Rank All Our Coaches (Best To Worst)

This is something I don't believe has been done before or at least in a long time. Rank who you think is our best coach to our worst coach. I'd prefer both sides all ranked together but if you want to split them up and rank O and D separate you can do that too. No assistants included. It's pretty tough to do as I bet we have the best staff in the league. We are pretty loaded top to bottom minus a few spots.

Here is a list:
Jim Harbaugh - HC
Brad Seely - ST/Asst HC
Greg Roman - OC
Geep Chryst - QB
Tom Rathman - RB
Mike Solari - OL
Eric Mangini - TE
John Morton - WR
Vic Fangio - DC
Jim Tomsula - DL
Jim Leavitt - LB
Ed Donatell - DB

Here is my ranking:

1. Jim Harbaugh - HC - One of the better HC's in the league he could probably coach any position and do a good job at it. He hasn't been able to put us over the top but 3 straight NFC CG's is amazing. Some times he can be a little stubborn and maybe a little too loyal (to coaches/players). His actions on the field at times are embarrassing but to me there is no doubt he is our best coach and we wouldnt be where we are at without him. Baalke gets a lot of credit too but who knows if we are in the same spot with someone like John Gruden as coach. We probably would have been a 8-8 to 10-6 team and out in one round of the playoffs each year.

2. Jim Tomsula - DL - Been with us the longest out of all the coaches. He has turned Smith from a 4-3 DE into one of the best 3-4 DE's. Turned McDonald into a solid starter. Turned around Dorsey's career. Continues to turn 7th rounders or UDFA's into decent to solid backups (or starters) (RJF, TJE, Dobbs, Wiliams, Tukuafu). Very few blunders on his record; I'm not sure I count Balmer who just didn't seem to want it or care.

3. Ed Donatell - DB - He did well with Brown, Whitner and Goldson. He got a great year out of Rogers in 2011. Brock went from UDFA to very solid starter, Culliver from 3rd round safety to solid starter with high potential. He has gotten the most out of late round picks and UDFAs (Morris, Acker, Phillip Adams). Has gotten the most out of underachievers in Perrish Cox and Chris Cook. Our secondary was usually a week spot in the dark era but since he took over we have been near the top and have improved dramatically.

4. Vic Fangio - DC - I think he has been helped by the talent on defense and his great defensive coaches. He is a good coach but some times too conservative. He gives us a chance to win just about every game and keeps us in it but some times we play not to lose instead of to win. I'm glad to have him as long as he wants to be here. He might not do as well with other teams but doesn't matter because with us he is doing really well.

5. Jim Leavitt - LB - He's done well with guys like Ahmad Brooks, Aldon Smith, Bowman and Willis. They all really like playing for him. This guy could should be coaching a major college right now or should be a DC in this league. I think he's happy with where he is at. Anyways, he's also done well with Wilhoite who came out of Washburn as an UDFA, Dan Skuta who was a ST only guy for Cinci. Lynch and Lemonier also look promising under is guidance. I could easily have him ranked higher but it's tough everyone above him is very good too.

6. Tom Rathman - RB - He's done a good job with Gore, Hunter, Dixon, Hyde (so far), Miller at FB and got the most out of the young guys who would come in and lead the preseason in rushing yards. Sure they wouldn't do much elsewhere but he didn't have much to work with and got the most out of them. James and Coffee are the only down spots but those guys didnt want it enough. Part of James was Roman's fault for not using him the right way and partly Harbaugh fault for picking someone who doesn't fit us. He might be our best offensive coach and has been with us the longest besides Tomsula.

7. Brad Seely - ST/Asst HC - He's done a pretty good job with the ST. The only year we didn't do well is 2012 when we gutted his ST guys.

8. Mike Solari - OL - Solari has done a good job developing guys like Boone, Looney, Kilgore, etc. He's done a good job with Staley and Davis as well. Iupati seems to regress every year though. He could be higher on the list but seems like we are too inconsistent on the OL. In 2012 we were amazing, 2011 solid, 2013 we looked average. We have a stretch of games where we look great then a stretch where we look horrible. It seems we have had problems with blitz pickup and communication for years now. Some times it feels like you could call him one of the better OL coaches in the league, other times feels like he is one of the worst.

9. Greg Roman - OC - Roman started off well and showed a lot of creativity and different formations and shifts. The last few years seems like that went away. He is too predictable often, he doesn't get the most out of his players or play to their strengths. I think he's solid but he is frustrating because he can be a genius at times and then other times he acts like Singletary calling plays. At times he looks like our brightest coach on this list other times the dumbest.

