Noll vs. Cowher vs. Tomlin

I know it's like trying to pick your favorite child, but who is/was your favorite coach and why?

Noll because it was Noll who introduces the Steelers to the Steelers way and the Steelers type of player.

Man did he put together nasty defense and this defensive mind set is still with us today.


Bottom line Noll brought winning football to the Steelers.

Noll is the obvious pick, and I'm sure that's who most Steelers fans would choose. But I'm going to play devil's advocate. The Steelers were horrible when Noll took over. He benefited from quite a few high draft picks and was able to amass some great talent. And unlike Cowher and Tomlin, Noll coached in an era when he was able to keep that talent and not have them leave after 3 years. Imagine if Noll's teams operated under today's rules ... there's no way the Steelers would have been able to keep Lambert, Greene, Swann, Stallworth, Harris, Bradshaw, Blount, etc. Half of them would have left through free agency and we wouldn't have won four Super Bowls with that core group of players. So I think we have to deduct a few points from Noll just because of the era he coached in.

So although Noll seems like the obvious pick because he brought us four Super Bowls, I don't think there's any way he would win four Super Bowls in six years in today's NFL. So for me, number of Super Bowl wins won't be the determining factor.

Wallace108 wrote:

Noll is the obvious pick, and I'm sure that's who most Steelers fans would choose. But I'm going to play devil's advocate. The Steelers were horrible when Noll took over. He benefited from quite a few high draft picks and was able to amass some great talent. And unlike Cowher and Tomlin, Noll coached in an era when he was able to keep that talent and not have them leave after 3 years. Imagine if Noll's teams operated under today's rules ... there's no way the Steelers would have been able to keep Lambert, Greene, Swann, Stallworth, Harris, Bradshaw, Blount, etc. Half of them would have left through free agency and we wouldn't have won four Super Bowls with that core group of players. So I think we have to deduct a few points from Noll just because of the era he coached in.

So although Noll seems like the obvious pick because he brought us four Super Bowls, I don't think there's any way he would win four Super Bowls in six years in today's NFL. So for me, number of Super Bowl wins won't be the determining factor.

well other team could keep there players as well and Noll could win in todays imo because evaluation of players he was so good at.

Noll and Dan Rooney make a mistake in drafting Gabe Rivera (car wreck career over) and not Dan Marino to rebuild the team. No salary cap and a little market Pittsburgh couldn't keep up with the big market teams who were buying up all the talent in the 80s.

The salary cap helped the Steelers to become a consistant playoff team again and Kevin Colbert is the best evaluator of talent the Steelers have had in a long time.

Now its how a team spend its money on players and how quickly they can bring in young talent to replace the departed. get this right and you can win some Superbowls.

Went with Cowher, because when he took over there were still a lot of new rules in the NFL in regards to FAs, RFAs, and UFAs that played havoc on teams. As a coach he was able to take all that and still have a formidable team almost every year. While he only won one Super Bowl, he did take the team to two.

And there was something about Cowher that just made you want to yell a few decibels louder on game day.

Chuck Noll. If there was a "NFL's greatest head coach", i'd vote for him there too.

Four Super Bowl win's, and his mindset still lives with the Steelers today.

I went with Cowher because it's "favorite coach". I still think Noll was the greatest of the three, but I loved Cowher's energy and fire. He was almost as fun to watch as the players when he was running up and down the sidelines with his chin stuck out, screaming, spit flying, and heartily slapping players on the back. He was like a one-man pep squad!

I'd have loved to have seen how the Steelers teams of the 70's would have done with Cowher at the helm.

im going with tomlin. noll brought us 4 trophies, cowher 1 and tomlins going to get us .........5

vasteeler wrote:

im going with tomlin. noll brought us 4 trophies, cowher 1 and tomlins going to get us .........5

I'll have what VA's drinking.

I will agree with Buddha here. Cowher was the most animated coach of the three. He knew his teams strengths and weaknesses. He had the balls to make the tough decisions without hesitation. If I were to sum it up in one word, PASSION. He had extremely visable passion for the team, the game, and his players. The question was "favorite" not best or most successful.

BornaSteelersfan wrote:

I will agree with Buddha here. Cowher was the most animated coach of the three. He knew his teams strengths and weaknesses. He had the balls to make the tough decisions without hesitation. If I were to sum it up in one word, PASSION. He had extremely visable passion for the team, the game, and his players. The question was "favorite" not best or most successful.

"Passion" about sums it up. I knew there was a word I was looking for and couldn't quite find.