This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/nfl by /u/TormundIceBreaker on 2025-02-18 14:41:37+00:00.
As the NFL cycles roll on there tend to be trends in what teams look for in Head Coaches. Right now, it seems that there’s a larger priority in finding what people call “CEO style” or “culture setting” HCs. Think along the lines of Nick Sirianni, Dan Campbell, Dan Quinn, etc. A few years earlier and everyone was after the next Sean McVay; leading to opportunities for guys like Matt LaFleur, Zac Taylor, and Mike McDaniel.
This got me thinking about what jobs Head Coaches of Super Bowl winners held, prior to their hiring. So I went back and looked up each and every Super Bowl winning HC did in the season before their hiring as Head Coach.
Most of the information is from Wikipedia, but for a few I had to dig deeper, especially for the older coaches. If there are any mistakes or clarifications I should make, let me know and I’ll edit them. At the bottom is a table with a summary.
| Super Bowl(s) | Head Coach (Team) | Prior Job | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| I & II | Vince Lombardi (Packers) | OC - NY Giants | |
| III | Webb Ewbank (Jets) | HC - Baltimore Colts | The first of quite a few Super Bowl winning coaches who beat their prior team in the Super Bowl. |
| IV | Hank Stram (Chiefs) | Backfield Coach - University of Miami | He was listed as “Backfield” so I’m assuming it’s similar to being a RB coach today. He also got hired because Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt played for Stram at SMU. |
| V | Don McCafferty (Colts) | Assistant Coach - Baltimore Colts | Unclear what his exact position was, some sort of offensive assistant but nothing said he was OC. If any Colts fan can clear it up, let me know. He also said he didn’t sign a longer contract in case he did a bad job. Just a totally different NFL back then. *As noted by u/AlexB9598W he was a “backfield coach” per pfr, similar to Stram |
| VI & XII | Tom Landry (Cowboys) | DC - NY Giants | He was DC at the same time Lombardi was the OC. He was also hired to be the Giants DC while still playing as a safety. In 1954, he was the DC and a 1st Team All-Pro. |
| VII & VIII | Don Shula (Dolphins) | HC - Baltimore Colts | |
| IX, X, XIII, & XIV | Chuck Noll (Steelers) | DC - Baltimore Colts | |
| XI | John Madden (Raiders) | Linebackers Coach - Oakland Raiders | |
| XV & XVIII | Tom Flores (Raiders) | WR Coach - Oakland Raiders | Along with Mike Ditka, they are the only individuals to have won a Super Bowl as a player, assistant coach, and HC. |
| XVI, XIX, & XXIII | Bill Walsh (49ers) | HC - Stanford University | |
| XVII, XXII, XXVI | Joe Gibbs (Washington) | OC - San Diego Chargers | |
| XX | Mike Ditka (Bears) | Assistant HC & Special Teams Coordinator - Dallas Cowboys | While an assistant for Dallas, he wrote a letter to George Hallas saying he hoped to one day return to Chicago as a HC. |
| XXI & XXV | Bill Parcells (Giants) | DC - NY Giants | He was also the Linebackers coach but I’m counting him in the DC category. |
| XXIV & XXIX | George Seifert (49ers) | DC - San Francisco 49ers | |
| XXVII & XXVIII | Jimmy Johnson (Cowboys) | HC - University of Miami | |
| XXX | Barry Switzer (Cowboys) | TV host and various businesses, but also HC - University of Oklahoma | Switzer was out of coaching for 6 years prior to his hire by Jerry Jones. He had been a coach at Arkansas when Jerry played there, similar to Hank Stram. |
| XXXI | Mike Holmgren (Packers) | OC - San Francisco 49ers | |
| XXXII & XXXIII | Mike Shanahan (Broncos) | OC - San Francisco 49ers | No notes but I did read this funny tidbit on Wikipedia: "In 1994 while coaching for the 49ers, Shanahan added to the ongoing feud between him and Raiders owner Al Davis when he had then quarterback Elvis Grbac throw a football at Davis’ head, which missed by a few inches as Davis was able to dodge it just in time; afterwards Davis responded with an obscene gesture." |
| XXXIV | Dick Vermeil (Rams) | TV Announcer but also HC - Philadelphia Eagles | Vermeil was out of coaching for 15 years working for CBS & ABC, before returning to the sidelines in St. Louis. |
| XXXV | Brian Billick (Ravens) | OC - Minnesota Vikings | |
| XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX, XLIX, LI, & LIII (what the fuck man) | Bill Belichick (Patriots) | LOL | Where to begin. Technically, he was the HC of the Jets prior to his hire with New England but that was for all of 30 minutes. This came about after Bill Parcells resigned as Jets HC with Belichick as his planned successor. Prior to even that, Belichick was announced as the Jets HC in 1997 before the Jets were able to work out compensation with New England that allowed them to hire Parcells in the first place. I’m counting him in the DC category below, but it’s obviously a unique situation. |
