Bengals Legend Paul Brown Ranked Among Top-Five NFL Coaches in NFL History

CBS Sports dropped its top-20 NFL head coaches of all time list this week, and one Bengals legend made the list: Paul Brown.

The team founder, Pro Football Hall of Famer, and inaugural Bengals Ring of Honor inductee has pretty firmly cemented himself as one of the five greatest NFL coaches ever, and one could argue he's one of the five most influential coaches to ever get their hands on any sport.

He ranked fourth behind Bill Walsh, Vince Lombardi, and Bill Belichick in that order.

Coaching Legend

1969: Bengals coach Paul Brown confers with player Sam Wyche on the field. Text Paul Brown Confers With Player Sam Wyche On The Field In This 1969 Photo | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Brown was that impactful with how he introduced things like the facemask and quarterback radio communication. Many of the modern facets of today's game can be traced back to his genius.

He helped break down the color barrier for black players as well. A true impactful pioneer. The Bengals were his next big step after multiple championship runs with the Cleveland Browns.

"Brown's personality (specifically, his hands-on approach, which included not allowing his quarterbacks to audible at the line of scrimmage) didn't mesh with everyone, especially Art Modell, who relieved Brown of his duties less than two years after taking ownership of the Browns," Bryan DeArdo wrote. "Oddly, though, Brown remained on Modell's payroll for the next five years as vice president. The job title, however, didn't carry much -- if any -- weight. Brown didn't attend a single Browns game over that span and instead spent the majority of his free time on the golf course. The joke at the time was that only Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer made more money playing golf than Brown did annually.

"Brown eventually enjoyed a successful second act in Cincinnati. A member of the team's original ownership group, Brown named the team the Bengals and served as the team's first general manager and coach. Cincinnati's inaugural team also included Bill Walsh, who served as the team's assistant coach. The duo helped the Bengals win two division titles during the 1970s, but when Brown stepped down as coach, he not only didn't endorse Brown as his successor, but also allegedly didn't endorse him for any other coaching vacancies. That sequence of events later came back to haunt both Brown and the Bengals. "

What could have been if Brown tossed the baton to Walsh, who, in painful irony for Bengals fans, went on to beat the Bengals in two Super Bowls during the 1980s.

Alas, Brown is a legend all the same and is the gold standard coaching example that guys like Zac Taylor are pursuing in the Bengals' top leadership seat.

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