The Most Pass-Happy Coaches in NFL History

by Chase Stuart on May 21, 2013

Belichick checks to see where he is on the list.

Yesterday, I looked at the most pass-happy active head coaches and offensive coordinators in the NFL. If you’ve been a loyal reader of my previous posts on Game Scripts, you understand the methodology I’ve used today to grade each coaches. The quick summary is I’ve come up with the term “Game Scripts” to determine the average points margin over each of the 3600 seconds in each game; from there, I also came up with Game Scripts scores for each season. If you then take each coach’s pass/run ratio, adjust for the league average pass/run ratio, and then adjust for Game Scripts, then you can determine each coach’s passing identity. I’ve done this for every season since 1940.

The table below lists the 252 coaches I have in my database who have been either a head coach or an offensive coordinator for at least four seasons. I suggest using the search box to find your favorite coaches, but as always, all columns are sortable, too. In the table below, the number of HC/OC seasons includes all seasons, but the games, wins, losses, ties, winning percentage, and wins over .500 columns all include only the coach’s records as a head coach. The Game Script column shows each coach’s average Game Scripts average over each season, while the “P/R” column does the same for pass/run ratio. The next three columns are all indexes centered around 100. The “SCRIPT” column is the Game Scripts rating, the “PASS” column is the Pass/Run Ratio rating, and the Pass Identity column is a combination of the two columns. (You can read some of the other Game Scripts articles for more explanation). Based on his time in Green Bay with Aaron Rodgers, Joe Philbin comes in as the most pass-happy coach, but that number seems likely to decline the longer he coaches. George Seifert built his reputation as the defensive coordinator for the 49ers, but having Joe Montana, Steve Young, and Jerry Rice turned him into a pass-friendly coach. As for the next two men on the list, modern NFL fans need no further explanation.

