I recently read a columnist’s listing of who he believes are the 10 best coaches in sports. To no surprise, the New England Patriots’ Bill Belichick ranks, in this fellow’s opinion, at number four. (His top guy was the NBA’s Phil Jackson).

In his reasoning, the writer offered that a number of these top coaches disliked the media, saying that Belichick, for example, “was an unpleasant man who seems to dislike the media” and that Jackson was “arrogant and annoying at times.” I’m assuming – and it’s not a stretch – that some of those times had to do with his face-to-face dealings with the media. Philadelphia’s Andy Reid, who did not make the list but was mentioned, was tossed into the same category as Belichick as far as his feelings about the media were concerned, or so the writer believed.

Well, I have searched far and wide to find any outlandish comments Belichick may have made about the scribes and broadcasters but I couldn’t find much in the way of evidence that the coach feels one way or the other about his media followers, and he’s sure to have a number of them given his teams’ records over the years. So, I would imagine, has Jackson.

Given that lack of response, it might be more accurate to say that Belichick has no interest in the media in general and, if that is true, ignores them to the extent he can which no doubt angers people who are supposed to cover him and the team. In the face of all these championships, the coverage increases and if he is unwilling to show much in the way of cooperation, beyond a token offering of what the NFL no doubt demands, then the media types aren’t going to look on him favorably and one can understand their predicament.

The upshot is we know very little about what Belichick thinks about the media or much else and are unlikely to know. But no matter what happens to Bill Belichick he will always be known first and foremost as the winner of multiple Super Bowls, a remarkable judge of talent and we can presume without much of a stretch, as one of the best coaches in league history, with or without media approbation (or maybe their “empathy,” the going word these days.)

Today’s head coaches are like presidents in this way: everything they say – and some are quoted daily at least during the season – is grist for the media mill. Some seek what historian Forrest McDonald called “the projection of appealing images,” but Bill Belichick could care less what image he projects to the press or to anyone else, save his team.

Whether you’re any good talking to the media should not be a guideline to your success as a coach. Belichick and others have proven that. But in today’s media world – and indeed it is surely one where everything you say and your image is projected to an extent that would have been unthinkable just 10 years ago – can make or break a coach who doesn’t have a resume like Belichick’s. By all accounts, Jim Mora was a good coach but he will forever be known to fans for his meltdown following a loss when he coached the Colts. Success before the media then may be, as one columnist wrote, the equivalent of the flu shot. Nobody knows if it works, but the league apparently employs media trainers and teams all sorts of staff to prep players and coaches before the scribes because it makes them feel better or at least proactive.

I queried some long time followers of Chiefs football who date back to the early days of the franchise and, along with those thoughts, and my own unscientific observations, designated what has become a media infatuation these days: a list. So, here is a list of who this informal survey turned up as the top Chiefs coaches in history to speak in front of the cameras, microphones and reporters:

1. Marty Schottenheimer. Shows what a change in scenery can do for a head coach. Rumbling through the clip files from Cleveland and watching old NFL Films footage of Schottenheimer as head coach of the Browns, you sensed that some media found his responses not so much objectionable as trite: “There’s a gleam men.” What’s that mean, said more than one Cleveland scribe?

However, Schottenheimer seldom let the media bait him during his time in Kansas City. He provided information on the Chiefs without revealing any state secrets. Professional and pleasant in his demeanor, he coined a phrase that will forever be part of the lexicon that is the fate of every head coach: “It’s not what have you done for me lately, it’s what are you going to do for me next.” You never had any doubts he was in charge or what and why something was taking place when Marty said it. The public and media’s idea of “Martyball,” however, was a gross misevaluation of his open-minded approach to offense. Don’t you remember, “yardage in chunks?”

2. Hank Stram talked a language that initially only he and his players knew but that others came to mimic, especially the television media. As the coach who popularized sideline miking, he can rightfully be called its pioneer. In his post-game remarks, he heavily promoted his team, his game plans, and, yes, himself. You must remember he was in competition with another league at the time and one can believe he saw his role as a spokesman for the entire AFL.

That said, it is unlikely he would be cut much slack today in the world of social media networks and YouTube and ESPN where his utterances would have been taken apart and mocked. Can you imagine how today’s public would react to his “matriculating down the field” comment?

3. Herm Edwards never shied away from his media responsibilities despite his teams’ poor records, as a couple of fellows I consulted saw it, even some ones who didn’t care for his coaching. He seldom let questions get under his skin, yet will carry the image for the rest of his career of his heated response to a New York media question, “you play to win the game,” when he was coach of the Jets, just like he will do so here with his admonition to fans, “Get over It.” His use of the word, “Obviously,” to a crowd that found very little obvious during his time here, peppered many of his comments at the press conferences people heard. His continuing work for ESPN, however, tells you that the network big-wigs believe he has a future on that side of the business no matter what some of his critics said then and now.

4. Marv Levy was very erudite – a word he liked to use – in his comments before the media. He appeared prepared and handled his media appearances with a good nature, even when the situation was hardly a cheerful one. You could often hear him saying, “Offense sells tickets, defense wins games and special teams win championships.” A cliché? Of course, but it also happened to be true.

5. Dick Vermeil had constructed a favorable national reputation with the media long before he came to Kansas City. Part of his draw, no doubt, was a remarkable honesty, remarkable for a head coach operating in today’s media world. He wasn’t afraid to say anything he was thinking and if he didn’t like a question or the direction the questioning was going, he let the media know it.

Fiercely loyal to his players and his coaches, any media member was unwise to take too hard a line on either party in front of him or risk a verbal slap-down. If you listened closely to what he said, and this site is full of his appearances before the press, you could pick up really insightful information. His comment on Larry Johnson needing “to take off the diapers” was widely misinterpreted – or deliberately so – and was in truth an often used reference that all coaches make during the off-season and leading up to the start of training camp. It means “taking off their shorts and shirts” (for pads) and has even been structured as, “taking off their pajamas.” The player took the bait in this case, the media jumped the case, and the controversy was off and running.

6. Frank Gansz, who sadly passed away this year, appeared ill-cast speaking with the media on a regular basis. He provided insight and information when you listened, but was really more comfortable, so said a couple of media I consulted, talking football in technical terms. His references to his military experience was mocked by media and, like Vermeil’s statement, was misinterpreted and, in this case, deliberately so.

7. John Mackovic appeared to be a bit snobbish before the cameras and generally was considered a poor communicator, as one media member who covered him told me. The same scribe also told me in an email that he often shared a glass of wine with Mackovic at the stadium from time to time and this may have been one of the few times he let his guard down. Few saw his friendlier and more congenial side.