Best Coach in Michigan Sports History

[timothy1997 0]

I think this an interesting debate.

My vote has to be for Scotty Bowman but the gap is shrinking with the legend of Tom Izzo growing every year. Izzo is #2 on my list followed by Schembechler and then probably Chuck Daly would be next.

[Hockeytown Red Wings 245]

If it's about the time spent in the state then it's debate. If it's who is the best coach of those listed, Izzo or anyone else doesn't belong in the same paragraph as Bowman.

LOL Wayne Fontes

[timothy1997 0]

If it's about the time spent in the state then it's debate. If it's who is the best coach of those listed, Izzo or anyone else doesn't belong in the same paragraph as Bowman.

LOL Wayne Fontes

I had to include a Lions coach and to me, its a no brainer he was the best coach.

Thats why I dont have Izzo at the top because Bowman got the Wings 3 cups. If Izzo won more National Championships then the debate is on. Izzo has had to regroup year after year where Bowman had keep relatively the same core. Thats the biggest difference in favor of Izzo IMO.

[BuckeyeWingsfan80 209]

Rich Rodriguez!!!

It's Scotty if we are talking Pro sports.

It's Bo if we're talking about College sports.

Izzo is right there with Bo though and will likely, in my mind, surpass him soon.

[betterREDthandead 58]

Rich Rodriguez!!!

It's Scotty if we are talking Pro sports.

It's Bo if we're talking about College sports.

Izzo is right there with Bo though and will likely, in my mind, surpass him soon.

John Cooper

Actually, Bo was great, but Fielding Yost should probably rank above Bo. And Izzo would have honestly a very long way to go IMO to catch up to Scotty.

[BlakChamber 8]

I think two very important college coaches have been left out of this poll; Ron Mason and Red Berenson. Red has a 20 year tournament streak going, 10 Frozen Four appearances and 2 national championships. Mason had a 21 year tournament streak with 7 Frozen Fours and 2 appearances in the Championship game with 1 championship. The two of them combined have a ton of CCHA and GLI championships, I don't know the exact numbers. While they were both coaching, the CCHA was always MSU and UM fighting for 1st place with everyone else fighting for 3rd.

Personally (and I'm going to get blasted for this because I'm a Spartan) Bo was overrated. Yeah, he cleaned up in the regular season when the Big 10 was the Big 2 and Little 8. BFD. He never won a national championship and was 5-12 in bowls. At least Carr was 6-7 in bowls and has UM's only half-national championship since the 40's. Yost may have won a lot, but his national championships are the back-dated, self-awarded type and from a time where colleges would play high schools and get to count the victories. It's tough to compare what he did to the rest of the coaches that we're talking about.

As much as I love Izzo, Scotty is the best coach in MI sports history. Looking at his career as a whole he's one of the best coaches every in any sport. Even just comparing what he did in his time with the Red Wings, it still makes him the best this state has ever seen. A record of 410-193-107-10, never having a losing season, never missing the playoffs, never finishing lowering than 2nd in the division, 4 conference championships and 3 Stanley Cups. And doing all that in just 9 seasons.

Izzo isn't there yet. He still needs another championship or 2 before he can take the title of best coach in MI sports history away from Scotty.

[mannysBETTER3434 1]

I think two very important college coaches have been left out of this poll; Ron Mason and Red Berenson. Red has a 20 year tournament streak going, 10 Frozen Four appearances and 2 national championships. Mason had a 21 year tournament streak with 7 Frozen Fours and 2 appearances in the Championship game with 1 championship. The two of them combined have a ton of CCHA and GLI championships, I don't know the exact numbers. While they were both coaching, the CCHA was always MSU and UM fighting for 1st place with everyone else fighting for 3rd.

Personally (and I'm going to get blasted for this because I'm a Spartan) Bo was overrated. Yeah, he cleaned up in the regular season when the Big 10 was the Big 2 and Little 8. BFD. He never won a national championship and was 5-12 in bowls. At least Carr was 6-7 in bowls and has UM's only half-national championship since the 40's. Yost may have won a lot, but his national championships are the back-dated, self-awarded type and from a time where colleges would play high schools and get to count the victories. It's tough to compare what he did to the rest of the coaches that we're talking about.

As much as I love Izzo, Scotty is the best coach in MI sports history. Looking at his career as a whole he's one of the best coaches every in any sport. Even just comparing what he did in his time with the Red Wings, it still makes him the best this state has ever seen. A record of 410-193-107-10, never having a losing season, never missing the playoffs, never finishing lowering than 2nd in the division, 4 conference championships and 3 Stanley Cups. And doing all that in just 9 seasons.

Izzo isn't there yet. He still needs another championship or 2 before he can take the title of best coach in MI sports history away from Scotty.

I agree on Red, Mason, Izzo, and Bo. Bo's legend status I always thought came from what he did off the field, the impact he left on players, and making the U-M/OSU rivalry nasty again. I'm always surprised he didn't win a NC. I would go with Scotty or Red. They also coached together at one point BTW.

Red's numbers: 6th in all time wins, 2 NC's, 11 GLI's, 10 Regular season titles, 9 CCHA playoff titles, produced the most current NHL players in the country, 20 (and counting) NCAA bids (NCAA record), 10 frozen fours (NCAA record), and the 15 seasons prior to his era Michigan's total win percentage was under .500

[betterREDthandead 58]

Personally (and I'm going to get blasted for this because I'm a Spartan) Bo was overrated. Yeah, he cleaned up in the regular season when the Big 10 was the Big 2 and Little 8. BFD. He never won a national championship and was 5-12 in bowls. At least Carr was 6-7 in bowls and has UM's only half-national championship since the 40's. Yost may have won a lot, but his national championships are the back-dated, self-awarded type and from a time where colleges would play high schools and get to count the victories. It's tough to compare what he did to the rest of the coaches that we're talking about.

Very good point about Red and Mason. (Although you sort of contradict yourself by diminishing Bo's accomplishments in the Big Ten as having come in the Big 2/Little 8 era while praising Red and Mason for doing the same thing in the CCHA.) But you have to remember: Bo didn't care one bit about the bowl games. His thing was: Beat Ohio State, win the Big Ten. That was the overarching goal for Michigan football. Only in later years, like the '80s, did Bo start to really work on the bowls, because the boosters kind of made him. But he used to see the Rose Bowl as the vacation you earned for beating Ohio State.

As for Yost, believe me, most of the games he played weren't the high school, exhibition team variety. It was actual Big Ten football even back then, and Yost owned it. He regularly beat up on Amos Alonzo Stagg at Chicago, for example. I don't think you can judge him by the standards of today with national championships and whatnot because it was a different era - which he dominated.