Shawn's Favorite Five: Pro Football

     Shawn's Favorite Five will be a series that will look at my five favorite coaches from a sport that isn't my pick for the five greatest or best coaches; it's just a list of my five favorites in no particular order.

Pro Football will be the center of this version of Shawn's Favorite Five.

1: Buddy Ryan, Philadelphia and Phoenix 

The irascible and downright hilarious master of the "46" defense, Buddy Ryan, built one of the best defenses ever with the 87-90 Eagles, and it was Ryan who gave the Cardinals their first non-losing season (8-8) in the first of his two years in Arizona.

A terrific judge of talent, Buddy Ryan only had one problem as a head coach- he didn't like offenses, and it often hurt his teams in the clutch.

Ryan was 0-3 in the playoffs for Philadelphia, and his teams were known for playing up or down to their competition.

Still, I loved Buddy Ryan and his willingness to take on anyone ( he called Eagles owner Norman Braman "The Guy In France" and as the Houston Oilers defensive coordinator, he punched coaching staff member Kevin Gilbride during a game) and in his own way, Buddy Ryan was "Stone Cold" Steve Austin a decade before telling off your boss was cool.

Except that Stone Cold eventually won the championship.

2) George Allen, Los Angeles Rams, Washington, USFL Chicago, and Arizona

Known for his fanatical obsessions in looking for every advantage and his willingness to stretch the rulebook (Allen once traded draft picks that his team didn't own), Allen despised younger players lacking the patience to develop them for the future, famously uttering the phrase "The Future is Now!"

Allen traded draft picks like kids trading sports cards and usually obtained players near the end of their career, building a franchise with veterans known as "The Over The Hill Gang".

The vaunted Dallas-Washington rivalry was one created by Allen, who emphasised the games against the Cowboys to a manic level, and his greatest victory came versus Dallas, Washington's 26-3 victory in the 1972 NFC Championship.

Allen's clean-cut but intense style made him wear out his welcome in his NFL stops in Los Angeles and Washington, and when he received a second chance in Los Angeles in 1978, Allen lasted only two preseason games and would never coach in the NFL again.

3) Jerry Glanville, Houston Oilers and Atlanta.

Glanville's star blazed quickly through the NFL as he led the Oilers to multiple playoff berths and even the Falcons to a playoff victory, but "The Man in Black" would never coach in the NFL again after the Falcons fired him after consecutive 6-10 seasons following the 1992 season.

Glanville's teams were known for his quick wit, dressing in all black, and were known for their "aggressive" defensive play.

After being fired by Atlanta, Glanville worked in NFL media until 2005, when he returned to coaching as Hawaii's defensive coordinator under former Glanville assistant June Jones.

Glanville's post-Atlanta coaching stops include head coaching stints at 1-AA Portland State, and minor league TSL Conquerors (The Spring League), and the Alabama Airborne (Major League Football), and defensive coordinator positions with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (CFL), Tampa Bay Vipers (XFL) along with his current job at Division II Northwestern Oklahoma State.

4) Dan Reeves, Denver, New York Giants, Atlanta

A winner at all three stops, Reeves's teams always ran into better teams in the Super Bowl.

A Tom Landry protégé, Reeves was a bit more fiery than Landry and won with both great quarterbacks (John Elway), very good quarterbacks (Phil Simms), and average quarterbacks (Chris Chandler).

Reeves coached iu four Super Bowls, three with Denver and one with Atlanta losing all four to better teams (Denver losing to the 86 Giants, 87 Redskins, and 89 49ers, Atlanta losing to the 98 Broncos).

Reeves's teams may have fallen short in the Super Bowl, but they were usually reliable in big games other than the biggest games.

5) Bum Phillips: Houston, New Orleans.

"Bum", known for his cowboy hat for outdoor games that he wouldn't wear for home games because both teams that he coached played inside domed stadiums, took the Houston Oilers to their first three playoff appearances in the NFL, and two AFC championship appearances, and the start of the "Luv Ya Blue" Oilers behind the power running of Earl Campbell.

