Flores, Tom. He and Mike Ditka are the only persons in NFL history to have won a Super Bowl as a player, assistant coach, and head coach (Super Bowl IV as a player for the Chiefs, Super Bowl XI as an assistant coach of the Raiders, and Super Bowl XV and Super Bowl XVIII as head coaches of the Raiders).
He was also the last person to coach both sides of a game. In fact, he's the only person who has coached a Super Bowl winner as a player and as an assistant coach. After his retirement, he became the first full-time assistant coach when Al Davis hired him in 1973. Along with Ditka, they are the only two people to have won championships as players, assistants, and heads coaches.
They both worked under three different franchises in three years. Flores had an eight-year career with the Chiefs from 1970 to 1977, while Ditka played for the Steelers from 1978 to 1979. Both men joined the Raiders in 1980 and helped them reach their second Super Bowl in 1983. That was also the year they lost to the Philadelphia Eagles by a score of 33-32.
After the season, Ditka resigned from the Raiders to take a job with ESPN as an analyst. He was replaced by Flores, who had been the team's offensive coordinator. Flores held that position for one season before being promoted to head coach.
In 1982, United Press International and the Football Writers Association honored him AFC Coach of the Year. Flores was the NFL's first minority head coach to win two Super Bowls, with the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XV and the Los Angeles Raiders in Super Bowl XVIII. He was also the first Hispanic coach to win the award.
Flores was born on January 4, 1931 in San Juan Puerto Rico. He played college football at Howard University in Washington D.C. After graduating from Howard, he went into coaching as an assistant under Jack Crowe at American University in Washington D.C. In 1955, he returned home to Puerto Rico where he worked as an assistant under Frank Lucchetti for three years. In 1958, Flores took over as head coach of the Puerto Rican National Football Team. He led his country to a gold medal at the 1959 Pan American Games in Chicago, Illinois.
He then moved up to the collegiate level where he worked under Charlie Caldwell at George Washington University from 1962 to 1966. When Bill Henry was hired by the Cleveland Browns, he brought Flores with him to be his offensive coordinator. When Henry was fired after one season, so too was Flores. He then went back to work under Lucchetti at American University from 1967 to 1969 before moving on again, this time to Miami (Ohio). There he helped turn the little-known Ohio State University into a power team during the early 1970s.
Flores, 84, becomes the second person, after Mike Ditka, to win the Super Bowl as a player, assistant, and head coach. He joined Ditka on his coaching staff with the Chicago Bears in 1993 after playing quarterback for the Miami Dolphins from 1980-1992.
Flores played under Don Shula for three seasons in Miami before moving on to Kansas City, where he ended up winning two Super Bowls with Ditka as his coordinator. After retiring as a player, he became an assistant on Ditka's staff in 1993 before being promoted to head coach a year later when Ditka was hired by the St. Louis Rams. After one season behind the Rams' bench, Flores returned to his old job with the Bears, this time as their head coach.
He is the all-time leader in wins (31) by a Miami Dolphin quarterback and ranks third in career passing yards (12,713).
After failing to make the playoffs during his first two years with the Chiefs, Flores led them to the 1994 AFC West title before losing to Buffalo in the AFC Championship Game. He was fired at the end of that season but quickly brought back into town as the new coach of the Bears.
Shula is most known for coaching the NFL's only unbeaten team, the 1972 Miami Dolphins, who concluded the season 17-0 after winning the Super Bowl. Belichick, widely considered as the finest modern-day NFL coach, is in his 17th season with the Patriots.
Belichick has defeated five different teams in his five victories (Rams, Panthers, Eagles, Seahawks, Falcons). Belichick also has the most Super Bowl appearances with seven. Former Steelers coach Chuck Noll has the second most Super Bowl wins with four, as well as the most Super Bowl wins without a defeat for any coach.
Don Shula (2-4) and Tom Landry (2-3) are the two coaches with multiple Super Bowl wins but a losing record in the game. There are four coaches who have made several Super Bowl appearances without ever winning one.
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