10. Geep Chryst - QB - Has done well with Smith and Kaepernick but I think Harbaugh and the players themselves have a lot to do with that. I wonder if he or Harbaugh or the players (or all) are to blame for guys like Tolzien, McCoy, Gabbert, Johnson, etc continuing to underachieve. I guess part of it is we haven't given him much to work with and Harbaugh continues to bring in broken players. Not sure on this guy the jury is up in the air on him.

11. Eric Mangini - TE - He was an offensive assistant last year not sure if he helped us any. This year he is the TE coach and so far McDonald has looked better but how much of that is Mangini. He is low on this list because he has been with us the least amount of time. First year being a coach with us so he's more of an incomplete.

12. John Morton - WR - Although we have been better lately at WR that's because we went out and got guys who were already good (Boldin, Johnson). Hard to tell what he did with Crabtree. That being said he has had a lot of misses with Ronald Johnson, Jenkins, Marlon Moore, Kyle Williams, Ted Ginn, etc. Has he had an impact on turning any WR's career around or developing any good WR for us? Certainly hasn't had any UDFA's come in and contribute. I guess part of it is our offense running a lot and not being the most pass friendly team. Ellington has looked good was that him or partly Morton? Patton is up in the air so far. Morton probably has had the highest bust or underachieving rate out of all the coaches. That's why I'd rather get guys like Boldin, Johnson because we can't develop them. I also think we haven't drafted WR high enough over the years. To be fair the draft has a higher bust rate with WR's than LB or RBs, etc. We haven't given him the most talent to work with for free agents either.

Final Thoughts: Harbaugh is pretty loyal with his coaches so unlikely he let's any of these guys go but I think Roman, Solari and Morton should be on the hot seat or gone if the offense don't improve this year. We can't be 30th in passing each year no matter how well we do in the run game. The offensive line needs to step it up and get back on track and be more consistent. It will be hard to gauge Morton's performance this year because of all the vets (crabtree, boldin, johnson, lloyd) so nobody is really a product of him. Ellington and Patton are pretty much the only ones. It's tough to find good OC's out there because most are HCs. You would have to look for someone young or in college. I'm not sure I'd want Harbaugh calling all the plays if we fired Roman, he isn't good enough with in game management yet. He has enough to do already and hasn't perfected that. Very few coaches can call plays and coach.

Jim Tomsula - DL
Jim Harbaugh - HC
Ed Donatell - DB
Vic Fangio - DC
Brad Seely - ST/Asst HC
Tom Rathman - RB
Mike Solari - OL
Eric Mangini - TE
Jim Leavitt - LB
Geep Chryst - QB
John Morton - WR
Greg Roman - OC

Roman being last was the first thing that popped into my mind when I read the thread title

Went and edited my post and did my ranking with my thoughts. It was tough to do I could easily move Roman down (some times he is near the top others at the bottom). Mangini is hard to rank because he was an offensive assistant with us last year (not sure if helped at all or hurt) and this is his first year as coach.

J. Tomsula
J. Harbaugh
V. Fangio
E. Donatell
T. Rathman
J. Leavitt
B. Seely
M. Solari
G. Chryst
G. Roman
J. Morton - He's last solely based on production (or lack thereof). Yes, we haven't drafted many WRs high, and yes we're a run first team BUT it still wouldn't feel right putting him above any of the other coaches when he hasn't developed anyone to speak of in his 3 year tenure in SF. Maybe he gets that chance with Ellington and Patton but until then, he's the weak link.

Incomplete: E. Mangini - Totally forgot about this guy until this thread. Like Gore21 said, it's hard to really rank him seeing as it's his first year here as a positional coach. We won't get a better judgement of him until later. McDonald looked improved in the preseason so perhaps that's a plus?

This is tough. Here's what I got factoring in experience, track record, current impact, and perceived coaching ability:

1. Jim Harbuagh
2. Vic Fangio
3. Jim Tomsula
4. Ed Donatell
5. Jim Leavitt
6 Greg Roman
7. Brad Seely
8. Mike Solari
9. Tom Rathman
10. Eric Mangini
11. Geep Chryst
12. John Morton

Hard list to put together. I know I'm probably higher on Roman than most people. I was even tempted to put Mangini a little higher since he's been a HC before, but he still has to prove himself here.

Also noticed how I have all the defensive coaches in the Top 5 lol. The top 10 coaches on this staff are outstanding imo. I think Chryst and Morton are probably good coaches too, just not as accomplished as the names above them.

1. Roman
12. Harbaugh

Originally posted by DonnieDarko:
1. Roman
12. Harbaugh

I agree, Roman is about 1/12 of Harbaugh.

Of course, I speak in terms of coaching ability, not size. You could probably fit 12 Harbaughs in 1 Roman.

