What does the average NFL head coach’s resume look like?

As the New York Jets search for a new head coach, it's worth looking around the league to see what the typical head coaching resume looks like. In this study, we'll be analyzing the 32 NFL head coaches that held jobs entering Week 1 of the 2020 season, looking at the backgrounds that they carried with them at the time they were hired by their 2020 team. Age Let's kick things off by analyzing age. Here's a look at the age ranges that the 32 head coaches were in at the time they were hired. The average age upon hiring for the group was 46.7 years old. The youngest was Sean McVay at 31 years old in 2017, and the oldest was Bruce Arians at 67 years old in 2019. Slightly over half of the coaches - 18 of them - were between 38 and 48 years old at the time of being hired. Prior head coaching experience One commonly held opinion regarding the Jets' vacant head coaching position has been this: As a team badly in need of a culture change, they need a coach who has prior head coaching experience, while relying on a coordinator to make the leap would be too big of a risk. Those are extremely fair claims, but it does not appear that hiring a former head coach is an absolute necessity for a rebuilding team. As it turns out, the majority of head coaches in the league (including many successful ones) did not have experience in the role prior to their current stint. Here is a look at the prior head coaching experience of the 32-man group: Three coaches had been a head coach in college: Kliff Kingsbury (Texas Tech), Bill O'Brien (Penn St.) and Matt Rhule (Baylor). Seven coaches had been an NFL head coach (not counting interim stints): Bruce Arians (Cardinals), Bill Belichick (Browns), Pete Carroll (Jets/Patriots), Adam Gase (Dolphins), Jon Gruden (Raiders/Buccaneers), Mike McCarthy (Packers), Andy Reid (Eagles) and Ron Rivera (Panthers). Carroll (Jets/Patriots/USC) and Doug Marrone (Syracuse/Bills) had been head coaches in both the NCAA and the NFL. Of the other 20 coaches, there isn't any prior head coaching experience to speak of besides a stint in high school for Doug Pederson. This group includes a few Super Bowl winners - John Harbaugh, Pederson, Sean Payton and Mike Tomlin. Sean McDermott, Brian Flores, Mike Zimmer, Frank Reich, Mike Vrabel, Kevin Stefanski, Matt LaFleur and Kyle Shanahan are among the other members of the group that appear to be on their way to successful head coaching careers without having been a head coach before their current stint. Ten of the 13 teams to post a winning record in the 2020 regular season were led by a head coach in the midst of his first stint in the role (Arians, Carroll, and Reid being the exceptions). Offense or defense? The 2020 head coaching group leaned slightly towards offense, with 19 head coaches having a primarily offensive background, 11 having a primarily defensive background and two (John Harbaugh and Joe Judge) having a special teams background. Previous role upon hiring What are the most common roles from which head coaches are plucked? Here is a breakdown of what the 32 head coaches were doing the year before they were hired (some coaches were listed for two roles - in those cases, the higher-ranking job was used). Half of the coaches were promoted from a coordinator job - eight offensive, eight defense. The eight offensive coordinators: Matt Nagy (Chiefs), Sean McVay (Washington), Kevin Stefanski (Vikings), Matt LaFleur (Titans), Frank Reich (Eagles), Anthony Lynn (Bills - also running backs coach), Doug Pederson (Chiefs) and Kyle Shanahan (Falcons). The eight defensive coordinators: Sean McDermott (Panthers), Mike Zimmer (Bengals), Vic Fangio (Bears), Mike Vrabel (Texans), Mike Tomlin (Vikings), Matt Patricia (Patriots), Dan Quinn (Falcons), and Bill Belichick (Jets - also an assistant head coach). Four coaches came straight from a college head coaching job: Pete Caroll (USC), Bill O'Brien (Penn St.), Kliff Kingsbury (Texas Tech) and Matt Rhule (Baylor). Three coaches went from one NFL head coaching gig to another: Adam Gase (Dolphins), Andy Reid (Eagles), and Ron Rivera (Panthers). Three coaches had prior NFL experience but were not in the league the year prior to being hired: Bruce Arians, Jon Gruden and Mike McCarthy. Three coaches made the jump all the way up from a position coach role. John Harbaugh was Philadelphia's defensive backs coach in 2007. Prior to that, he was the Eagles' special teams coordinator from 1998-2006. Brian Flores was New England's linebackers coach and Zac Taylor was the Rams' quarterbacks coach. Two coaches had dual responsibilities as an assistant head coach and position coach. Doug Marrone was Jacksonville's assistant head coach and offensive line coach in 2016 before taking on the interim head coaching role over the final two games of that season, and the following year, he was promoted to the role full-time. Sean Payton was the assistant head coach and passing game coordinator for the Cowboys in 2005. Finally, Joe Judge was the special teams coordinator for New England in 2019. He was also the wide receivers coach, his first and only season handling that job after four years of solely coordinating the special teams unit.

What does the average NFL head coach’s resume look like?

As the New York Jets search for a new head coach, it’s worth looking around the league to see what the typical head coaching resume looks like.

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What does the average NFL head coach’s resume look like?

As the New York Jets search for a new head coach, it’s worth looking around the league to see what the typical head coaching resume looks like.

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