| XXXVII | Jon Gruden (Buccaneers) | HC - Oakland Raiders | While looking into this I found out Gruden wasn’t the Bucs first choice despite the hefty trade price they paid to get him, it was Bill Parcells. |
| XL | Bill Cowher (Steelers) | DC - Kansas City Chiefs | |
| XLI | Tony Dungy (Colts) | HC - Tampa Bay Buccaneers | |
| XLII & XLVI | Tom Coughlin (Giants) | Unemployed but also HC - Jacksonville Jaguars | Unlike previous out of work coaches, I couldn’t find what Coughlin did in his lone season between jobs. If anyone knows, I’ll update it. *Update courtesy of u/jdg83 : Coughlin spent his time as an outside observer and was an unpaid consultant for a few teams at training camps |
| XLIII | Mike Tomlin (Steelers) | DC - Minnesota Vikings | |
| XLIV | Sean Payton (Saints) | Assistant HC & Passing Game Cooordinator - Dallas Cowboys | A lot of roles, he was originally hired as Assistant HC and QB coach, but got the coordinator position in 2005. He’s counted in the Assistant Coach category below. |
| XLV | Mike McCarthy (Packers) | OC - San Francisco 49ers | I still think it’s amazing the Packers hired the OC of a team that just finished 30th in points scored and dead last in yards. But it worked so what do I know? |
| XLVII | John Harbaugh (Ravens) | Defensive Backs - Philadelphia Eagles | Despite being better known as the ST Coordinator for the Eagles, his final position with the team was for a single year as DBs coach. Andy Reid gave him that position in an attempt to boost his profile for HC openings. |
| XLVIII | Pete Carroll (Seahawks) | HC - USC | |
| 50 (I will always be mad we didn’t get Super Bowl L) | Gary Kubiak (Broncos) | OC - Baltimore Ravens | |
| LII | Doug Pederson (Eagles) | OC - Kansas City Chiefs | |
| LIV, LVII, & LVIII | Andy Reid (Chiefs) | HC - Philadelphia Eagles | |
| LV | Bruce Arians (Buccaneers) | TV Analyst but also HC - Arizona Cardinals | Arians spent one year as an analyst before being hired as the Bucs HC. I also discovered that both Bucs Super Bowl winning coaches were traded to the team. The Bucs and Cardinals swapped sixth and seventh round picks as Arians was still under contract in retirement. |
| LVI | Sean McVay (Rams) | OC - Washington | |
| LIX | Nick Siranni (Eagles) | OC - Indianapolis Colts |
Overview:
| Prior Position | Number of Head Coaches | Total Super Bowls Won |
|---|---|---|
| NFL Offensive Coordinator | 10 | 14 |
| NFL Head Coach | 8 | 12 |
| NFL Defensive Coordinator | 7 | 18 |
| NFL Assistant / Positional Coach | 5 | 6 |
| CFB Head Coach | 4 | 7 |
| Special Teams Coordinator | 1 | 1 |
| CFB Assistant / Positional Coach | 1 | 1 |
| Out of Football Prior Season* | 4 | 5 |
* Switzer, Vermeil, Coughlin, and Arians, are all counted twice. Once for what their previous coaching position was and the other in the “Out of Football” row.
Additional Notes:
- After Lombardi, a direct OC hire didn’t win a Super Bowl until Joe Gibbs, yet this hire type has produced the most winners since the 1990s
- Unsurprisingly, no HC hired directly from the college coordinator ranks has ever won a Super Bowl
- Surprisingly, a HC hired directly from the college position coach ranks has (Stram)
- No HC has won a Super Bowl with two franchises
- All four coaches hired after a hiatus/retirement were former Head Coaches
- There were two situations where a former assistant to someone, won a Super Bowl before their previous boss did (Pederson and Harbaugh* (thank you u/aaronupright) before Reid, McCafferty before Shula)
- Ewbank, Gruden, and Reid all won a Super Bowl against the team they had coached previously
- Three of the four Head Coaches hired as CFB Head Coaches, had won National Titles, Bill Walsh is the exception
- Five Head Coaches were hired directly from the Colts, the most of any NFL team, followed by the 49ers with four, and the Giants and Raiders both with three
- If I had a nickel for every time a former college coach was hired by an NFL owner who played for that coach in college, I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it happened twice
- Only five coaches were internal hires: McCafferty, Madden, Flores, Parcells, and Seifert
I don’t really have any sort of sweeping conclusion if you were looking for one. I just got this idea in my head and figured some of you would find it interesting. For teams who hired Head Coaches this off-season, two fall into the “NFL HC but out of football the year prior” while the other five were all NFL coordinators so no one really broke out of the usual comfort zone of HC hires.