The coaching carousel is furious in the NFL. What is fascinating is how many coaches who exit a team land with another or in broadcasting. A look at where coaches wind up when the carousel stops and leaves them without a seat.
Steve Wilks
Steve Wilks coached the Arizona Cardinals for one season. It was a disaster. The good news is the team wound up with the No. 1 pick in the draft. The bad is the terrible season cost Wilks his job. He’s now the defensive coordinator of the Cleveland Browns.
Bruce Arians
Bruce Arians coached for five seasons in Arizona. He had three double-digit win campaigns. He left for the broadcast booth and after a stint with CBS returns to the sidelines as head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Ken Whisenhunt
Ken Whisenhunt guided the Cardinals to Super Bowl XLIII. Arizona came so close but fell to the Steelers, 27-23. Whisenhunt was out after 2012. Stints as Chargers offensive coordinator have sandwiched a run as head coach in Tennessee.
Mike Smith
Mike Smith went 66-46 as coach of the Falcons from 2008-14. He then was fired and moved on to Tampa Bay, where he was defensive coordinator from 2016-18. He was let go after six weeks last season. Smith is looking to do something other than coaching. “I’ve been very blessed to have the opportunity to coach in the National Football League, and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it,” Smith said on Sirius XM. “I think, for me and my family, it’s time for us to look at some adventures and have a lot of things that we’d like to do, that I’d like to do. I’m looking forward to what those adventures bring because it’s going to be a lot of fun. I’ve been in this league and coached a long time, and I think it’s time to go do something different.”
Bobby Petrino
Bobby Petrino had an ill-advised run with the Falcons in 2007. He went 3-10 before bolting. Petrino returned to college football. He wound up leaving Arkansas after scandal, went to Western Kentucky and then had a second run at Louisville. The Cardinals’ season in 2018 was a complete collapse and Petrino was ousted. He has made appearances at Missouri practices but is not formally affiliated with the program, the school said.
Jim Mora
Jim Mora had two runs as a head coach in the NFL. He was with the Falcons from 2004-06 and then the 2009 season in Seattle. Mora coached UCLA from 2012-17. He is currently an analyst for ESPN.
Brian Billick
Brian Billick coached the Ravens from 1999-2007, going 80-64. He went into TV and has worked for FOX and the NFL Network.
Rex Ryan
Rex Ryan had two jobs in the AFC East, coaching the Jets and Buffalo Bills. Always colorful and controversial, Ryan has found a home with ESPN.
Doug Marrone
Doug Marrone coached the Bills from 2013-2014. He was associated with a Jet coaching search but did not get the job. He took an assistant job in Jacksonville in 2015 and was bumped up to head coach in 2017.
John Fox
John Fox appears on this list as coach of the Panthers, Bears and Broncos. After going 14-34 in three seasons in Chicago, he was finished. Fox is currently an analyst for ESPN.
Marc Trestman
Marc Trestman is adding a third league to his head-coaching resume. The former Montreal Alouettes, Chicago Bears and Toronto Argonauts sideline boss will be coach of the XFL team in Tampa Bay in 2020.
Lovie Smith
Lovie Smith spent nine years as coach of the Chicago Bears, going 81-63. He skipped the 2013 season and returned to the sidelines in 2014 as coach at Tampa Bay. That two-year run saw an 8-24 mark. Ugh. He’s currently the head coach at Illinois. He has had a rough time with the Illini, going 9-27 since 2016.
Hue Jackson
Hue Jackson coached the Raiders to an 8-8 mark in 2011. He was named Browns coach for the 2016 season. It was one of the worst runs in the history of coaching in any sport. Jackson went 3-36-1 before being relieved midway through last season. Jackson had a couple of offensive coordinator interviews in the offseason but didn’t get a job. He still wants to be a head coach in the NFL.
Mike Pettine
Mike Pettine was 10-22 in two seasons as head coach of the Cleveland Browns. He was caught in their coaching carousel, like many others. He has been the defensive coordinator in Green Bay since 2018.
Rob Chudzinski
Rob Chudzinski got all of one season in Cleveland, going 4-12. He later went on to work for the Colts and was offensive coordinator from 2015-17.
