Top 15 NFL coaches with the most wins of all time

It takes a combination of ingenuity, skill, leadership, and mental stamina to coach an NFL team to consistent, long-lasting success.

The following men possessed those qualities throughout their decades-long careers and were rewarded with a massive stockpile of victories, and occasionally a few Super Bowl titles, along the way.

Let's count down the top 15 NFL coaches with the most wins of all time and examine a few of their other milestones. 

15. Mike Shanahan

Wins: 170 (.552 win percentage)
Teams: Los Angeles Raiders, Denver Broncos, Washington
Years active: 1988-2008, 2010-2013

His win percentage in the regular season is just slightly better than .500, mostly because of his stint in Washington, but in his prime, Shanahan was one of the most feared coaches in the league.

As head of the Denver Broncos, he and quarterback John Elway led the franchise to back-to-back Super Bowl titles. He also earned a ring as offensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers, under coach George Seifert.  

14. Tom Coughlin

Wins: 170 (.531 win percentage)
Teams: Jacksonville Jaguars, New York Giants
Years active: 1995-2002, 2004-2015

Coughlin got his start as the inaugural head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars, and he reached the AFC Championship Game twice with the franchise.

In 2004, he jumped to the New York Giants and went on to win a pair of Super Bowl titles, both against heavily favored New England Patriots teams. Those championships came against one of Coughlin's former colleagues, Bill Belichick, who served as defensive coordinator of the Giants while Coughlin worked as the team's wide receivers coach in the late 1980s.

13. Bill Parcells

Wins: 172 (.569 win percentage)
Teams: New York Giants, New England Patriots, New York Jets, Dallas Cowboys
Years active: 1983-1990, 1993-1999, 2003-2006

The New York Giants trudged through a period of decline, before Parcells accepted the head coaching job in 1983. A season later, the G-Men reached the Divisional Round of the playoffs, and by 1990, the franchise had two Super Bowl titles.

The “Big Tuna” resuscitated three more franchises as head coach — the Patriots, Jets, and Cowboys. He is the only coach to lead four franchises to the playoffs and three franchises to a conference championship game.

12. Jeff Fisher

Wins: 173 (.512 win percentage)
Teams: Tennessee Titans, St. Louis Rams
Years active: 1994-2010, 2012-2016

Fisher’s longevity led to quite a few victories, but it also resulted in 165 losses — tied for the most in NFL history.

During his 22-year career, he accomplished just six winning seasons (each with the Tennessee Titans). His best campaign was in 1999, when Fisher guided the Titans to Super Bowl XXXIV, where they lost to the St. Louis Rams, a team Fisher later coached.

11. Chuck Knox

Wins: 186 (.558 win percentage)
Teams: Los Angeles Rams, Buffalo Bills, Seattle Seahawks
Years active: 1973-1994

Nicknamed “Ground Chuck” because of his teams’ emphasis on the run game, Knox was a three-time AP Coach of the Year who enjoyed his greatest success during his first stint with the Los Angeles Rams.

From 1974-1976, Los Angeles reached the conference title game each season but lost all three times. Buffalo also made it to the AFC Championship Game with Knox but fell to the eventual Super Bowl champions, the Los Angeles Raiders, in 1984.

10. Dan Reeves

Wins: 190 (.535 win percentage)
Teams: Denver Broncos, New York Giants, Atlanta Falcons
Years active: 1981-2003 

Between his time as an NFL running back, assistant, and head coach, Reeves competed in the Super Bowl nine times, the third most individual appearances. He won one championship as a player and claimed another as a Cowboys assistant, under Tom Landry.

Unfortunately, for Reeves, he lost all four of his Super Bowl appearances as a head coach. He is also tied with Fisher for most regular-season losses. 

9. Chuck Noll

Wins: 193 (.566 win percentage)
Team: Pittsburgh Steelers
Years active: 1969-1991

Noll and his iconic “Steel Curtain” defense dominated the league for nearly two decades. As head coach of the Steelers, Noll led the franchise to eight straight playoff appearances, from 1972-1979, won seven division titles, and earned four Super Bowl titles in six years.

Noll ranks sixth in playoff wins (16), and his four Super Bowl victories rank second for an NFL coach. He also never lost a Super Bowl.

