Powered by:
as known from New York Timesas known from USA Todayas known from yahoo!
VA
Contains commercial content
The Grueling Truth - Where Legends Speak / Paul Brown is the Greatest Head Coach of All Time

Paul Brown is the Greatest Head Coach of All Time

Chalk it up
Publish Date: 02/17/2024
Fact checked by: Mike Goodpaster

When discussing the Greatest Head Coaches of All Time, the typical names all pop up. People say it’s Bill Belichick, Don Shula or even Vince Lombardi. However, one coach that typically gets glanced over way too much is the great Paul Brown. When talking about the Greatest Head Coach of All Time, I believe that winning and the impact on the sport has a big mark on the conversation. Only John Heisman, born in Cleveland, has had more of an impact on the sport of football than Paul Brown.

Brown’s impact on the sport of football cannot be overlooked. He practically founded the AFC North. He is why three out of the four teams are even in the NFL. He was a co-founder of the Cleveland Browns, who left and became the Baltimore Ravens, then founded the Cincinnati Bengals and the Cleveland Browns then returned in 1999.

What other coach can say that they are responsible for nearly an entire division in the NFL?

The answer is none.

“Brown with guard John Wooton on the sideline in ’62 at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco, facing one of the other old AAFC teams, the 49ers.”

His teams are responsible for 1,073 wins, eight championships and two Super Bowls. However, his impact on the game doesn’t just stop with those teams. He has coached three of the greatest players ever to play their positions in Otto Graham, Jim Brown and Lou Groza. You could easily debate those three to be the greatest ever to play their respective positions, is there any other coach who could say that?

His contributions to the game of football don’t just end there. He invented a couple of major helmet pieces that have had a huge impact on the entire sport. One of those valuable pieces is the face mask.

One game, quarterback Otto Graham took a big hit and knocked a couple of his teeth out, and he was fed up, so Paul Brown got in contact with his good friend at Riddle and came up with a curved piece of clear acrylic to place on Otto’s helmet to protect him from those big hits to the face. The face mask was quickly placed on every helmet of the Browns players. Also, as a quick little fun fact about how crazy Paul Brown was, since there wasn’t a penalty for grabbing the face mask and pulling them down, Paul had the genius idea of putting thumbtacks on the inside of the face mask, so when someone tried to grab the face-mask to make the tackle, they ended up cutting up their hand.

Another invention he had implemented that was way ahead of its time was the radio transmitter helmet. Two Browns fans, John Campbell and George Sarles, had come up to Paul Brown about the potential of putting a radio transmitter they had made into George Ratterman’s helmet to help cut down on time and mistakes made from getting the plays into the QB from a substitute player. A fun little note about this story, Brown, Sarles and Campbell were very secretive about this project. They even went into the woods to test it, Sarles who had the helmet on, quickly lost the connection and was unable to communicate back to Brown and Campbell. Those two, concerned about Sarles being lost, decided to go into the woods to find him. When they found him, he was talking to a police officer who had picked up the frequency but promised to keep it under wraps because he was a huge Browns fan. It took the NFL a couple of games to figure out that they were using this device in the helmet, but a couple of weeks after they did, they banned it. It remained banned until 1994 and is now a crucial part of the game.

While his contributions to the football game are great, his record also adds a great deal to the argument. Paul Brown was unstoppable when he coached the Browns; he had an immaculate record of 158 wins and only 48 losses, which is nearly a .800 winning record, which is hard even to imagine. On top of that, he managed to rack up 10-straight championship appearances and win seven of them. A huge feat to accomplish especially making the seamless merge from the AAFC to the NFL and not missing a single beat.

His no-nonsense approach touched his players. A week before the 1946 championship game, team captain Jim Daniell got belligerently intoxicated and swung at a Cleveland police officer. When Paul Brown found out, he told him to get out at the next team meeting. He made an example out of him, and the players respected Paul; he got the most out of his players. He may have been ruthless and tough, but he was one amazing head coach. No one wanted to mess with Paul Brown. He was so good at everything that no one wanted to step up to try to challenge him. If you want to talk about the Greatest Head Coach of All Time, leaving the legendary Paul Brown out of that conversation would be a mistake.

