Today’s athletes and coaches take a completely different approach to sports than we have seen in years past. They are required to put in an insane amount of time and effort to perfect their craft, studying the game, and running the business that is their personal “brand.”
Needless to say, there is a lot that goes into being a successful player or coach. But just because an individual was good at one doesn’t mean it always translates to the other discipline.
In fact, we have even seen some Hall of Fame players, who were failures as coaches for one reason or another.
Let’s take a look across the broader sports landscape and identify five Hall of Fame players who went on to be horrible coaches—and five who turned out amazing!
Amazing – Forrest Gregg, NFL
During his playing days, Forrest Gregg was one of the most important contributors to the early Packers teams. He secured three Super Bowl rings as a player, was a nine-time Pro Bowler—and was critical in opening up opportunities for the run game, as well as protecting his Hall of Fame teammate and quarterback, Bart Star.
Gregg did an unbelievable job of turning his knowledge of the game into a successful coaching career. He had a nice run with the Packers and the Browns—and managed to make a Super Bowl appearance with the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl XVI (16).
Click on ‘Follow Us’ and get notified of the most viral NFL stories via Google! Follow Us
You might think that linemen are brutish mountain men who are just looking for somebody to hit, but Gregg proved that stereotype isn’t always true. His leadership abilities and deep knowledge of the game were integral to his success as a head coach once his playing days were done.
Horrible – Magic Johnson, NBA
Magic Johnson was one of the most dazzling performers on the hardwood during his playing days. Basketball fans were amazed on a night-to-night basis with his versatility and showmanship. After all, he was the face of the Showtime Lakers!
But it wasn’t just that ridiculous physical playmaking ability that allowed Magic to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to five NBA championships, during which he earned three MVP awards. Johnson was widely regarded as one of the most intelligent players that the game had ever seen. It was like he could see passing lanes that others couldn’t—and he knew where his teammates were going to be before they did.
Unfortunately for Magic, he was never really able to bottle this up into anything transferrable to the players during his admittedly brief coaching stint in 1994, which, came to an abrupt end with a 5-11 record.
Horrible – Bart Starr, NFL
There are some names in NFL history that are so universally recognized that they have almost become synonymous with the league’s lore—and Bart Starr, former Green Bay Packers legend is one of those names.
As a player, Bart Starr was legendary. He was the first superstar signal caller to really become a household name and he managed to lead the Green Bay Packers to a combined five Super Bowls and NFL championships—his career dates back to the Super Bowl.
There is no shortage of accomplishments that Starr was able to pin to his trophy case as one of the game’s pioneers.
After all, we are talking about the guy who earned MVP honors in the first two Super Bowls in league history.
Unfortunately for Star and the Packers, all of the magic that he had under center running the offense for legendary head coach, Vince Lombardi didn’t translate super well to coaching. While Star coached the Packers between 1975 and 1983, the Packers really struggled to find any of the consistent success they had while he was actually on the gridiron himself. Those Green Bay teams compiled a 52-76-3 record and never came close to sniffing a Super Bowl.
Amazing – Mike Ditka, NFL
While you might not think that playing the tight end position correlates to becoming a successful head coach in the NFL like, say, playing quarterback would—Mike Ditka was actually one of the more impressive Hall of Fame players turned head coaches that the game has ever seen.
During his playing days, he was one of the toughest S.O.Bs that the game knew. He blocked like a madman—and was way ahead of his time with the way that he could reliably catch the ball as a tight end at that time. Ditka never won a “Super Bowl” but he was an integral contributor to the Bears 1963 NFL Championship. Oh, and let’s not forget—we are talking about a five-time Pro Bowl selection.
Ditka was legit as they get.
What’s interesting about Ditka as a coach, is he was able to find a unique way to take that identity he had as a player and integrate it into his team. That toughness and grit he played the tight end position with all of those years became the culture in Chicago—and what all his Bears teams were known for.
He wasn’t a perfect coach, as he had some issues navigating the egos of certain star players, but he was pretty darned good all this considered. He compiled a 121 and 95 record across his career and led the iconic ’85 Bears to a blowout win in Super Bowl XX, which cemented their legacy as one of the greatest teams to ever lineup on a football field.
Horrible – Mike Singletary, NFL
The case of Mike Singletary is an interesting one. The Hall of Fame linebacker obviously played on the defensive side of the ball during his epic playing career—and during that time, he gained a reputation for his extreme toughness, grit, and knowledge of the game. A very similar profile to the aforementioned Mike Ditka, only, Singletary was even more proficient at his position.
Chicago’s star secured 10 Pro Bowl selections and was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year. We may have misspoken earlier… Mike Singletary was as legit as they get! Ditka was a close second.
Anyway, the advantage that Singletary had over Ditka—and frankly 99% of the guys who have ever played the game of football—just didn’t seem to align with success as a head coach.