8. Marty Schottenheimer

Wins: 200 (.613 win percentage)
Teams: Cleveland Browns, Kansas City Chiefs, Washington, San Diego Chargers
Years active: 1984-1998, 2001-2006

Of the eight NFL coaches who have hit the 200-win milestone, Schottenheimer is the only without a championship.

While he triumphed in more than 60% of his regular-season games, he was 5-13 in postseason play. He reached the conference championship round three times (twice with Cleveland and once with Kansas City) but never advanced to the Super Bowl.

7. Paul Brown

Wins: 213 (.672 win percentage)
Teams: Cleveland Browns, Cincinnati Bengals
Years active: 1946-1962, 1968-1975

No coach has won more NFL championships (seven) than Brown, who co-founded and coached both the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals.

Throughout his 25-year career, Brown transformed the way football was played. He helped break football’s color barrier, allegedly invented the facemask, and is credited as the first coach to use game film to scout his opponent, hire a full-time staff of assistants, and call plays from the sideline.

6. Andy Reid

Wins: 221 (.629 win percentage)
Teams: Philadelphia Eagles, Kansas City Chiefs
Years active: 1999-present

His 1997 Super Bowl win as assistant head coach of the Green Bay Packers eventually earned Reid the top job with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1999. There, Reid went to the postseason nine times and played in four straight NFC Championship Games from 2001-2004. He won just one of those conference matchups to get to the Super Bowl, where he fell to the New England Patriots.

In 2013, he joined the Kansas City Chiefs and has won five division titles. Out of three AFC Championship Games, he has moved on to the Super Bowl twice and won his elusive first ring in 2019.

5. Curly Lambeau

Wins: 226 (.631 win percentage)
Teams: Green Bay Packers, Chicago Cardinals, Washington
Years active: 1921-1953

Along with friend George Whitney Calhoun, Lambeau founded the Green Bay Packers, where he served as a player-coach from 1919-1929. As the team's primary runner and passer, he won an NFL championship in 1929.

He claimed two more titles, in 1930 and 1931, as a full-time head coach, and a total of six, before he retired in 1953. After his death in 1965, the Packers' home stadium was renamed Lambeau Field in his honor.

4. Tom Landry

Wins: 250 (.607 win percentage)
Team: Dallas Cowboys
Years active: 1960-1988

Under Tom Landry’s guidance, the Cowboys became “America’s Team.” From 1970-1978, the former Giants defensive coordinator coached Dallas to five Super Bowls, including three in four seasons, and won a pair of titles, in 1972 and 1978.

His run of 20 consecutive winning seasons is an NFL record.

3. Bill Belichick

Wins: 280 (.673 win percentage)
Teams: Cleveland Browns, New England Patriots
Years active: 1991-1995, 2000-present

Bill Belichick will likely rank first in wins by the time he retires. The three-time NFL Coach of the Year has recorded more Super Bowl victories (six), appearances (nine), and playoff victories (31) than any other coach.

Most of his success came with the New England Patriots, and he celebrated just one winning season in Cleveland.

Belichick also won two Super Bowls as Giants defensive coordinator and nearly completed a perfect season for New England, in 2007, but his 16-0 Patriots lost to Coughlin's Giants in Super Bowl XLII.

2. George Halas

Wins: 318 (.682 win percentage)
Team: Chicago Bears
Years active: 1920-29, 1933-1942, 1946-1955, 1958-1967

Halas founded his team, the Chicago Bears, in 1920. The same year, he co-founded the NFL.

Across 40 seasons in Chicago, Halas won six NFL championships. He was the first coach to hit 200 and 300 wins, and suffered just six losing seasons (three were during his final stint in Chicago).

1. Don Shula

Wins: 328 (.677 win percentage)
Teams: Baltimore Colts, Miami Dolphins
Years active: 1963-1995

Over a 33-year span, Don Shula suffered just two losing seasons.

Most known for the only perfect season in NFL history, Shula was also the first head coach to appear in three consecutive Super Bowls and the first to make six Super Bowl appearances. His four losses in those games are the most by a head coach.

In his first Super Bowl, the Jets and Joe Namath pulled off one of the greatest upsets in football, against Shula's Baltimore Colts.