April 13th, 2025
By Stephen Juza
In yesterday’s article, we began looking at the coaching career wins leaders to begin a career. No one started hotter out of the gate than Jim Caldwell of the Indianapolis Colts, but his time in the limelight was short-lived. After a brief, dominating run through two seasons, the bottom fell out from the Colts when a neck injury sidelined quarterback Peyton Manning, leading to his firing at the end of the season.
George Seifert was the next coach to take the crown, guiding the 49ers dynasty to new heights and leading the transition from one hall of famer quarterback, Joe Montana, to another hall of fame quarterback, Steve Young. Seifert’s run was similarly short-lived as Caldwell’s, who was soon surpassed by Paul Brown of the eponymous Cleveland Browns. This is where we begin today’s blog, mid-Brown’s dynasty at 101 games into Brown’s NFL career.
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In this cart above, each column represents the “Ones” digit, while each row represents the “Tens” digit into a coach's career.
Game 101-238 - Paul Brown’s Domination
In yesterday’s article, we talked about Brown taking over the career leaders spot at 33 games into his career, amidst a remarkable run in the AAFC that led to four straight championships. His success lasted much longer than just the AAFC, with him holding the undisputed top spot from games thirty-three until 218.
So, what made him so good? Today, we look at the countless inventions and strategies that Brown implemented throughout his career, and how it shaped the modern NFL that we know and love today.
- Inventions
Brown is credited with many inventions, both on and off the field. One merely cosmetic invention that he helped implement is the modern facemask. In the earlier days of the NFL, helmets had no facemask to protect players.
While players started wearing some form of a facemask as in the 1930s, Brown would help develop and patent the material that led to the initial single-bar facemask that debuted in 1954. From there, further development has shaped the helmet into what we know and recognize today. This modern football helmet also has a radio-receiver in it to help facilitate communication between the quarterback and the coaching staff. Guess who was one of the first coaches to trial this technology. Paul Brown.
During the 1956 season, Brown worked with a local electronics salesman to help fashion a device to radio in plays to his offense. While there were issues and controversy with his initial implementation of the receiver, NFL commissioner Bert Bell eventually banned the technology.
- Strategies
Brown also took an academic approach to his coaching as well. This included the fact that he was one of the first coaches to study game films, of both his team and of the opponents. He was not just collecting tendencies through film; he was also the first coach to place an assistant coach in the press box during the game to collect information to then relay this back to the entire coaching staff.
Oh, and regarding the coaching staff? Brown was the first head coach to hire a full-time coaching staff when he was hired to lead the Cleveland Browns. It’s no wonder that the Browns left everyone in the dust during the four-year run of the AAFC.
While we may not be able to visualize what the NFL looked like before Brown, it also extends to what types of plays may have been called. One such play that seems almost rudimentary to imagine a game without is the draw play - faking a pass play and then handing it off to a running back.
The End of Paul Brown's Reign
All good things must end though, and Brown’s run in Cleveland ended in 1962. Brown re-emerged in Cincinnati a few years later, but the magic was gone. He lost his status as the record-holder to Don Shula during his first season in Cincinnati, a 3-11 campaign that was his worst NFL season to date. At 160 games into a coaching career, Brown had company at the top, with Shula passing him at Game 161.
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