How Do You Define an Elite Coach?

[bullets13]

On 3/10/2026 at 10:47 PM, Reagan said:

If one has that kind of record for that long and you haven’t won a State title then is something wrong.  If State titles were easy every coach would have 30 of them.  But it’s NOT easy.  That’s what distinguishes elite coaches from everyone else.  You got to ask yourself:  why does Surratt have so many State titles and Danaher has none?  Luck?  I think not.  You might actually think that there might a difference in coaching ability concerning Surratt and Danaher?  My opinion is there is a difference!  Don’t get me wrong, Danaher was a great coach.  I’m sure he ran a respectable program.  Honest question:  Out of the two coaches mentioned, if you had to hire a coach, which one would you hire and why?

Between 1944 and 1983 Calallen had ONE 10-win season. Danaher won 10 games his second season there, then went on to win 10+ games in 30 out 36 seasons, with one of those six being an 8-2 covid season. He made the state semis 12 times and the finals twice. So the question is did he make it that far and then choke? Did he make it that far and then run into a superior coach every time? Or as common sense would dictate, perhaps he coached in a region without an abundance of talent, got far more out of that lesser talent year in and year out than any coach in that region ever has, and consistently took his teams as far (or even further) than the team should've been expected to go every year. Danaher could 1000% have won several championships with the talent that SS has had at Carthage. SS wouldn't have won more than 1 or 2 (and quite possibly zero) had he coached Calallen the last 20 years instead of at Carthage. 

Interesting side note: Danaher's Calallen teams lost to La Marque in the state semis 6 years in a row in the 90s. Between 1995 and 2006 La Marque won 5 state titles and played for 3 more, with 2 different coaches leading them there. Those two coaches made it to the regional finals ONCE in 22 combined seasons at the other schools they coached at. In between those two coaches was a third coach who led La Marque to the 4th round three times in four seasons, despite never having a season better than 3-7 anywhere else. So, were they elite coaches who forgot how to coach when they left La Marque, or did La Marque have elite talent that a couple of good coaches took advantage of while they were there? I'm pretty comfortable stating that Danaher would've won a few state titles if he'd coached La Marque's incredible talent instead of in the football graveyard of southTexas.  I'm also pretty comfortable saying that Danaher could've gotten hired into any number of jobs where he'd be better equipped to win a state championship if he'd chosen to. 

[BBtater984]

Why isn't Belichick winning in college? He was an elite HC in the NFL... right?  Why didn't Urban Meyer win in the NFL? He was an elite HC in college... right? Could go on & on about who's elite and who's not, or what makes that HC elite and this one not elite, but the hill that I will die on is the coach that gets the most out of his players, the HC that can motivate the unmotivated, the coach that can turn an "I" player into a team player. The coach who has all his players buy into his program, buy into his way of doing things, his standards. There will be a few (coaches, parents, community members) who know who those HC are cause most of us are not behind the scenes, in the locker rooms, on bus rides to and from games, or in those private one-on-one talks. 

And NO not all coaches can get that out of players!