung up the phone, it rang, and it was Minnesota. A blizzard had knocked out all the phone lines and they were prepared to offer everything he had asked for.
Wooden says, “Had I been able to terminate my agreement with UCLA in an honorable fashion, I would have done so immediately. But I had given my word just a few minutes before. If fate had not intervened, I would never have gone to UCLA. But my dad's little set of threes served me well: ‘Don't whine. Don't complain. Don't make excuses.’...”
Wooden was also an English teacher. When he would coach his teams he would give them lessons in vocabulary at the same time. Running down the basketball court, he might tell them the difference between “further” and “farther” or “fewer” and “less.”
Bill Walton was one of the stars that played for Wooden. Walton was kind of a wild and crazy guy and during the 1970’s when long hair was in style, Walton showed up for practice with long hair and a beard. He mentioned to his coach that he had taught them to be independent thinkers and that Coach Wooden had no right to tell him how to cut his hair to which Wooden replied, “You’re right, Bill, I just have the right to determine who is going to play and we will miss you.”
Walton, of course, did cut his hair and shaved his beard and went on to help UCLA win several NCAA championships. Bill Walton later wrote about his coach and this is what he said, “What he has is a heart, brain and soul that put him in a position to inspire others to reach levels of success and peace of mind that we could never dream of reaching by ourselves.”
Here’s what I think about great coaches. We have great coaches right here in the Bemidji area. They may not have the winningest record of all times but they do their best or did their best to inspire their players to reach levels of success and peace of mind that they could not do themselves. That’s a good coach.
Who Is John?