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Rk	Coach	HC/OC Sea	G	W	L	T	Win%	WO.500	Game Script	P/R	SCRIPT	PASS	IDENTITY
1	Joe Philbin	6	16	7	9	0	0.438	-2	3.8	58.8%	122.5	107.6	30.1
2	George Seifert	11	176	114	62	0	0.648	52	3.8	57.6%	117.3	108.1	25.4
3	Mike Martz	12	85	53	32	0	0.624	21	1	61.4%	104.3	121	25.3
4	Andy Reid	14	224	130	93	1	0.583	37	1.9	59.4%	112	111.9	23.9
5	Pete Carmichael	5	0	0	0	0			1.1	61.7%	106.2	117.3	23.5
6	Sean Payton	9	96	62	34	0	0.646	28	2.2	59%	112.6	109.9	22.4
7	John Mackovic	4	64	30	34	0	0.469	-4	0.9	59.5%	104.3	117.6	21.8
8	Bill Belichick	18	288	187	101	0	0.649	86	3.3	56.1%	118.5	100	18.5
9	Bill Walsh	11	152	92	59	1	0.609	33	2.6	53.6%	111.5	106.4	17.8
10	Don Coryell	14	195	111	83	1	0.572	28	1.5	52.1%	107.1	110.3	17.4
11	Tom Rossley	6	0	0	0	0			1.5	57.7%	108.9	107.2	16.1
12	Jim Trimble	4	48	25	20	3	0.552	5	1.3	51.6%	102.2	113.2	15.4
13	Gary Stevens	9	0	0	0	0			0.9	58.8%	103.9	111.2	15.2
14	Sherman Lewis	12	0	0	0	0			1.3	58.4%	105.2	109.9	15.1
15	June Jones	7	58	22	36	0	0.379	-14	-2	62.5%	91.1	123.5	14.6
16	Marty Mornhinweg	13	32	5	27	0	0.156	-22	0.5	59.2%	103.1	111	14.1
17	Marc Trestman	8	0	0	0	0			0.2	59.4%	101	112.8	13.8
18	Jim Schwartz	4	64	22	42	0	0.344	-20	-2.1	63.9%	88.8	124.9	13.6
19	Clarence Shelmon	5	0	0	0	0			3	56%	117.5	95.9	13.3
20	Josh McDaniels	7	28	11	17	0	0.393	-6	2.1	57.4%	110.5	102.6	13.2
21	George Allen	12	168	116	47	5	0.705	69	2.9	46.9%	111.1	101.9	13.1
22	Mike Holmgren	20	272	161	111	0	0.592	50	2.3	56.3%	111.2	101.9	13
23	Jerry Burns	24	95	52	43	0	0.547	9	2.1	50.9%	108.2	104.6	12.8
24	Mike Smith	5	80	56	24	0	0.7	32	3.3	56%	118.3	94.4	12.6
25	Don Shula	33	490	328	156	6	0.676	172	3.1	49.8%	112.9	99.7	12.6
26	Bud Grant	18	259	158	96	5	0.62	62	1.9	49.5%	106.8	105.8	12.6
27	Bill McPeak	6	70	21	46	3	0.321	-25	-0.4	52.9%	96.9	115.4	12.3
28	Mike McCarthy	13	112	74	38	0	0.661	36	1	57.9%	105.6	106.2	11.7
29	Jason Garrett	7	40	21	19	0	0.525	2	0	60.1%	100.5	110.9	11.4
30	Mike Tomlin	6	96	63	33	0	0.656	30	2.9	55.7%	116.9	93.9	10.8
31	Gus Dorais	5	53	20	31	2	0.396	-11	-2.2	45.9%	91	119.8	10.8
32	Joe Stydahar	5	49	20	28	1	0.418	-8	0.2	50.6%	102.1	108.7	10.8
33	Dick Nolan	11	156	69	82	5	0.458	-13	0	50.5%	100	110.7	10.7
34	Bill Callahan	7	32	15	17	0	0.469	-2	1.2	57.3%	107.5	102.9	10.4
35	Max Coley	6	0	0	0	0			1.2	46.3%	104.6	105.7	10.3
36	Mike Sherman	9	96	57	39	0	0.594	18	1	57.4%	105.8	104.5	10.3
37	Jack Pardee	11	164	87	77	0	0.53	10	0.3	52.3%	101.7	108	9.8
38	Tony Dungy	13	208	139	69	0	0.668	70	2.2	54.9%	112.9	96.7	9.6
39	Tom Moore	22	0	0	0	0			1.5	54.9%	108.3	101.2	9.5
40	Don McCafferty	4	47	28	17	2	0.617	11	2.2	45.7%	108.4	101.1	9.5
41	Dudley DeGroot	4	45	26	16	3	0.611	10	1	39.6%	102.8	106.7	9.5
42	Sam Rutigliano	7	97	47	50	0	0.485	-3	-0.8	54.7%	96.5	112.9	9.4
43	John Rauch	6	70	40	28	2	0.586	12	-0.5	53.6%	96.7	112.2	8.9
44	Lindy Infante	10	96	36	60	0	0.375	-24	0.2	57.4%	100.6	108.3	8.8
45	Dennis Green	13	207	113	94	0	0.546	19	0.4	57.9%	100.3	108.2	8.5
46	Luke Johnsos	4	36	23	11	2	0.667	12	5.7	33.9%	113.5	94.9	8.4
47	Hunk Anderson	4	36	23	11	2	0.667	12	5.7	33.9%	113.5	94.9	8.4
48	Jack Patera	7	94	35	59	0	0.372	-24	-2.5	53.9%	90.1	118.3	8.3
49	Brad Childress	10	74	39	35	0	0.527	4	1.3	56.6%	107.6	100.7	8.3
50	Jim Lee Howell	7	84	53	27	4	0.655	26	3.8	41.5%	115.7	92.3	8

I’ll give you some quick thoughts, but I’d love to hear your reaction in the comments. For the most part, these results aren’t surprising. Rex Ryan, Jack Del Rio, and Romeo Crennel rank as very run-heavy coaches, which jives with what we have all witnessed over the last few years. Bill Belichick is the most pass-happy coach among the group with 150 wins. It helps to have Tom Brady, although Belichick had some pass-happy years in Cleveland, too. Take a look at his yearly results:

