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A quarterback cannot flourish without the right coach. That is why HC-QB duos are so valuable for the stability and growth of an organization. We have umpteen examples of quarterbacks who could have been successful if they had received the right coaching. Even this season in the NFL, a quarterback like Justin Fields might have taken off if he had received support from the right head coach.
There have been several iconic HC-QB duos in the NFL. It is often impossible to think of one getting the kind of success they have got without the other. Such HC-QB duos form a tandem that works almost on a telepathic scale. Each knows where the other is coming from.
Here we try to give our opinion on who the most legendary HC-QB duos are in the NFL.
HC-QB duos that revolutionized NFL offenses
#5 - Sean Payton and Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints
In terms of Super Bowls won, this HC-QB duo does not come close to the top, having won just one (Super Bowl XLIV). But in terms of sheer numbers, it is hard to find anyone who comes close. During the fifteen seasons that Drew Brees played in New Orleans, he made the Pro Bowl 13 times.
But it was in terms of passing numbers where it is difficult to find a better HC-QB duo. Drew Brees was the season's passing leader for a record seven times and passing touchdowns leader for a record four times. He also led the league in completion percentages six times. As part of the HC-QB duo of the New Orleans Saints, he threw for a total of 68,010 yards, with an astonishing average of 4,534 yards per season, and averaged 32.73 touchdown passes a season.
To give you an idea of just how good those numbers are, let us consider Tom Brady and Peyton Manning's careers; the two other quarterbacks with the most passing yards. Tom Brady, excluding his rookie backup year and current season in progress, has a seasonal average of 3,959.9 yards and 29.05 touchdowns. Peyton Manning, excluding 2011 when he missed the entire season due to injury, has 4231.8 yards and 31.7 touchdowns a season.
#4 - Bill Walsh and Joe Montana, San Francisco 49ers
While Chuck Noll and Terry Bradshaw were also at the forefront of our consideration, in terms of impact on the NFL, few HC-QB duos can surpass Bill Walsh and Joe Montana. An entire concept, called the West Coast Offense, was perfected by this HC-QB duo.
To be fair, the first version of this offensive concept did not originate on the West Coast, but in Cincinnati with Virgil Carter and Ken Anderson playing quarterback roles under Bill Walsh. But the reason it got named so is because it reached its zenith in San Francisco.
Together, Walsh and Montana won three Super Bowl championships and helped transition the NFL into the pass-happy league that it is today, where more yards could be gained on short horizontal routes after a catch than by running.
HC-QB duos that ruled the NFL
While the previous HC-QB duos were those that made an impact on how the offense was played or how its limits could be stretched, we now move on to those HC-QB duos that have been most successful in winning championships. In this category, three HC-QB duos stand head and shoulders above the rest.
#3 - Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, New England Patriots
In the modern era, no HC-QB duo has been as successful as Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. Together they reached nine Super Bowls and won six of them. To put it into perspective, no franchise can match that record, let alone any other coach or quarterback. They also reached the AFC conference game thirteen times in 19 seasons and won the division title 17 times. During that time, Tom Brady was named Super Bowl MVP four times and won the league MVP award three times.
#2 - Vince Lombardi and Bart Starr, Green Bay Packers
To find any other HC-QB duo as iconic as that of Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, we must go all the way back to the very first years of the Super Bowl era. Even today, in terms of league championships, the Green Bay Packers lead the way with 13, and a primary component of their success was the HC-QB duo of Vince Lombardi and Bart Starr.
Lombardi and Starr were together for nine seasons, from 1959 to 1967. During that time they had a regular-season winning record of 0.77. But what made this HC-QB duo become a beast of its own was in the postseason, where in the 10 games they played, they lost only once.
They won seven league championships, including the first two Super Bowls. Bart Starr was chosen as the game's MVP in both Super Bowls. As for Vince Lombardi, they named the Super Bowl trophy in his honor.
#1 - Paul Brown and Otto Graham, Cleveland Browns
This brings us to arguably the greatest HC-QB duo of all time: the legendary Paul Brown and Otto Graham of the Cleveland Browns. They played together from 1946-1955. In those ten seasons, there was no one who could come close to surpassing them.
They had a winning record of 0.861 percent in the regular season and played 12 postseason matches, out of which they won nine. But it was their sheer dominance across the board that stood out. They won their conference in all the 10 seasons and won seven league championships.
Among Paul Brown's many inventions as a pioneering head coach was the draw play for his quarterbacks to use.
As far as Otto Graham is concerned, even after all these years, no one has ever come close to matching his winning record or his passing average of 8.63 yards per attempt, which remains an NFL record to this day. As far as iconic HC-QB duos go, it is hard to find any better than this one in terms of records and legacy.