 

Read Also
Esteban de Jesus, Roberto Duran y AIDS (1972-89)
Many of us dream of celebrity sports fame, but only cruel individuals ...
The Complexities of Bob Knight: The Greatest Coach of All-Time?
  Bob Knight, born in 1940 and raised in Orrville, Ohio, was ...
Bet365 Promo
The Greatest College Basketball Team of All Time
Rating the greatest college basketball teams ever has been done many times ...
Ernie Lombardi: The Other Great Cincinnati Reds Catcher
Baseball writer Bill James once called Ernie Lombardi "the slowest man to ...
Come Fly with me: How the 1988-89 Chicago Bulls pushed forward to an NBA dynasty.
Find the best sportsbook to bet on the NBA Playoffs! Prologue: By ...
Ranking the top 200 players in the NFL ahead of the 2021 season
This list isn’t based solely on performances from the 2020 NFL season. ...
Top 100 NFL free agents entering the 2021 offseason
Below is a list of the top 100 free agents available this ...
Lady Tyger’s Tale: How Marian Trimiar Mauled the Boxing Establishment of the 1970s and 80s
To Feed the Ambition in Your Heart is Like Carrying a Tiger ...
The Forgotten Canadian Champion (And Maybe It’s Deserved): Billy Hawkins
As Mike Goodpaster and I prepare our popular Old-Time Boxing Show podcast, ...
The Twilight Rounds: Rod Serling explores the dark side of boxing – Round seven
“In this corner of the universe, a prizefighter named Bolie Jackson, 183 ...
Sportsbook of the month
Bet365 - Get your Bonus Bet now! Get your Bonus Bet now!
Latest News
Ursa Major or Minor: Was it Jeffries or Liston? 
James Jackson Jeffries and Charles L. “Sonny” Liston; ...
2024 NFL Mock Draft: Updated 3.0 with Trades included!
Free agency is all but done at this ...
Top 10 Sweet 16 Upsets of all time: Michael Jordan is on the list!
Sweet 16 is where Cinderella mostly goes to ...
Dusty May Named Michigan Coach: While Indiana stands pat with Mike Woodson
Dusty May is what the Indiana Hoosiers need ...
Our Latest YouTube Videos
Video: Indiana Basketball Weekly: IU/Maryland Recap, Hoosiers with come from behind win!
Indiana Basketball Weekly: IU/Maryland Recap, Hoosiers with come from behind win!
Video: Survive and Advance: Are the Transfer Portal and NIL Killing College Sports!
Survive and Advance: Are the Transfer Portal and NIL Killing College Sports!
Video: March Madness Special: Sweet 16 Preview and Predictions for every game
March Madness Special: Sweet 16 Preview and Predictions for every game
Top Betting Sites
Top Betting Bonuses
Bet365
Bet365
Bet365 Review
4.7/5
BetMGM
BetMGM
BetMGM Review
4.7/5
FanDuel
FanDuel
FanDuel Review
4.6/5
Caesars
Caesars
Caesars Review
4.5/5
DraftKings
DraftKings
DraftKings Review
4.5/5
Bet365
Bet365 Bonus
First Bet Safety Net up to $1000 OR Bet $5 and Get $150
T&Cs apply
4.7/5
At bet365 we don't do ordinary, that's why if you sign up now you'll get the choice of two great New Customer Offers, the First Bet Safety Net up to $1000 or Bet $5 and Get $150 in Bonus Bets. Deposit required. Bonus Bets wager excluded from returns. T&Cs, time limits and exclusions apply. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-Gambler 21+
BetMGM
BetMGM Bonus
Up To $1500 in Bonus Bets Paid Back if your First Bet Does Not Win
T&Cs apply
4.7/5
FanDuel
FanDuel Bonus
Bet $5 Get $200 in Bonus Bets if your bet wins
T&Cs apply
4.6/5
Caesars
Caesars Bonus
100% up to $1000
T&Cs apply
4.5/5
DraftKings
DraftKings Bonus
Bet $5, Get $150 in Bonus Bets Instantly
T&Cs apply
4.5/5
Our Team
Mike GoodpasterJosh SchwartzSimon BriffaMark LewisSamuel Teets
Mike Goodpaster
Mike Goodpaster
Chief Editor
Josh Schwartz
Josh Schwartz
Editor
Simon Briffa
Simon Briffa
Sports Editor
Mark Lewis
Mark Lewis
Editor
Samuel Teets
Samuel Teets
US Sports Veteran
Find out what the legends have to say about sports this week....
Find out what the legends have to say about sports this week....

21+ and present in VA. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.

This site is using Cloudflare and adheres to the Google Safe Browsing Program. We adapted Google's Privacy Guidelines to keep your data safe at all times.

Close
Players accepted in the US US Flag
Stake.us Exclusive Bonus
$55 Stake Cash + 260K Gold Coins + 5% Rakeback
Promo Code
Copy
Visit Site
T&Cs apply, 18+
Payment Methods
Bitcoin
Litecoin
Ethereum
Dogecoin
Highlights
  • Exclusive promo code: TGTSOCIAL
  • Play Plinko, Hilo, Crash and more!
  • Get Stake Cash bonuses every day!
Stake Originals
Dice
Crash
Plinko
Mines
×
Your Promo Code:
The bonus offer of was already opened in an additional window. If not, you can open it also by clicking the following link:
Visit Site