Year	Tm	G	W	L	Game Script	Pass	SCRIPT	PASS	IDENTITY
2012	nwe	16	12	4	7.7	56.1%	133.2	95.4	28.6
2011	nwe	16	13	3	4.3	60.2%	124.6	110.6	35.2
2010	nwe	16	14	2	7.4	55.2%	143	90.6	33.6
2009	nwe	16	10	6	6.6	57.5%	138.4	103	41.4
2008	nwe	16	11	5	3.1	54%	117.8	91.8	9.6
2007	nwe	16	16	0	10.3	58.4%	159.6	106	65.6
2006	nwe	16	12	4	4.6	54.3%	126.4	95.3	21.7
2005	nwe	16	10	6	0.9	57.8%	105.4	109.1	14.5
2004	nwe	16	14	2	6.1	50.6%	135.1	79.9	15
2003	nwe	16	14	2	3.1	55.5%	117.8	101.1	18.9
2002	nwe	16	9	7	0.4	62.1%	102.2	121.1	23.3
2001	nwe	16	11	5	3.9	53.7%	122.5	89.6	12
2000	nwe	16	5	11	-0.8	59.1%	95.5	111.3	6.9
1995	cle	16	5	11	-2.6	59.6%	87.2	107.5	-5.3
1994	cle	16	11	5	4.3	53.7%	121.1	93.7	14.8
1993	cle	16	7	9	-0.6	55.2%	97.4	100.9	-1.8
1992	cle	16	7	9	0	48.9%	100.1	81.9	-18.1
1991	cle	16	6	10	1.5	58.4%	106.4	110.9	17.4

It’s easy to think of the old ’70s Dolphins when thinking of Don Shula, but the Larry Csonka years weren’t enough to overshadow the Dan Marino and Johnny Unitas seasons. Shula’s teams hovered right around league average in pass/run ratio, but since his teams were generally very good, he gets labeled as a passing coach. The table below shows Shula’s yearly results:

Year	Tm	G	W	L	T	Game Script	Pass	SCRIPT	PASS	IDENTITY
1995	mia	16	9	7	0	2	60.1%	109.5	109	18.6
1994	mia	16	10	6	0	0.4	59.8%	102.1	111.3	13.4
1993	mia	16	9	7	0	0.5	59.3%	102.1	116.4	18.5
1992	mia	16	11	5	0	2.2	59.2%	109.8	116.9	26.7
1991	mia	16	8	8	0	-0.3	60.9%	98.7	119.2	17.9
1990	mia	16	12	4	0	2.8	56.9%	111.9	107.4	19.3
1989	mia	16	8	8	0	-0.4	60.4%	98.4	117.8	16.1
1988	mia	16	6	10	0	-1.2	65.2%	93.7	133.8	27.5
1987	mia	15	8	7	0	1.8	59.4%	108.3	123.7	32
1986	mia	16	8	8	0	-0.3	65.5%	98.7	133.9	32.6
1985	mia	16	12	4	0	4.4	57.3%	122	111.8	33.8
1984	mia	16	14	2	0	6.3	54.8%	123.1	104.6	27.7
1983	mia	16	12	4	0	3.4	45%	116.9	82.3	-0.8
1982	mia	9	7	2	0	3.8	42.8%	117.1	74.4	-8.5
1981	mia	16	11	4	1	0.8	49.7%	103.8	95.5	-0.7
1980	mia	16	8	8	0	-2.3	51.5%	88.8	102.5	-8.8
1979	mia	16	10	6	0	3.1	44.2%	119.7	88.9	8.7
1978	mia	16	11	5	0	5.7	42.6%	129.5	93.4	22.9
1977	mia	14	10	4	0	5.7	40.1%	124.9	92.4	17.3
1976	mia	14	6	8	0	0.1	43.8%	100.2	99.7	-0.1
1975	mia	14	10	4	0	4.2	33.7%	113.7	66.3	-20
1974	mia	14	11	3	0	3.6	35.5%	116.6	68.3	-15.1
1973	mia	14	12	2	0	9.1	34.7%	130.4	81.8	12.1
1972	mia	14	14	0	0	8.7	31.4%	128.9	71.2	0.1
1971	mia	14	10	3	1	4.9	39.6%	118.1	83.8	1.9
1970	mia	14	10	4	0	3.5	40.5%	115.3	76.6	-8.1
1969	clt	14	8	5	1	-0.4	51.8%	98.3	104.7	3
1968	clt	14	13	1	0	10.1	45.6%	133.2	91.7	24.9
1967	clt	14	11	1	2	6.7	52.1%	126.3	103.9	30.2
1966	clt	14	9	5	0	2	50.8%	107.5	100.1	7.7
1965	clt	14	10	3	1	3.3	49.8%	119.6	101	20.6
1964	clt	14	12	2	0	7.2	45.7%	131.5	88.4	19.8
1963	clt	14	8	6	0	2.1	54.6%	108.1	116.9	25

While Shula might be more pass-happy than his reputation, Paul Brown goes the other way. Brown is rightly remembered as a passing innovator, and he and Otto Graham gave the Browns an unstoppable offense for close to a decade. But he also coached Jim Brown for six years, and had some run-heavy teams with the Bengals in the pre-Bill Walsh days.

