It’s considered the pinnacle of any professional football player’s career, but winning a Super Bowl as a head coach is an equally special achievement. A lot of things have to come together to create a championship-winning team, great players, a flawless system, a game plan and no small amount of luck either. Pulling it all together is the head coach’s job and when it comes off, the rewards are great.
However, for those people who have managed to slip on a Super Bowl ring as a player and head coach, that unique double is something to savour.
Only three men have managed to pull off the feat of both playing for a championship winning team and coaching another to the ultimate accolade in the game.
Fiery Chicago Bears head coach Mike Ditka has his own place in football folklore after building an all-conquering Bears team which took the Vince Lombardi trophy for the first time with an emphatic win over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XX. Ditka had previously played tight end for the Dallas Cowboys in their victories in Super Bowl VI and XII.
Tom Flores was an assistant coach to the great John Madden when the Oakland Raiders won Super Bowl XI, but was head coach when the Raiders won again four years later. He had previously been a Super Bowl winning player with the Kansas City Chiefs when they won Super Bowl IV.
Tony Dungy created history when became the first black head coach to lead a team to Super Bowl glory when he was the man in charge for their Super Bowl XLI triumph over the Chicago Bears. He had already bagged a Super Bowl ring as a player with the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XII.
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