NFL Draft Network

Some casual football fans wonder what the big deal is about the NFL Draft. Why does this off-season event receive so much media coverage? Well, let me clear up the confusion. The draft is huge because players win championships and football is very much a young man's game. Coaching is certainly important, but nothing is more critical to winning than having the horses to make the impact plays that decide games. The teams that make the playoffs are filled with young talent (with the possible exception at the quarterback position) found primarily through the draft.

Does anyone believe the Colts would have a Super Bowl championship and 130 regular season victories in the past 12 years had they selected Ryan Leaf instead of Peyton Manning in the 1998 NFL Draft? How many championships would Bill Belichick have won had the Patriots decided upon Tim Rattay instead of Tom Brady in the 6th round of the 2000 NFL Draft? This is not meant to diminish Belichick's contributions as a head coach. He definitely is a great head coach, but there are no titles without special players such as Brady, Ty Law, Willie McGinist, Richard Seymour and Tedy Bruschi, among others.

Chuck Noll is a well-deserved Hall of Fame coach who won four Super Bowls in the 1970's with the Steelers. He did not come close to winning another championship in the 1980's. Noll did not lose his coaching ability in the 1980's, but the talent he had to work with was considerably less. Pittsburgh did not draft particularly well in the 1980's and probably no team has ever drafted better than what the Steelers did in the 1970's.

Brian Billick was considered an offensive mastermind after the 1998 Vikings went 15-1 and scored a then-NFL record 556 points. Billick did win a Super Bowl in Baltimore, but it was due to an awesome defense. He was eventually fired as head coach of the Ravens after 9 years mainly because of his inability to improve a weak passing attack. Billick discovered his offense in Minnesota worked much better when he had Randall Cunningham throwing passes to Randy Moss and Cris Carter. His gameplans did not work as well in Baltimore with Tony Banks, Trent Dilfer and Kyle Boller throwing to Jacob Taylor, Brandon Stokley and a mediocre group of wide receivers. Barry Switzer winning a Super Bowl as head coach of the Cowboys is another example of how it really is mostly about the players.

There are plenty of examples of exceptional head coaches turning around losing franchises. Bill Parcells took a 1-15 Jets team and, with a similar roster, won 9 games the next season. Don Shula won 10 games in his first season in Miami who won 3 games the year before. You can make the argument that coaching is a bigger factor in football than in any other sport. However, no coach can win a championship without some great players. It is proven year after year that the teams that select productive players in the NFL Draft go on to have winning seasons. Many fans realize that all it takes is one terrific draft class to transform a team into a winner. This is why NFL teams devote so much time to scouting players and put prospects through intelligence, psychological and numerous physical tests. So, which is more critical to winning, personnel decisions or coaching? I certainly believe that personnel decisions trump coaching.