The 5 best head coaches in Kansas City Chiefs history

The Chiefs have enjoyed true innovators on the sideline from the past to the present.

While most NFL franchises can lay claim to a notable leader or two in their history, the Kansas City Chiefs have one of the more storied set of coaching rankings in the entire National Football League. To put together a list of the best head coaches to ever stand on the sidelines is to recognize some of the best to ever wear the label—period.

Making a top-five head coaches list for the Chiefs is like walking straight into the entrance of the Pro Football Hall of Fame for the contestants. Four of the five on our list here are in the Hall already, and there's a strong case to be made for the fifth.

Suffice it to say, Chiefs Kingdom should feel rather blessed about the head coaches they've been able to watch. And while exceptions exist, it's nice to know that for every Romeo Crennel or Herm Edwards, a wise technician, savvy leader, or clever innovator has been at work leading the Chiefs.

Criteria for selection

For all of the various metrics that can be used to measure and compare performances for many of our positional rankings here, when it comes to head coaches, we can (largely) stick to what matters most: championships and wins.

While a single player can have a difficult time moving the meter in such a team-oriented game, the head coach bears the brunt of the win-loss record.

"You are what your record says you are," Bill Parcells once said and he would know as a longtime head coach himself.

That said, our primary criteria here came down to longevity and Lombardi Trophies, with maybe a feel for where the team was before their arrival and how they left it.

The top head coaches in Chiefs history

5. Marv Levy (1978-82)

Technically, Marv Levy is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Unfortunately, the Chiefs decided to get rid of him before his reputation became that of celebrated leader and long-term success.

NFL fans will mostly recognize Levy as the head coach of the Buffalo Bills through the franchise's glory years in the late '80s and into the '90s. Plenty of Hall of Famers blossomed under Levy's tutelage on those teams, from pass-rusher Bruce Smith to running back Thurman Thomas, from quarterback Jim Kelly to wideout Andre Reed.

Levy only went on to coach in Buffalo, however, because he'd been fired by Kansas City. K.C. deserves points for recognizing his coaching potential after stints at three collegiate stops and a turn leading the Montreal Alouettes in the Canadian Football League (where he won two Grey Cups).

From there, they asked Levy to take over the franchise at its lowest moment—following a two-win season in '77. From there, Levy won four, seven, eight, and nine games in his first four seasons, but a 3-6 record partly through the '82 season was enough for a Chiefs ownership group that wanted to hire Dallas Cowboys quarterbacks coach John Mackovic.

4. Dick Vermeil (2001-05)

The hiring of Dick Vermeil represented a big win for the Chiefs back in '01. And if not for some further playoff faltering (an ongoing pattern in K.C. until the present era), Vermeil could have easily represented another shining moment in Chiefs history.

Shortly before agreeing to become the Chiefs head coach, Vermeil was resting for a year after winning the Super Bowl with the St. Louis Rams behind a powerful offense—often hailed as "The Greatest Show on Turf." Vermeil and company ushered in the NFL's pass-happy era of offensive fireworks before deciding he'd take a break.

With K.C., Vermeil went 13-3 in 2003 behind an offense boasting one of the best offensive lines in NFL history and Trent Green, Tony Gonzalez, and Priest Holmes forming a dynamic offensive core. However, Peyton Manning and the Colts eliminated the Chiefs in the opening round of the postseason and continued their playoff misery.

Before arriving in K.C., Vermeil had already won two Coach of the Year titles, and he went on to put up his best overall win percentage as a head coach (.550) after successful stops with the Rams and Eagles. He ultimately retired with a 44-36 record in five seasons on the sidelines in KC.

3. Marty Schottenheimer (1989-98)

It's here that a Hall of Fame sidestep is taken and an argument should be made. That's because Marty Schottenheimer was not only a beloved figure by many franchises and generations of players, but he also racked up 200 wins as a coach for four organizations—placing him seventh on the NFL's all-time list.

The fact that the Chiefs could land Schottenheimer was an unexpected gift to begin with. Art Modell and Schottenheimer were notoriously at odds with one another during Marty's years with the Cleveland Browns and decided that enough was finally enough after the '88 season. When Schottenheimer got the chance to leave, the Chiefs quickly recruited him.

With the Chiefs, Marty-Ball was a sensation for a full decade, from 1989 to 1998. The years with Schottenheimer on the sidelines are some of the most memorable for a generation of Chiefs fans hungry for any level of success. The excitement reached its zenith with the additions of Joe Montana and Marcus Allen, moves that placed Schottenheimer and the Chiefs squarely in the center of the league's spotlight.

Sad to say, Schottenheimer holds the mark for the most wins for a head coach without a Super Bowl, and those years with the Chiefs represented his best chances.

2. Hank Stram (1960-74)

For the longest time, the first was the best.

Chiefs history has been rewritten in recent years to accommodate the golden era of football currently being played at Arrowhead, but for several generations, the visions of Hank Stram on the sidelines coaching the Chiefs represented the franchise's pinnacle—and its lone championship.

Stram was the first head coaching hire by Lamar Hunt upon launching his Dallas Texans franchise as a former assistant from the University of Miami. Stram won three AFL titles in its first and only decade of existence and led the Chiefs to an appearance in Super Bowl I and a victory over the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IV.

Known as a true innovator, Stram is credited with challenging the norms of the game to include several new developments—from stacking defensive fronts to two-tight end sets. He was also an incredible developer of talent, as seen in his work with Len Dawson, Buck Buchanan, Bobby Bell, Emmitt Thomas, Willie Lanier, and so many others.

Stram finished his Chiefs career with a 131-97 record before being fired after a five-win season in 1974.

1. Andy Reid (2013 -present)

We've arrived at the present, and every possible meaning of that word is applicable to Chiefs football these days.

When the Philadelphia Eagles decided to start fresh with a new head coach after watching Andy Reid work the sidelines for 14 seasons, no one could have known that Big Red still had so much left in the tank. He came to K.C. en route to Arizona for a head coaching interview, but the Chiefs never let him leave.

What else can be said about Reid in his current role? He's silenced every doubter from his days in Philly, and he's built a lasting legacy that squarely places him on the NFL's Mount Rushmore of head coaches. He's already passed Tom Landry to take over fourth on the NFL's all-time coaching wins list (284) and has George Halas in his sights next at No. 3. Given that he just received a new contract extension, it's quite possible Reid can eclipse Don Shula's 347 victories down the line.

Most importantly for the Chiefs, Reid has led the franchise to four of the last five Super Bowls with three wins to show for it. They have a deep roster filled with impact players on both sides of the ball and plenty of youth. They also have the game's best quarterback coming into his prime, and there's no reason why the Chiefs can't be contenders for the next decade.