This could in part be because he started his head coaching career much later in life, taking the head job with the 49ers in ’08 a full decade after he’d been inducted in the Hall of Fame, let alone retired.
And… let’s just say it was not pretty.
San Francisco’s decision to hire the legend was a complete flop. They recorded an 18 and 22 record and he didn’t even make it through the end of the 2010 season, as the 49ers put him on the chopping block.
Amazing – Joe Torre, MLB
Joe Torre is a unique case, as his managerial career was so impressive and, admittedly distanced time-wise, that it completely overshadows what was actually an insanely accomplished playing career that I’d bet a ton of today’s fans aren’t fully aware of.
Back in his heyday, Torre was a nine-time MLB All-Star and even won National League MVP honors in 1971. It may have taken him a while to be inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame because of their ridiculous standards, but he was legit.
And then when he transitioned into his role as the Yankee manager, well, the rest—as they say—is history. He led the Yankees to four World Series wins in ’96, then three in a row between ’98 and 2000.
When all was said and done he had recorded over 2300 wins as a manager, simply ridiculous!
Horrible – Ted Williams, MLB
While Ted Williams may have been an even better player than Torre—not to mention, the last guy to hit .400 for a full season—he was never able to complete the transition to manager in the way that his peer was, as Williams’ managerial career was far less accomplished than his playing career.
It is honestly not even worth comparing the two from a managerial standpoint… The delta between them is just too massive that there is really no clear lane to draw a comparison. It is like they had two different post-playing careers!
Looking more closely at what Williams did with the clipboard in hand, he finished his run as a manager with a 273-364 record and no playoff appearances, which, let’s face it is a massive disappointment when juxtaposed to his two-time MVP, six-time batting champion run with the RedSox as player.
Williams was a bonafide Hall of Fame player in every sense of the term—unfortunately, coaching just wasn’t his deal. What can you do?!
Amazing – Bill Russell, NBA
When you talk about a guy who was able to take what he stood for as a man—and, frankly, as a basketball player—and open up new ways of thinking and being for the men around him, Bill Russell is the first name that comes to mind.
Long before he was known for being one of the great social activists of our time, Bill Russell was a leader of men on the basketball court. So much so, that the five-time NBA MVP even had a stint where he was named the player-coach of the Boston Celtics.
Crazy as that might be to imagine in the context of today’s sports—it is true! And Russell did a pretty damn good job at it too. The all-time great captured two of his 11, yes, I repeat 11! NBA championships while he was playing for and coaching the team, which is an accomplishment that I HIGHLY doubt will ever be matched.
It is interesting that Russell, unlike many other great players, even ones that exemplified strong leadership capabilities on the court, was able to rise to take that skill set and apply it as a coach. It wasn’t just a matter of shouting rah-rah and getting the guys excited before games either. Both as a player and a coach, Russell had a unique ability to set the standard for the way that the team needed to play, particularly when it came to the small things—and, of course, the defensive side of the ball.
As both a player and a coach… and a man, really—Bill Russell will always be remembered as one of the best to ever do it.
Horrible – Wayne Gretzky, NHL
While today’s hockey fans love to make noise about players like Connor McDavid, most hockey historians will tell you that there is very little chance that Wayne Gretzky is ever unseated as the GOAT of the NFL.
I mean… His nickname was literally “the great one” and he set darn near every record in the sport, including the most points—and did so with such a massive gap between the competition. If what he accomplished as an individual wasn’t enough, Gretzky’s abilities also translated extremely well to team success, as he won four Stanley Cups as a player too.
Looking back, however, it does appear that his “translation” abilities ended there, as his tenure as the head coach of the Phoenix Coyotes was unsuccessful—and not just compared to what he accomplished as a player either… It was just outright bad. He finished with a 143 – 161 – 24 record and the Coyotes never came close to sniffing the level of competence that Gretzky’s teams did during his playing days.
Granted, the deck was in some ways stacked against him considering the relative newness of the franchise—and the region’s relative disinterest in the sport as a whole, but still… I think the entire world was expecting more out of the Great One!
Amazing – Tommy Heinsohn, NBA
Many of today’s NBA fans may know Tommy Heinsohn as the former broadcasting voice of the Boston Celtics, which he was for many years—and with great success… There was actually a time when he was not only an accomplished coach, but even before then, he was a great player in his own right.
Heinsohn was an eight-time NBA Champion as a player for the Celtics, which, admittedly can be largely attributed to his legendary teammate at the time, Bill Russell… But we can’t hold having good teammates against Tommy! Especially not when he was a six-time All-Star in his own right!
After his playing days, Heinsohn had the opportunity to coach the Celtics and led the team to two NBA Titles and won NBA Coach of the Year honors in ’73.
And yes… for anyone who was wondering… He carried that same animated bravado he had as a broadcaster during his playing and coaching career!