Year	Tm	G	W	L	T	Game Script	Pass	SCRIPT	PASS	IDENTITY
1975	cin	14	11	3	0	4.8	48.3%	115.6	109	24.6
1974	cin	14	7	7	0	2	46.7%	109.3	103.8	13.1
1973	cin	14	10	4	0	1.8	40.9%	106	95.6	1.6
1972	cin	14	8	6	0	1	45.4%	103.2	102.3	5.5
1971	cin	14	4	10	0	1.5	46.7%	105.4	100.9	6.4
1970	cin	14	8	6	0	2.8	44.5%	112.3	88.7	1
1969	cin	14	4	9	1	-3.5	50.1%	86.5	97.9	-15.6
1968	cin	14	3	11	0	-4.8	45.5%	86.1	88.6	-25.3
1962	cle	14	7	6	1	0.8	49%	103.3	99	2.2
1961	cle	14	8	5	1	3.4	41.7%	113.8	78.2	-8
1960	cle	12	8	3	1	7.5	44%	125.8	91.5	17.3
1959	cle	12	7	5	0	2.4	39.4%	108.7	76.7	-14.6
1958	cle	12	9	3	0	3.7	32.4%	114.4	69.9	-15.7
1957	cle	12	9	2	1	3	30%	115.6	73.9	-10.5
1956	cle	12	5	7	0	1.3	31.9%	105.7	83.7	-10.6
1955	cle	12	9	2	1	5.1	33.3%	128.9	72.7	1.6
1954	cle	12	9	3	0	9.2	40.4%	125.7	76.4	2.1
1953	cle	12	11	1	0	7.6	46.8%	122.8	93.8	16.6
1952	cle	12	8	4	0	4.9	50.9%	115.5	116.4	31.9
1951	cle	12	11	1	0	8.8	43.3%	130.9	98.8	29.7
1950	cle	12	10	2	0	5.9	39.5%	120.6	90.9	11.5
1949	cle	12	9	1	2	6.8	42.3%	119.5	107	26.4
1948	cle	14	14	0	0	8.3	38.7%	119.9	92.5	12.4
1947	cle	14	12	1	1	10	38.2%	123.9	102.7	26.6
1946	cle	14	12	2	0	10	32.3%	128.4	87.8	16.3

And, just because, how about Saint Vince?

Year	Tm	G	W	L	T	Game Script	Pass	SCRIPT	PASS	IDENTITY
1969	was	14	7	5	2	-1	56.2%	96.1	117.9	14
1967	gnb	14	9	4	1	4.3	44%	116.9	85.3	2.1
1966	gnb	14	12	2	0	6.2	42.4%	123.4	72.3	-4.3
1965	gnb	14	10	3	1	2.1	44.7%	112.6	83.2	-4.2
1964	gnb	14	8	5	1	3.5	42.6%	115.3	79.7	-5.1
1963	gnb	14	11	2	1	5.1	42%	119.3	76.9	-3.8
1962	gnb	14	13	1	0	7.7	40.1%	132	74.4	6.4
1961	gnb	14	11	3	0	5.7	40.5%	123.1	74.5	-2.4
1960	gnb	12	8	4	0	4.7	38.8%	116.2	76.9	-6.9
1959	gnb	12	7	5	0	-0.6	40.3%	97.8	80.4	-21.8
1958	nyg	0	0	0	0	3.3	38.4%	112.9	82.3	-4.8
1957	nyg	0	0	0	0	3.2	38.5%	116.4	93.2	9.6
1956	nyg	0	0	0	0	4.4	35.9%	119.2	92.3	11.5
1955	nyg	0	0	0	0	4	42.4%	122.5	97.1	19.5
1954	nyg	0	0	0	0	4.7	48.1%	113.1	97.7	10.8

Tagged as: Bill Belichick, Don Shula, Game Scripts, Paul Brown, Vince Lombardi

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