What's more important -- GM or Head Coach (1 Viewer)

[gianmarco]

Hypothetical situation. You can choose to have one of the following combinations:

1. The best, elite Head Coach in the NFL paired with a barely average General Manager

or

2. The best, elite General Manager in the NFL paired with a barely average Head Coach.

You will get to have them paired together for 5 years with 100% job security. Both guys do not have input into the others actions. In other words, the GM will be completely in charge in terms of who is drafted, which FA's are acquired, which trades take place. Similarly, the HC will decide who is starting, how the team will be run and will have the leeway to stick with those decisions. You can assume the two guys have at least a similar philosophy (i.e. you don't have an offensive minding GM paired with a defensive minded HC). Which do you think would give YOUR team the best chance of winning? Assume you start with an average team at the beginning of the 5 year period.

 

[FUBAR]

I'll take the one that influences player development more. Most draft picks have the talent to play, a great head coach will surround himself with good assistants or make them better. Those guys have big time influence on the players development while the coach creates a good game plan and finds ways to make the most of what the GM gives him.

OTOH, you give the 16th best HC a great group of players and he'll do well too, so I don't think either answer is "wrong". But in real life, I want them working together.

 

[gianmarco]

Interesting results so far, even if small sample size.

Combo of, say, Bill Polian and Wade Phillips or Brad Childress is better than say, Bruce Allen and Bill Parcells or Belichick?

 

[Guru]

Perfect example was when Switzer "guided" the Cowboys to a Super Bowl championship. I would take the GM.

 

[jurb26]

I would want the elite head coach. If the coach barely average, as you suggest, then it really doesn't matter how talented the team is on paper in many cases. They wont want to play nearly as hard and then that talent is wasted. An elite coach can prepare an average team well enough to win in the NFL. This isn't the NCAA's where the difference between elite talent and average talent is a huge margin. In the NFL the difference is much smaller. Therefore I think the coach can make more of a difference on winning and loosing.