This is a list of the men who have coached the most premiership winning teams in VFL/AFL history:
8 – Jock McHale
6 – Norm Smith
5 – Jack Worrall, Checker Hughes
4 – Dick Reynolds, Tom Hafey, Ron Barassi, Allan Jeans, David Parkin, Kevin Sheedy, Leigh Mathews, Alastair Clarkson
According to the above list, Jock McHale is the most successful coach ever and Norn Smith is second best.
This is unfair to modern coaches because it is much harder to win a flag in an 18 team competition than it was to win a flag in the 10 team competititon of 1917 and 1919 (McHale’s first two flags) and the 12 team competition of the rest of McHale’s victories and all of Norm Smith’s victories.
I address this unfairness by allocating one point per non premiership winning team in the competition in each season in which a coach won a premiership.
Under this scoring system the top three coaches of all time are:
84 – Jock McHale
66 – Norm Smith, Alastair Clarkson
This raises two very important questions:
Is Alastair Clarkson already a better coach than Norm Smith was?
Is the talented young list at North Melbourne good enough to make their beloved leader catch up with current GOAT Jock McHale or even go ahead of him in the coming years.
I’m backing Clarko.
Who wants to help?
Geoff Fox, 21st May, 2026, Melbourne, Australia
(I do not know if a bloke as old as I am – 68, turning 69 on Saturday – can become a True Blue Roo, but I want to ……..)
FOOTY FOR FREEDOM 