10 Greatest Coaches in Sports History [Ranked]

Key Takeaways

• The coach is an integral asset within every sport, from both team-focused games to individual competitions.
• The likes of Bill Belichick and Phil Jackson have dominated their respective sports’ scenes for prolonged periods.
• Glenn Mills and Roger Mayweather could be accredited for much of the work in training worldwide stars like Usain Bolt and Floyd Mayweather respectively.

In sporting history, a remarkable coach has often made the difference between a good side or a legendary one. Coaches integral to a team in a plethora of sports, from team-based games like football and basketball to individual ones like tennis and boxing.

In football, the likes of Pep Guardiola and Sir Alex Ferguson have formed sides that will be remembered forever, winning trophies with Manchester City and Manchester United. There are also coaches that have helped Usain Bolt break all sorts of world records. With all of that said, here are the 10 greatest coaches of all time based on set criteria.

Ranking Factors

• Achievements
• Longevity
• Accounts from peers

10 Roger Mayweather

Boxing

Boxing is a volatile sport, featuring a one-on-one battle of physique, technique, and mentality. Just a single slip-up could be detrimental, which makes Floyd Mayweather’s record in the sport nothing short of incredible. The American won 15 major World Championships over five weight classes, with a total of 50 career fights, all undefeated.

It was Roger Mayweather who left his senior career to coach his nephew, Floyd, and his efforts played a vital role in enabling his prodigee’s rise to legendary status. Floyd Mayweather could not speak highly enough of his trainer, who sadly passed away in 2020.

“Roger meant the world to me.”

9 Don Shula

Don Shula’s remarkable longevity in NFL has placed him among the greatest coaches the sport has ever seen. His tallies of 328 season wins and 347 season wins both remain all-time records in the competition.

Throughout his iconic 25-year spell managing the Miami Dolphins, many will remember how he led his men to two back-to-back Super Bowl victories in 1972 and 1973, scooping up four AP Coach of the Year titles in the process. Perhaps more importantly, his perfect, undefeated season in 1972 is likely the highlight of his career, and it is a feat which remains unmatched to this day.

8 Gregg Popovich

Basketball

Gregg Popovich’s exceptional management of the San Antonio Spurs has endeared him to fans both of the team and of the NBA as well. Coaching 26 seasons of basketball, the American ranks as the longest-serving in history, and the one with the most wins in the league and play-offs, setting a milestone that looks incredibly tough to reach.

Since joining the Spurs in 1996, he has led them to five NBA Championship titles, becoming just one of five coaches in history to have achieved such a feat, and racked up three NBA Coach of the Year awards in the process.

7 Richard Williams

Tennis

The story of Richard Williams is something of an inspiration for aspiring tennis enthusiasts. It follows an ambitious father who single-handedly coached two of the greatest tennis players the sport has seen – his two daughters.

It all stemmed for his iconic 85-page training plan, which was shared with Serena and Venus Williams when they were just four years old. Years of dedication from Richard Williams eventually culminated in massive success for both sisters, cementing their names in history.

6 Scotty Bowman

Ice Hockey

Scotty Bowman’s long-standing influence over the NHL has venerated him as an all-time great in his competition. Throughout his remarkable 46-year tenure as a hockey coach, he totaled an all-time record of 1,244 season wins and a further 223 in play-offs, across five different teams: Montreal Canadiens, Pittsburgh Penguins and the Detroit Red Wings, Buffalo Sabres and St Louis Blues.

His best years came from the first three teams of the aforementioned five. Bowman led the Canadiens to five Stanley Cup triumphs and managed a further three with the Red Wings and another one with the Penguins. Altogether, his nine Stanley Cup lifts as a head coach is, to this day, an unbeaten statistic in the sport.

5 Glen Mills

Athletics

“He [Glen Mills] is the greatest person; he has been a father figure, my mentor, he’s been a coach and for me he is the person that makes me laugh,

“He’s truly a great person overall. He is the greatest coach ever.”

These are the words Usain Bolt, the fastest man in history, used to describe his coach. Glen Mills first started training Bolt in late 2004, continuously elevating his level as an athlete, until he eventually broke the world record in iconic fashion in the 100m sprint, clocking in at just 9.58 seconds. The Jamaican had dedicated much of his success to his trainer as gratitude for his years of hard work.

4 Pep Guardiola

Football has changed massively over the years, with a transition into a more tactical, system-based format within teams, which has polarized audiences. Many will accredit Pep Guardiola for many of these pioneering feats, and one thing is for sure, his work has yielded superb results.

An incredible 12 league titles as a manager, three Champions League titles, and a remarkable record dominating Spanish, German, and English football, Guardiola has revolutionised the sport with his innovative solutions and vibrant personality.

3 Bill Belichick

Dubbed “Student of the Game”, Bill Belichick was renowned for his unmatched understanding of American Football, and all of his deep knowledge culminated in massive success for the Nashville-born man as a head coach. He guided his teams to nine Super Bowls, winning six with the New England Patriots. In fact, his total of eight Super Bowl victories as head coach and assistant ranks as the most among all individuals in NFL history.

A legend of the game, Belichick was named In both the NFL 2000s All-Decade Team and the 2010s All-Decade Team – a testament to his exceptional, long-serving tenure in the sport.

2 Phil Jackson

Basketball

The Chicago Bulls reigned supreme over the NBA in the 1990s, with the likes of Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen dominating the basketball scene in America. The man behind these stars was none other than Phil Jackson, who played a key role in amalgamating individual brilliance to form a coherent and formidable team.

In his nine careers as head coach of the Hulls, Jackson helped his side amass a total of six NBA Championships. After Chicago, the Montana-born man took his talents to the Los Angeles Lakers, where he accrued a further five rings to his name, and his 11 NBA Championships as a head coach stands as the most ever recorded in the history of the competition.

1 Sir Alex Ferguson

Sir Alex Ferguson is a staple name in the history of English football, for his sustained dominance of the country over several decades. Manchester United were 21st in the league when the Scotsman took the wheel, and he guided them up the ranks before eventual but inevitable success. Over his 26-year tenure at Old Trafford, Ferguson helped his side to 13 Premier League titles, five FA Cups and a further two Champions Leagues. In fact, no other manager in football history has won more trophies outright in the sport than Ferguson’s 48.

Many prominent figures have struggled to speak high enough of the former manager, and the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Pele have all heaped praise on his strict but immensely effective personality. In particular, another top coach featured on this very list, Pep Guardiola, also honored Ferguson as an all-time great of the sport. He said:

“Manchester United are one of the best teams in the world and have been for a long time. That is because Sir Alex Ferguson has maintained winning trophies at the same time as re-creating outstanding teams.

“That is an art and I only have respect for him and what he has achieved. He is one of the best of all time.”