When we look back at all of the all-time great coaches many names come to mind. Don Shula, Vince Lombardi, and Tom Landry will be at the top of our entire list. But one stands in the NFL as the greatest. Since 1970 the most sought after prize in the NFL was named the Vince Lombardi Trophy. There is no doubt about it; Vince Lombardi was a great coach. He coached the Green Bay packers for 9 years during the 1959-1967 NFL seasons. He also coached the Washington Redskins for a season in 1969. Lombardi also won the first 2 Super Bowls. His 9-1 post season record was remarkable as was his 96 wins in his 136 career games as a head coach. If the super bowl trophy had to be named after a person in 1970 than there is no doubt that Lombardi deserved that honor.

We are in a whole new era of football since the days of Lombardi and change is nothing new for the NFL. The league has changed the amount of games played every season. Running backs can be called for unnecessary roughness. And end zone celebrations are often penalized as of recently. Football isn’t as smash mouth as it was during the 60’s and 70’s. As much as we long for knock you out of your socks hits it just can’t happen without some sort of fine or penalty.

Dec 20, 2008; Irving, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys fan shows support for Tom Landry during the game against the Baltimore Ravens at Texas Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-US PRESSWIRE

If so much of the NFL can change than why can’t the name of the Super Bowl Trophy? In 1970 Vince Lombardi was at the end of his coaching and during that time he was no doubt the best coach in the history of the NFL. History has changed since 1970 and I’m not sure that world would consider him the best coach of all time now. I don’t think too much of the world would consider his accomplishment as greater than the career of Bill Belichick. I’m not trying to take away from the Lombardi Legacy, I’m just pointing out a possible change that shouldn’t be frowned upon by the NFL and fans everywhere.

Tom Landry coached the Dallas Cowboys for 29 years. There will never be another coach to have tenure with a single team like that ever again in the NFL. Tom Landry coached a NFC champion team 5 times in his career. He won 2 Lombardi Trophy’s during his years as the coach of Americas Team.  From 1966-1988 Tom Landry’s Cowboys only missed the playoffs 5 times. He coached the Dallas Cowboys for 454 games while only losing 178 of them. Tom Landry was a defensive coordinator for the New York Giants while Lombardi was the offensive coordinator and while he was an actual player for the team as well. Tom Landry invented the 4-3 defensive scheme and revolutionized the offensive play by creating a system open up holes for runners instead of Lombardi’s “run to daylight” scheme which had runners find openings themselves.

Sep 20, 2009; Arlington, TX, USA; A statue of former head coach Tom Landry outside of the new Cowboys Stadium before the game between the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-US PRESSWIRE

Jerry Jones first step as the owner of the Dallas Cowboys was firing Landry and replaced him with Jimmy Johnson. Even though Johnson won 2 Lombardi trophy’s Jerry Jones still admits that firing Tom Landry is his worst mistake he has ever made. If Landry had coached the great 90’s team he probably would have got a few more titles for Jerry and I think he knows it.

As I said before, I’m not trying to take away anything that Vince Lombardi has done for the NFL. I’m just trying to point out who, in my opinion, is the greatest coach in the history of the NFL. And also ask a question. “Why can’t it be called the Tom Landry Trophy”?

Amongst the myriad of names is the current head coach of the Carolina Panthers, John Fox. Eric Quankenbush of CatCrave.com has agreed to answer a few questions regarding Coach Fox.  Thank you Eric for taking the time to give us a bit of insight.

1. Is Coach Fox on the hot seat in Carolina? When is the last year of his contract up?

I don’t know that I’d term Fox as being in the hot seat. As a lame duck head coach, and one who almost certainly won’t be offered an extension to remain with the Carolina Panthers, it’s difficult to label Fox as “in the hot seat.” In terms of auditioning for another head coaching job, I suppose you might loosely say he is in the hot seat to get the team to perform as well as possible in his last year as head coach of the Panthers, but his future in Carolina does not hinge on success or lack thereof.

2. How is Coach Fox’s time and timeout management? Does he frivilously challenge plays, does he call timeouts to save five yards but it later haunts him?

Overall I would say that when Fox uses a challenge against an official’s call, 85 percent of the time, I would agree with throwing the challenge flag. Of course there are times where a call is so close to be overturned, that as spectators and upon review, we realize the previous play should not have been challenged. I do believe Fox makes a good case for using challenges wisely and most sparingly.

As for clock management, I would say Fox is slightly below average in managing the game clock. There are numerous times I can recount where there have been timeouts remaining and they haven’t been used (sometimes it’s player error), and a loss or penalty has been the result. Other times time outs have been needlessly wasted, which usually impacts the team negatively in the long run.

3. How involved is he with the defensive calls and game planning? Ya’ll run a version of the Tampa 2 defense. Would he be able to transition to the a version of the 3-4, or like Mike Tomlin, defer to a defensive coordinator?

I would say that until this year, Fox has been fairly well-involved with the defensive play calling. However this season it seems more like Carolina is actually utilizing a Ron Meeks defensive style more than a John Fox style. In his eight or nine years with the Panthers, Fox has been very controlling over the defensive play calling; so much that I would in fact be surprised if he would defer defensive play calling to a defensive coordinator on a new team. I believe the main reason Meeks has been allowed to run his style of defense, is because it’s one which Fox isn’t as familiar with as a 4-3 defense. Which will probably answer your other question on if Fox can run a 3-4 defensive set. I suppose he could, but I don’t think he’ll want to. He’s a 4-3 style of defensive coach. If that means deferring defensive playcalling to a coordinator who is versed in the 3-4 defense, then I suppose that would be different, but will he allow another coordinator full control of either side of the ball? I would venture to say I doubt it.

4. Fox has had some up and down seasons. Have there ever been any issues of the players quitting or not playing hard?

To date, I can’t really recall ever seeing or hearing of a team quitting on Fox. Maybe certain individuals are not performing or have not performed to their full potential at times, to date Fox has never coachedd worse than a 7-9 record. I believe that a major factor of this season’s downfall has been the lack of veteran playmakers and veteran leadership. There are a lot of rookies and three – four year starters who are still finding their ways. Even with a record of 1-6, this team has still not thrown in the towel.

5. Is Fox a disciplinarian coach? How physical are training camps and practices?

I would say Fox is not quite a disciplinarian style of coach, but he’s also not one who lets the team run itself. He’s very active with players during camps and practices, and he expects everyone to put in an honest day’s work. Some coaches run their training camps like a resort, while others like an army base. Fox is somewhere between those two extremes. Training camps are mostly like the rest in the NFL: two-a-days for the most part. For the Panthers, since the extreme heat and humidity in central SC is mostly unbearable, training camp practices usually take place in the late morning and right around dusk.

Coach Fox will seemingly be available, but he doesn’t appear to be a perfect fit in Dallas (scheme and disciplinary attitude).  Unfortunately the Cowboys have dug themselves into an unenviable position where the players are overrated and overpaid, and management usurps the authority of the head coach.  The question has been asked, “Who exactly would want to coach in Dallas?”