Weekend Trivia: Coaching Playoff Wins With Multiple Quarterbacks

by Chase Stuart on July 11, 2015

in Coaches, Trivia

There are three head coaches who have won playoff games with five different quarterbacks. Can you name them?

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The last head coach to do it won three Super Bowls.

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He accomplished this feat with a win in 2005.

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His first playoff win came in 1982, with the same team.

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Washington head coach Joe Gibbs won playoff games with Joe Theismann in 1982 and 1983, Jay Schroeder in ’86, Doug Williams in ’87, and Mark Rypien in 1990 and 1991. Then, when Gibbs came out of retirement, he won a playoff game with Mark Brunell at quarterback in 2005.

That one was probably the easiest of the three to guess. Let’s see if you can guess the second coach to pull off this feat.

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He won a playoff game with his fifth quarterback in 2004.

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This head coach won a Super Bowl.

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His first playoff win came in 1994, with the same team he was coaching ten years later.

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Pittsburgh head coach Bill Cowher won playoff games with Neil O’Donnell in ’94 and ’95, Mike Tomczak in ’96, Kordell Stewart in ’97 and ’01, Tommy Maddox in 2002, and then Ben Roethlisberger in 2004 and 2005.

My hunch is you were probably able to get the first two, but the first head coach to win playoff games with five different quarterbacks is a little tougher to guess.

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He did not win a Super Bowl, and finished with a career 7-11 record in the playoffs.

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He won his five playoff games with three different teams.

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He was the head coach when James Harris became the first black quarterback to start (and win) a playoff game.

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Chuck Knox won playoff games with the Rams with Harris in 1974, Ron Jaworski in 1975, and then Pat Haden in 1976. Knox actually went to the playoffs with four different quarterbacks in four years with the Rams, as he was the head coach for the John Hadl-led, 12-2 Rams, in 1973. Knox then went to Buffalo, and made it to the playoffs in ’80 and ’81 with Joe Ferguson at quarterback, winning during his second try with the Bills. After that, Knox moved to Seattle, and won three playoff games with Dave Krieg in ’83 and ’84.

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How did you do? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

Tagged as: Weekend Trivia

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