This is a no-brainer, not that we are there at the facility to see them coach, but based on performance or the lack thereof specifically in our passing game, the worst has to be the QB and WR coach, Chryst and Morton, not in any particular order.

Yeah of course we don't see them every day working with the players so this is mostly based on how their group has performed factoring in what they have had to work with. Some spots we have drafted a lot higher and brought in better FA's than others. Some had a better group to start with when they came in. And yeah no doubt the defensive coaches are head and shoulders above offensive. You could probably put 5 D before 1 O coach. It's weird because Harbaugh is an offensive guy too you would think we could have upgraded by now. I think he's too loyal to them and Morton, Solari and Roman probably should be upgraded over.

Edited my post and added Miller in for Rathman. That was an amazing job he did with him. DE to one of the best FBs in the league.

Can anyone think of a better staff top to bottom? I don't see how you can top that staff. A few weeks spots but we have 3 former head coaches (mangini, leavitt, tomsula) and we have many coaching at a lower spot then they have in the past (that's a good thing).

Originally posted by Rascal:
This is a no-brainer, not that we are there at the facility to see them coach, but based on performance or the lack thereof specifically in our passing game, the worst has to be the QB and WR coach, Chryst and Morton, not in any particular order.

No-brainer? Try ranking all them first, it's tougher than you think. Of course QB WR would be near the bottom but rank the rest of them.

Originally posted by SofaKing:

Originally posted by DonnieDarko:
1. Roman
12. Harbaugh

I agree, Roman is about 1/12 of Harbaugh.

Of course, I speak in terms of coaching ability, not size. You could probably fit 12 Harbaughs in 1 Roman.

I wonder if Roman becomes our next HC if Jim gets traded

Originally posted by Rascal:

This is a no-brainer, not that we are there at the facility to see them coach, but based on performance or the lack thereof specifically in our passing game, the worst has to be the QB and WR coach, Chryst and Morton, not in any particular order.

You think that based on our passing performance that QB coach Chryst is one of our worst coaches.

I guess that I have no brains, because I just do not see it.


Here are some our quarterback performance stats and how they rank in the league.




edit: in 2012 Kaepernick was the back-up quarterback.

Buck, we aren't talking about just Kap and Smith with QBs. We are talking about the backups too like Tolzien, Mccoy, Gabbert, Johnson, Bethel-Thompson, etc. Not being able to develop a backup QB hurts the rankings for Chryst. Then again how much of that is him, how much is Harbaugh, how much is the players not being good enough... Hard to say with him because how much is Harbaugh, how much is Chryst working with these guys?

Originally posted by Gore_21:

Buck, we aren't talking about just Kap and Smith with QBs.

We are talking about the backups too like Tolzien, Mccoy, Gabbert, Johnson, Bethel-Thompson, etc. Not being able to develop a backup QB hurts the rankings for Chryst.

Then again how much of that is him, how much is Harbaugh, how much is the players not being good enough... Hard to say with him because how much is Harbaugh, how much is Chryst working with these guys?

Chryst has been very good to excellent in developing Smith and Kaepernick, but he becomes such a bad coach that it is a no-brainer to proclaim him as one of our worst coaches, because he did not do good work with out back-ups.

But, wait. Are you saying that Chryst has done a very good job to excellent job with Smith and Kaepernick?

I seriously doubt that many give Chryst much credit for the positive aspects of our quarterback play. That credit is almost universally given to Harbaugh---the quarterback whisperer.

Sorry, but I do not see this no-brainer that has been mentioned.



edit: my post with stats was really about the no-brainer nonsense.
That claim has no merit, but feel free to defend it, if that is what you want to do.

Originally posted by buck:
Chryst has been very good to excellent in developing Smith and Kaepernick, but he becomes such a bad coach that it is a no-brainer to proclaim him as one of our worst coaches, because he did not do good work with out back-ups.

But, wait. Are you saying that Chryst has done a very good job to excellent job with Smith and Kaepernick?

I seriously doubt that many give Chryst much credit for the positive aspects of our quarterback play. That credit is almost universally given to Harbaugh---the quarterback whisperer.

Sorry, but I do not see this no-brainer that has been mentioned.



edit: my post with stats was really about the no-brainer nonsense.
That claim has no merit, but feel free to defend it, if that is what you want to do.

I didn't say anything about no brainer. That was rascal. He said this was a "no brainer" to rank these guys and then proceeded to say Chryst and Morton would be on the bottom. I told him rank all the guys before you call it a "no brainer". I was questioning him on him calling it a no brainer not supporting his thoughts. Go up and read his post again and mine. And I wasn't knocking Chryst I said multiple times we probably have the best coaching staff in the league so Chryst being down that low isn't a knock on him as much as it is a praise of how good all our coaches are.