Pat Shurmur
Pat Shurmur spent two years coaching the Browns, going 9-23. He did have one game as interim coach in Philly when Chip Kelly exited in 2015, going 1-0. He is currently the head coach of the Giants, going 5-11 in 2018.
Marvin Lewis
Marvin Lewis coached the Bengals from 2003-18. He went 131-122-3. He currently is a special advisor for Herman Edwards at Arizona State.
Wade Phillips
Wade Phillips has had three runs as a head coach — Denver, Buffalo and Dallas — and three runs as interim coach — New Orleans, Atlanta and Houston. He currently is the defensive guru for the Los Angeles Rams.
Vance Joseph
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Vance Joseph went 11-21 in two seasons as head coach of the Broncos. He was not out of work long as Kliff Kingsbury hired Joseph to be the defensive coordinator in Arizona.
Gary Kubiak
Gary Kubiak had runs as coach of the Denver Broncos and Houston Texans. He was 21-11 in two seasons with the Broncos. Kubiak is back this season as the assistant head coach and offensive advisor in Minnesota.
Jim Caldwell
Jim Caldwell coached the Indianapolis Colts and Detroit Lions. He was 62-50 overall in seven seasons of work. He is the assistant head coach and QB coach in Miami now.
Jim Schwartz
Jim Schwartz was head coach in Detroit from 2009-2013. He was 29-51. Schwartz went to Buffalo and then to Philadelphia, where he is currently the defensive coordinator.
Rod Marinelli
Rod Marinelli coached the Lions for three seasons, concluding with the infamous 0-16 season in 2008. He moved to Chicago as defensive coordinator and now is the DC and D-line coach in Dallas.
Mike McCarthy
Mike McCarthy coached the Packers from 2006 through three-quarters of last season. He went 125-77-2. He announced in January he will sit out this season, but hopes to return to coaching in 2020.
Mike Sherman
Mike Sherman coached in Green Bay before Mike McCarthy. He had a variety of job since, including coaching high school for two seasons. Sherman was let go as coach of the CFL Montreal Alouettes before this season.
Chuck Pagano
Chuck Pagano went 53-43 in six seasons as head coach with the Indianapolis Colts. He is currently the defensive coordinator in Chicago, replacing Vic Fangio.
Tony Dungy
Tony Dungy coached the Bucs and the Colts. He has since moved into the broadcast side of the sport, working for NBC.
Gus Bradley
Gus Bradley was 14-48 in four seasons as coach in Jacksonville, losing double-digit games in every season. He currently is the defensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Chargers.
Mike Mularkey
Mike Mularkey coached the Bills, Jaguars and Titans. He is currently the tight ends coach of the Atlanta Falcons.
Romeo Crennel
Romeo Crennel coached the Browns for four seasons and the Chiefs for two. His current role is as defensive coordinator and assistant head coach in Houston.
Todd Haley
Todd Haley coached for three seasons in Kansas City, with two losing marks sandwiched by a 10-6 record in 2010. Most recently, he was offensive coordinator in Cleveland last season.
Herm Edwards
Herm Edwards went to work for ESPN after eight seasons as coach of the Jets and Chiefs. After spending a long run in broadcast, Edwards surprised everyone by taking the head coaching job at Arizona State last season.
Adam Gase
Adam Gase had a below-.500 run in Miami. He was shown the exit only to find the door open as the Jets’ coach for 2019.
Dan Campbell
Dan Campbell is currently the assistant head coach and tight ends coach in New Orleans. His head-coaching experience was 12 games for Miami in 2015 when he went 5-7.
Joe Philbin
Joe Philbin coached for three-plus years in Miami. Most recently, he took over in Green Bay when Mike McCarthy was fired, going 2-2 in four games last season.
Leslie Frazier
Leslie Frazier went 21-32-1 in three-plus seasons as Vikings coach. He then went to work for the Bucs and Ravens. Currently, Frazier is the Bills’ defensive coordinator, a position he has held since 2017.
Brad Childress
Brad Childress went 39-35 in four-plus seasons as coach of the Vikings. He currently is a senior offensive assistant for the Bears.
Mike Tice
Mike Tice was 32-33 in four seasons plus a game for Minnesota. He retired from coaching in February of 2018.
