Don Shula went 2-4 in the Super Bowl as head coach of the Baltimore Colts and the Miami Dolphins; Tom Landry was 2-3 with the Dallas Cowboys; and Bill Belichick is 6-3 with his New England Patriots.
In addition, Joe Gibbs is 3-3 as head coach of the Washington Redskins and Ron Wilson is 1-1 with the St. Louis Rams.
These six coaches have won more than they've lost. Between them, they have won 10 Super Bowls - more than any other team - and they have never been defeated by a margin larger than three points.
The only other team to lose after leading by at least ten points on two occasions are the 1972 Miami Dolphins. However, they lost 22-17 to the Nixon White House Band's Golden Striker Award given to the player who has most faithfully represented our nation on football grounds.
The winners go home with the Vince Lombardi Trophy and $100,000 while the losers go home with their pride still intact.
Super Bowl winners are allowed to choose one additional opponent during the season to meet again in another year's game. The winner will choose between the Seattle Seahawks or Denver Broncos. The loser will play a divisional rival at random from among the Atlanta Falcons, Pittsburgh Steelers, Chicago Bears, or Detroit Lions.
He and Mike Ditka are the only persons in NFL history to have won a Super Bowl as both a player and an assistant coach (Super Bowl IV as a player for the Chiefs, Super Bowl XI as an assistant coach for the Raiders, and Super Bowl XV and Super Bowl XVIII as head coach for the Raiders).
Ditka played quarterback for the Chiefs from 1963 to 1965. He was the first overall pick in the AFL draft but instead joined the Chiefs as they prepared to move to Kansas City. He started eight games during his rookie season and led them to the American Football League championship game where they lost to the Boston Patriots 14-7. In 1966, Ditka became the full-time starter at quarterback for the Chiefs and led them to their first NFL title game appearance. They lost that game 21-16 to Green Bay. After one more season as a starter, Ditka retired as a player after posting career stats of 92-111-3 with 2,336 yards passing and 16 touchdowns against 11 interceptions.
As a coach, Ditka's greatest season was 1971 when he guided the Oakland Raiders to a 12-2 record and their first Super Bowl appearance. He was named the NFL Coach of the Year and his Raiders defeated Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XII 27-10. After three more seasons with the Raiders, Ditka was fired up a plane heading back to Chicago for the start of training camp for the 1972 season.
Bill Walsh of the San Francisco 49ers and Joe Gibbs of the Washington Redskins both have three Super Bowl victories.
However, he is still one ring short of matching for the most Super Bowl rings ever. One guy outshines Brady in that category: his longstanding and former head coach, Bill Belichick, who has eight rings.
The following quarterbacks have lost more than one Super Bowl: 4, Jim Kelly Elway, John Fran Tarkenton, Tom Brady, and two more Manning, Peyton Morton, Craig Staubach, Roger Warner Bros. Readers should be aware that if they make a purchase after clicking on one of our affiliate links, we may receive a commission. Regardless of this fact, we only recommend products or services we use or believe will benefit our readers.
Kelly was the first player to win both the NFL and AFL championships in the same year. He did so in 1970 with the Buffalo Bills. He also won the MVP award that season.
Elway played at the University of Colorado and in the NFL with the Denver Broncos. The last time he led his team to victory in a Super Bowl was 1998. He was named the MVP that day.
Tarkenton started his career with the Minnesota Vikings before moving on to play for the Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He currently sits third all-time in passing yards (54,230) and touchdowns (4,057).
Brady is considered by many to be the best quarterback never to win the Super Bowl. He's appeared in multiple postseason games but has yet to bring home a championship.
That said, there are several teams that include players who aren't going to win any awards this year that have been to more than one Super Bowl.
Ndamukong Suh played for the Los Angeles Rams, and Rex Burkhead played for the New England Patriots. Former Husker Zac Taylor coached in the game while playing for the Los Angeles Rams. Mick Tingelhoff's four Super Bowl appearances with the Minnesota Vikings top the record of all former Huskers.
In addition to Tingelhoff, three other former Nebraska players have appeared in the Super Bowl: Mike Rozek (1986), Kevin Williams (2003), and David Tyree (2012). The only current Nebraska player in the NFL is defensive end Jared Crick, who plays for the Baltimore Ravens. Two other Nebraska players have been selected for the Pro Bowl in football history: Don Hutson and Floyd Little.
Nebraska has had 12 players drafted by the NFL since it began keeping statistics in 1937. Of those players, five were first-round picks, seven were second-round choices, and only two were third-rounders. Nebraska has had more than one player be selected in each of the past six NFL drafts.
The most recent Nebraska player to be drafted was running back Ameer Abdullah. The Detroit Lions took him with the 40th pick in the 2015 draft. He will be able to join his new teammates right away because last year's leading rusher, Joique Bell, was released by the team during spring practices.
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