For centuries, the leaders of the business world, politicians, and -- of course -- military minds have turned to the wisdom of ancient Chinese military strategist Sun-Tzu’s The Art of War.

This 13-chapter treatise covers topics from “Detail Assessment and Planning” to “Attacking with Fire,” mostly focusing on how to win a war without ever needing to fight. Sun-Tzu stresses through much of the text that deception and intelligence -- far more than bluntness and brute force -- were capable of creating victory. Strong leaders, according to Sun-Tzu, knew how to manipulate others' perceptions in order to surprise the enemy.

It’s no wonder New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is a steadfast disciple of the ways of the wu war-master.

Even in the NFL, success is often measured in terms of winners and losers, but sometimes it isn’t as obvious as a “W” in the box score. The perception of a team is often governed by their record, as opposed to their actual success on the field, and this then reflects on the head coaches themselves. I wanted to find out which head coaches since the turn of the century have been the most sneakily successful at creating value, despite a poor win-loss record.

Which NFL head coaches have underperformed the most since 2000?