Minnesota Vikings’ Hall of Fame head coach Bud Grant always said he would rather have good players than good coaches, as it was the players that ultimately made the plays that determined the outcome of games.
The latter part of Grant’s statement is certainly true, but with the advent of the NFL salary cap, it’s nearly impossible for a top team to maintain much of a talent advantage over other top teams. Looking back to the Vikings teams of the 70s under Bud Grant, there’s no way the Vikings could have kept Fran Tarkenton, Carl Eller, Alan Page, Jim Marshall, Ron Yary, Ed White, Mick Tingelhoff, John Gilliam, and Paul Krause on the roster with today’s salary cap at the front end of their 3 Super Bowls in 4 seasons run in 1973.