The Dallas Cowboys picked a coach with a Super Bowl-winning pedigree in Mike McCarthy. However, the Joneses are going to have to defy NFL history if the ninth coach in franchise history is to bring home a ring. No coach that has won a Super Bowl and either moved on to another team or returned to the team it won a championship with (Joe Gibbs) his done it again.
Vince Lombardi
Vince Lombardi was the coach of the Green Bay Packers as they won the first two Super Bowls. Lombardi left the Frozen Tundra in 1968. He turned up as coach in Washington in 1969 and was 7-5-2 in his lone season.
Hank Stram
Hank Stram led the Kansas City Chiefs to an upset of the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IV. He exited KC after the 1974 season. After sitting out ’75, Stram was hired by the New Orleans Saints. It did not work out well, as they went 7-21 in two seasons under Stram.
Tom Flores
Tom Flores won Super Bowls as an assistant coach with the Oakland Raiders in 1976, and as a head coach for the Raiders in ’80 and ’83. He also was a backup to Len Dawson on the Chiefs team that won Super Bowl IV. Flores left his coaching gig with the Los Angeles Raiders after 1987. Five years later, he turned up as coach of the Seattle Seahawks. It was a rough go, as Flores and Seattle were 14-34.
Joe Gibbs
Joe Gibbs is champion coach and champion NASCAR team owner. In his first run as head coach in Washington, Gibbs was a three-time Super Bowl champion. He left after 1992 and did not take the head coaching job back until 2004. He was 30-34 over four seasons in his second run.
Mike Ditka
Mike Ditka coached the Super Bowl Shufflin’ Chicago Bears to a 15-1 record and Super Bowl championship in 1985. Ditka remained with Chicago through 1992. In 1997, he took over as coach in New Orleans and was 15-33 in three seasons, each with double-digit losses.
Bill Parcells
Bill Parcells coached the Giants to a pair of Super Bowl championships. He exited Big Blue after the 1990 season. In 11 seasons with the Patriots, Jets and Cowboys, Parcells was never able to win another Super Bowl.
George Seifert
On George Seifert’s 49th birthday, the 49ers won the Super Bowl. Seifert was promoted to succeed Bill Walsh as 49ers head coach the following season. In Super Bowl XXIV he became the first rookie head coach to win the Super Bowl since Don McCafferty coached the Baltimore Colts to victory in Super Bowl V. In all, Seifert coached on five Super Bowl champion teams with the 49ers. His last season as coach of the Niners was 1996. In 1999, he was hired by Carolina. Seifert did not re-enact the magic there, going 16-32 in three seasons.
Jimmy Johnson
Jimmy Johnson won a pair of Super Bowls as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. He parted ways with the team after 1993. In 1996, Johnson took over as head coach of the Miami Dolphins. He remained there for four seasons, running up a record of 36-28.
Mike Holmgren
As head coach of the Packers, Mike Holmgren posted a 75–37–0 regular-season record, a 9–5 postseason mark, and two Super Bowl appearances, including a 35–21 victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXI. He moved from Green Bay to Seattle after the 1998 season and spent 10 seasons as head coach, going 86-74. Had the Seahawks won Super Bowl XL, he would have become the first head coach in NFL history to win a Super Bowl with two different franchises, however they fell short, losing 21–10 to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Mike Shanahan
Mike Shanahan won a Super Bowl with San Francisco as an offensive coordinator. After a year plus as head coach of the Raiders, he led the Broncos to back-to-back Super Bowl championships in the 1997 and ’98. Shanahan left Denver in 2008. He took over in Washington in 2010. Four seasons went by and the results were a cumulative 24-40 mark
Dick Vermeil
Dick Vermeil coached the Philadelphia Eagles for seven seasons before moving on to the St. Louis Rams. He led the Rams to their lone Super Bowl victory Vermeil led the Rams to their only Super Bowl victory in XXXIV with a 23–16 win over the Tennessee Titans. He sat out the 2000 season before taking over in Kansas City. Vermeil was 44-36 as head coach of the Chiefs.
Jon Gruden
Jon Gruden was head coach of the Raiders from 1998-2001. He took over in Tampa Bay the next season Gruden led the Bucs to victory over his old team, the Raiders, in Super Bowl XXXVII. He remained coach of the Bucs through 2008. Gruden became an analyst on MNF before returning to the Raiders in 2018. He has gone 11-21 in his first two seasons during this run.
Mike McCarthy
And now, it is up to Mike McCarthy to try and accomplish what no other NFL coach has done, win a Super Bowl as head coach of two franchises. McCarthy led the Packers to victory in Super Bowl XLV. He takes over the Dallas Cowboys looking to accomplish a first for head coaches in the NFL.
