Why PFN's All-Time Miami Dolphins head coaching list is a bit off

In a new Pro Football Network article by Adam Beasley, a longtime Miami Dolphins beat writer, the best five coaches in team history are laid out and it comes with some controversy, as most rankings do. As Beasley knows, you are not going to please everyone.

Consider me one of those fans who doesn't see the rankings the same way he does. That isn't a bad thing; it's simply a difference of opinion. Beasley has his rankings with Don Shula at the top, and there is no one on Earth that would complain or expect anything less.

Don Shula is the winningest coach in NFL history and even if someday Bill Belichick gets back into a head coaching role and overtakes Shula, he will do so with the stigma of cheating all over him. No one in Dolphins history has done more for the team than Shula in terms of coaching. On that we all can agree.

Brian Flores comes at No. 5 on this list, and honestly, he shouldn't be in the Top 5. Tony Sparano belongs higher. While Beasley makes a point of Flores doing more with less, how can Sparano be summarily dismissed? He took a team that won one game the year before he arrived and led them to an AFC East title and an 11-5 record. Sparano also dealt with the entire Steven Ross/Jeff Ireland/Jim Harbaugh debacle, so let's not give a lot of stock to Flores, who is winning games with Ryan Fitzpatrick.

No. 4 on the list: Dave Wannstedt

Dave Wannstedt deserves to be on this list, but not at No. 4. The truth is Wannstedt, like him or not, did more with far less than Jimmy Johnson. His win totals were better, too. Wannstedt is still the second-most winningest coach in Dolphins history, and that isn't going to change for a few more years if Mike McDaniel sticks around and succeeds.

McDaniel comes at No. 3 on the list, and fans don't have a problem with him being a Top 5 coach in Dolphins history. However, he should be listed at No. 4 or No. 5. You could argue that until McDaniel surpasses Sparano, he should be at No. 5. If all goes well for McDaniel in 2024, he will move into fourth place on the Dolphins All-Time coaches list in terms of wins. He is nine wins behind Sparano and 16 behind Johnson.

No. 2 on the list: Jimmy Johnson

Johnson, as Beasley points out, did not have the same success in Miami that he had in Dallas. That was going to be a hard team to emulate. Here is the thing about Johnson, though: he tore down the Dolphins history and tradition to build his own, in which he failed. For those who think that Wannstedt was bad, remember it was Johnson who went to Wayne Huizenga and convinced him to promote Wannstedt. Johnson benefited from a great defensive system, but he left the offense in shambles. He also left the Dolphins when he realized that his success wasn't going to be as easy as it was in Dallas.

Again, we're not knocking Adam Beasley; he has his reasons, and he laid them out in his article. It's his opinion. If we are to base a list solely on wins and losses, McDaniel won't be on the list. In reality, Beasley swapped Johnson and Wannstedt and moved Wannstedt down while putting Flores on. Our list would look like this:

No. 1 Don Shula - This isn't up for debate.

No. 2 Jimmy Johnson- I can understand Johnson's addition here as it would make sense. Johnson also drafted two Hall of Fame players.

No. 3 Dave Wannstedt - For all the things Wannstedt wasn't able to do as a coach or did as a coach, such as ushering Dan Marino into retirement and destroying the Dolphins cap situation, Wannstedt still coached the Dolphins to two consecutive 11-5 seasons, a 9-7 season, and a 10-6 season before the wheels fell off and he resigned.

No. 4 Tony Sparano - Sparano was the last coach to win an AFC East title for the Dolphins. While debatable, Sparano may have seen a different outcome had Ross and Ireland been more up front with him. He coached well, but was handed a bad deck of cards and a GM that was also in a power struggle with Bill Parcells.

No. 5 Mike McDaniel - The Dolphins current head coach is looking like someone who will rise on this list quickly, but we should look back and see the records of previous coaches in Miami to know that it takes more than two seasons to be great and so far, McDaniel hasn't won a playoff game or an AFC East title.