Colin Cowherd declares Jim Harbaugh ‘the greatest coach ever’

Quarterbacks might get judged on championships, but Colin Cowherd doesn’t appear to believe that applies to coaches.

Cowherd was recently thinking about the greatest coaches in football history. And while Bill Belichick, Vince Lombardi, Nick Saban and Bear Bryant might immediately come to mind, those answers would be too mundane for the Fox Sports host, which is why he went for Jim Harbaugh.

“If you count college and pro, I would make an argument today, the greatest coach in the history of football is not Bill Belichick or Bill Walsh or Vince Lombardi. It’s Jim Harbaugh. The greatest coach ever.” – Colin Cowherd pic.twitter.com/afsPLGqyRT

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 17, 2025

“If you count college and pro, I would make an argument today, the greatest coach in the history of football is not Bill Belichick or Bill Walsh or Vince Lombardi. It’s Jim Harbaugh. The greatest coach ever,” Cowherd boldly declared. “Think about this, he’s never failed. He’s five for five. At San Diego, Stanford, San Francisco 49ers, Michigan and the Chargers, he’s never failed.”

Cowherd continued his argument by noting Saban and Urban Meyer are legends in college football, but struggled in the NFL. And to those who want to argue Belichick as the greatest coach of all time, Cowherd says he benefited too much from having Tom Brady.

“What’s Belichick without Brady? Not great,” Cowherd said. “The only person that kinda compares to him is Jimmy Johnson.”

Harbaugh is a great head coach, no one is disputing that. But the 49ers were a mess when he left San Francisco after just four seasons and his one championship with Michigan is considered tainted by some due to a sign-stealing scandal. Even if we ignore the scandal, that lone championship doesn’t seem like enough of a resume booster to declare Harbaugh “the greatest coach ever.”

If Cowherd wants to combine college and pro, Jimmy Johnson has a better resume in both than Harbaugh. Even Pete Carroll deserves consideration over Harbaugh with two national championships and one Super Bowl.

Regardless, success in college football and the NFL shouldn’t be a prerequisite for the greatest head coach of all time debate. Just as we don’t consider national championships in the greatest quarterback ever debate. It’s a silly argument, but credit Cowherd for dropping a hot take to keep the people talking.