Best, and worst, HC to make JUST THREE post-seasons?

[74_75_78_79_]

Buddy Parker (1952-thru-'54) would have to be Numero Uno (remember, he wasn't onboard for '57)!

Who would you pick as the best, post-merger?

Worst three-time playoff-berther? Switzer (1994-thru-'96)? No, I am not going to give that 'honor' to someone who actually won a Super Bowl!

[ChrisBabcock]

I think everyone's busy poring over p-f-r compiling the list of coaches who would qualify before beginning this excercise.

[Jay Z]

Parker's the best. Worst IMO is Jack Del Rio.

[Bryan]

Best: Neale
Worst: McKay

[Brian wolf]

Its close but I would choose Parker over Neale. Due to expectations, still disappointed in Switzer though other factors "might" have kept The Boys from three-peating ...

[74_75_78_79_]

How do i forget Greasy Neale???? Shame on me!! With that reminder, now I'm not too sure! Both he and Parker pretty even to me! Three post-seasons, each one a LCG-berth and winning two of them! Neale posted 4 of 7 winning seasons outside those LCGs (highlight being 7-1-2 in '44), and Parker went 7 for 12 (highlight being 9-3 in '56).

Sure-enough there's some other such pre-merger HC nestled in there from my view.

Best three-time-playoff-berther since the merger? I'll chronologically start with pondering a tiebreaker between Dick Nolan and Bum Phillips! Both eerily similar in that each of their three were back-to-back CCG-berths following yet another playoff appearance the very next year. And then each having an unsuccessful run in New Orleans but not without at least flirting with the playoffs there (Nolan in '79, Phillips in '83).

Jim Harbaugh (2011-thru-'13)? The man may have some critics, but three-straight CCGs right off the bat with a franchise that didn't make the playoffs in nine years! Not saying that I'll pick him #1 post-merger, but that feat of his is not real easy to dismiss.

[Bryan]

How do i forget Greasy Neale???? Shame on me!! With that reminder, now I'm not too sure! Both he and Parker pretty even to me! Three post-seasons, each one a LCG-berth and winning two of them! Neale posted 4 of 7 winning seasons outside those LCGs (highlight being 7-1-2 in '44), and Parker went 7 for 12 (highlight being 9-3 in '56).

Jim Harbaugh (2011-thru-'13)? The man may have some critics, but three-straight CCGs right off the bat with a franchise that didn't make the playoffs in nine years! Not saying that I'll pick him #1 post-merger, but that feat of his is not real easy to dismiss.

Again, I'm not really identifying with "winning seasons" as being a point of excellence. Neale inherited a team in complete disrepair and had to build them into the elite team in the NFL. The Eagles were the class of the NFL. The team Parker inherited in 1951 already had many HOFers and the nucleus of the Lions subsequent championship teams. This is JMO, but the Browns were always the dominant team in the NFL even with the Lions winning the 52 and 53 titles. The Lions were fortunate to win those titles, then were blown out in 54. When Parker had to build his own team from scratch, he was mediocre with the Steelers, even when mortgaging the future with 'veterans for draft picks' trades. The majority of Parker's career was spent with the Steelers, and in those 8 years he hovered around .500 and never made the postseason.

As for Harbaugh, those Niners teams were loaded with talent. Singletary was a terrible HC, and the Niners really underachieved. Harbaugh stepped into a gold mine, but the Super Bowl loss was devastating. That Ravens team was completely overmatched by the Niners, but the Niners played terrible. They couldn't stop Flacco, they made special teams mistakes...if not for a power outage the game might have been a blowout. After that Super Bowl loss, the Seahawks took over as the dominant team, even though the Niners were still loaded with talent. It was really a missed opportunity for the Niners to have all those great players and still not win a ring.

[Brian wolf]

Before blowing out the Lions in the 1954 NFL Championship game, where Graham played lights out, the Browns were 0-4 against Parker's Detroit team ... Put the man in Canton.

[Bryan]

Before blowing out the Lions in the 1954 NFL Championship game, where Graham played lights out, the Browns were 0-4 against Parker's Detroit team ... Put the man in Canton.

A valid point...the Lions were the only team of that era to have the Browns' number. Something to be said for that accomplishment.

[Brian wolf]

Youre right about Pitts, Bryan ... Parker struggled there but it wasnt like this team was a great franchise to begin with. They almost never won games, the owner knew more about horses than football, they were the last team to move on from the single-wing and players werent dying to play there. Walt Keisling had kept his coaching job far too long and they gave up on John Unitas, while RB Rogel was going up the middle ... even Bobby Layne complained about the local Pittsburgh women, saying they had "black legs" from local coalminers touching them. Layne won some games but was aging quickly even while disdaining a facemask but the Steelers couldnt stay consistent on offense or defense. Like you said, Parker's drafts and trades didnt work, especially angering his black players but QB Ed Brown had a chance to help them win the division after Layne but the offensive line couldnt protect him and the team faltered ...