Pete Carroll
Pete Carroll coached the Jets and Patriots. It did not seem like he was on his way to a remarkable career. Then, he went to USC and created a dynasty there. Carroll then went to Seattle, where he has built a stellar program and won a Super Bowl.
Jim Haslett
Jim Haslett coached the Saints for six seasons and the Rams for much of one. His overall record is 47-61. He was most recently LB coach in Cincinnati, a position he lost when the Bengals and Marvin Lewis parted ways after last season.
Mike Ditka
Mike Ditka coached the Bears to a Super Bowl victory. He also spent time as a head coach in New Orleans. Ditka has been seen in broadcasting with ESPN and has had many ventures outside football.
Ben McAdoo
Ben McAdoo was 13-15 as coach of the Giants for much of two seasons. He interviewed for a position on Kliff Kingsbury’s staff with the Cardinals.
Tom Coughlin
Tom Coughlin coached the Jaguars and the Giants, to two Super Bowl wins. He returned to Jacksonville and is the EVP of football operations for the Jaguars.
Jim Fassel
Jim Fassel coached the New York Giants and in the defunct United Football League. He currently hosts a radio show in Las Vegas.
Todd Bowles
Todd Bowles coached the Jets through the 2018 season. He has reunited with his boss in Arizona, Bruce Arians, as defensive coordinator in Tampa Bay for 2019.
Eric Mangini
Eric Mangini was 33-47 in five seasons as coach of the Jets and Browns from 2006-10. He has had turns in media and as an assistant in San Francisco since.
Jack Del Rio
Jack Del Rio coached the Jaguars and Raiders, going 93-94 in almost 12 seasons. He plans on doing “some media stuff” this year with an eye on coaching again next season.
Dennis Allen
Dennis Allen is another coach who had a turn with the Raiders. He went 8-28 in 2 1/4 seasons. Allen has found more success as the defensive coordinator of the Saints.
Tom Cable
Tom Cable was 17-27 in nearly three seasons as coach of the Raiders. He is back with the Silver and Black since 2018 as their offensive line coach.
Lane Kiffin
Lane Kiffin has not made a ton of friends along the way in his coaching career. He has been at Tennessee, USC and in the NFL with the Raiders. He was 5-15 with the Raiders. He currently is the head coach of Florida Atlantic.
Chip Kelly
Chip Kelly was a guru in college ball at Oregon. He had considerably less success in the NFL with the Eagles and 49ers. He’s back at the college level, trying to rebuild UCLA’s program.
Andy Reid
Andy Reid is in the middle of a second long coaching run. He had one in Philadelphia and now is the man in charge of the Kansas City Chiefs.
Bill Cowher
Bill Cowher had a long and strong run as coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Since leaving the sideline, Cowher has been an integral piece of CBS’ studio show.
Mike McCoy
Mike McCoy has been quarterbacks coach for numerous teams. He was head coach of the Chargers from 2013-17. Last season, he started as offensive coordinator of the Cardinals. After an awful six-week run, he was shown the exit. He interviewed for the offensive coordinator job in Jacksonville in January.
Norv Turner
Norv Turner has been coaching for decades. His first head-coaching job came in Washington in 1994. He has also coached the Raiders and Chargers. He currently is the offensive coordinator in Carolina.
Jeff Fisher
Jeff Fisher had a long run as coach of the Houston/Tennessee franchise from part of 1994 through 2010. He then took over the Rams, where he was 31-45-1 from 2012 through much of 2016. He has made appearances for FOX.
Mike Munchak
Mike Munchak was 22-26 in three seasons as head coach of the Tennessee Titans. He spent from 2014-28 as offensive line coach in Pittsburgh and currently holds the same position in Denver.
Jim Zorn
Jim Zorn coached Washington for two seasons and went 8-20. He will have his first head-coaching gig since 2009 in 2020 when he takes control of the XFL team in Seattle.
Joe Gibbs
Joe Gibbs was fantastic as coach of Washington. A three-time Super Bowl winner. And he has gone on to a wonderful career in NASCAR, winning numerous races and four Cup Series titles.
Steve Spurrier
Steve Spurrier had his greatest success in college at Florida. He has coached at four levels: college, the USFL, NFL, and most recently the AAF, leading Orlando to a 7-1 mark before the league folded.