Phillips was surprisingly fired by Houston after the third playoff appearance in 1980, and after a few unsuccessful seasons with the New Orleans Saints, he retired from coaching.

The folksy Phillips was perfect for two southern franchises and helped to make his teams easy to root for, even for fans without a dog in the fight.

Cleaning out the Inbox- Football Passings

    Sadly we have had enough recent football passing to give the football world its own tribute post, so we honor these recent passings.

Goodbye to Dan Reeves at the age of 77.

Reeves played eight seasons with the Dallas Cowboys as a running back, winning a Super Bowl championship with Dallas in 1972 in their 24-3 win over the Dolphins but is better remembered for his coaching career with the Broncos, Giants, and Falcons.

Reeves took Denver to three Super Bowls and Atlanta to their first-ever Super Bowl but all four teams lost on the big stage and that might be what is keeping Reeves from the Hall of Fame, although Marv Levy and Bud Grant each lost four Super Bowls and are enshrined in Canton.

Reeves's Denver teams won 10 or more games seven times to go with the three AFC titles and Reeves is one of only nine coaches to win more than two hundred games in their career.

As a Denver fan during the Reeves years, I know personally how little offensive skill talent that Reeves and John Elway had to work with and honestly I don't see how if you have Marv Levy in the Hall that you don't vote in Dan Reeves.

Goodbye to Ralph Neely at the age of 78.

A teammate of Dan Reeves with the Dallas Cowboys, Neely was named All-Pro at offensive tackle. four times and was selected to the NFL's all-1960s team.

Neely won two Super Bowls with Dallas and many believe that Neely is just as deserving as his partner at tackle with the Cowboys, Rayfield Wright, as a Hall of Famer.

Neely was the only player that had a specific place in the 1966 AFL-NFL merger as Neely had signed contracts with both the Cowboys and Houston Oilers coming out of Oklahoma.

The case moved into litigation and one stipulation of the merger was for the Neely situation to be settled between the two Texas teams.

The agreement would see Dallas send a first, second, and two fifth-round draft choices as well as agreeing to an annual pre-season game between the teams for a "Governor's Cup".

Goodbye to Len Hauss at the age of 79.

Hauss started 192 consecutive games in a 14-year career that he spent all with Washington at center.

Hauss was the anchor of the successful teams of the offensive line for the standout George Allen teams of the 1970s, making five Pro Bowls between 1966 and 1972.

Hauss was the ninth-round pick in 1964 by Washington from Georgia as part of a draft that saw Washington draft Hall of Famers in the first two rounds in Charlie Taylor and Paul Krause.

Len Hauss was the first professional football player that I ever met and should I stumble upon the picture that he signed for me, I'm sure I'll write a post about that day!

Goodbye to Ross Browner at the age of 67.

Part of the Browner family that saw four brothers play in the NFL and two of their sons, including Browner's son, Max Starks, play in the league, Ross Browner was the first of the four to make an impact as Browner was the eighth overall pick by the Bengals in the 1978 draft after winning the Outland Trophy in 1976 and the Lombardi Trophy in 1977 at Notre Dame.

Browner would play nine years with the Bengals, finishing with eight or more sacks six times before jumping to the USFL's Houston Gamblers for the 1985 season.

Browner would play again for the Bengals in 1985 and 86 before finishing his career in 1987 with the Packers.

Goodbye to Dave Campbell at the age of  96.

Campbell's namesake magazine " Dave Campbell's Texas Football" is known as the bible of Texas high school and college football and has been in print since 1960.

Campbell was the long-time sports editor for the Waco Tribune-Herald and when he started Texas Football (and for several years) printed the magazine out of his home before it eventually outgrew the kitchen!

Campbell would sell the magazine in 1985 but his name would remain and he would be involved with the magazine until his passing.