Among all-time coaches, Wooden's No. 1

A panel of 118 distinguished coaches from all sports was put together by The Sporting News to rate the 50 greatest U.S. coaches from all sports.

The result: John Wooden won...again.

The winner of 10 NCAA basketball titles in a 12-year span was honored Wednesday by The Sporting News as the greatest U.S. coach of all time.

"Of course he was," current UCLA coach Ben Howland said. "That had to be very easy for the panel."

Wooden was a runaway winner, picking up 57 first-place votes. Finishing second, with 20 first-place votes, was Green Bay Packers legend Vince Lombardi. Rounding out the top 10: Bear Bryant, Phil Jackson, Don Shula, Red Auerbach, Scotty Bowman, Dean Smith, Casey Stengel and Knute Rockne.

Wooden doesn't travel much anymore and is not the fixture he once was at UCLA games at Pauley Pavilion. He gets around mostly in a wheelchair.

But his sharp mind — and wit — are intact.

So is his modesty.

"No one is deserving of being called the very best," he said in his slightly raspy voice. "No one."
He then pointed out to the middle-aged men who had once been his young men.

"They're the ones who make coaches," he said of his players. "Coaches help. But if you don't have the youngsters, you're not going to do the job."