Belichick vs. Harbaugh: Bad guys at their best

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So you want to be a football coach? Nice guys need not apply. Two of the most arrogant, harsh and cold individuals will be on opposite sidelines at Foxboro Monday Night in Belichick and John Harbaugh. They also happen to be the two best coaches in the NFL.

Of course, Bill is superior to Harbaugh, but other than Belichick who is better than Harbaugh?

Both Belichick and Harbaugh would cut their mother for salary cap reasons and that’s why they are where they are.

In the NBA, coaches like Phil Jackson, Pat Riley and even Red Auerbach could roll out the balls because they had players like Magic, Kareem, MJ, Kobe and Russell on their rosters. Sorry Green Teamers, Red didn’t have to do much coaching with the group he had. Now, he deserves credit for being a fantastic GM, perhaps a role in which historically he’s been undervalued. Heck, Tommy Heinsohn has told me a number of times Red would call a timeout and ask the guys what they wanted to do. He could do that because he brought in the right guys.

The one NBA exception is Gregg Popovich, who was won five NBA titles with the Spurs. Pop is one tough SOB and you could see that during the Spurs’ last game against the Celtics. When his guys are not getting it done he rips into all of them, stars like Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard included.

In baseball, forget it. The key to being a baseball skipper is getting your degree in psychiatry. Can you see Belichick or Harbaugh in a dugout? I’d pity those Gatorade coolers.

NHL coaches are the closet to NFL head guys. Scotty Bowman didn’t win nine Stanley Cups with Montreal, Pittsburgh and Detroit by being Mr. Rogers.

Now, back to the NFL. Bill Parcells is the best example of what a head coach needs to learn to succeed in the league. Parcells claims he was too nice in his first season (1983) as the head coach of the Giants. He became a major hard-ass the next year and went 33-15 over his next three seasons, including a Super Bowl title in 1986. Of course, in New England we know our current tough guy had something to do with those numbers as well.

Bill Belichick and John Harbaugh both have won Super Bowls. The reality is Harbaugh could have a second ring if his kicker didn’t miss a 32-yard field goal in Foxboro during an AFC title game.

The way I see it, the reason Belichick has the edge over Harbaugh is simply not the three more Super Bowls, but Bill’s ability to put things in the past. Harbaugh simply can’t let things go. The other day the guy was still complaining about the Pats making skill players ineligible in a playoff game the Pats won two years ago. Bill would simply have said he was focusing on Monday Night. And that’s why our ass-hat is better than theirs.

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