The National Football League is the highest level of pro American football, and the NFL season is one of the most beloved and anticipated sporting events in the United States.
With every passing season, the coaches in the NFL get younger and younger, but there are some coaches who stuck around well past the usual retiring years. Some of them even came back to the NFL for a few years after retiring.
With such long careers, many of the coaches on this list are some of the best in NFL history and are responsible for pioneering many aspects of today’s game.
Note: In the listed information for each coach, we only focused on these NFL head coaches’ careers within the NFL. Many of them have been coaching overall for much longer than stated.
As of July 2023, this list is as accurate as possible and will be updated as needed.
Oldest Coaches In NFL
10. Bruce Arians (October 3, 1952 – Present)
Oldest Age While Coaching: 69 years in 2021
Years Active: 1989 – 1992; 1996; 1998 – 2017; 2019 – 2021 (25 years)
Teams: Kansas City Chiefs (1989 – 1992); New Orleans Saints (1996); Indianapolis Colts (1998 – 2000; 2012); Cleveland Browns (2001 – 2003); Pittsburgh Steelers (2004 – 2011); Arizona Cardinals (2013 – 2017); and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2019 – 2021)
photo source: Wikimedia Commons
Bruce Arians has been a professional football coach for over 45 years, but has switched between coaching college teams and NFL teams. Since 1998, Arians has been solely coaching in the NFL. Arians did briefly retire following the 2017 season, but agreed to terms on a 4-year contract to come out of retirement and became the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2019.
Despite his fairly long NFL career, Arians record has been uneven. However, as an assistant coach, Arians won two Super Bowls.
In March 2022, Arians announced that he would be stepping down as the Bucs’ NFL head coach. Arians is now serving as the team’s Senior Football Consultant.
Did You Know?
Bruce Arians is known for his trademark slogan “No risk-it, no biscuit,” which encourages aggressive play and risk-taking.
9. Dick Vermeil (October 30, 1936 – Present)
Oldest Age While Coaching: 69 years old in 2005
Years Active: 1969 – 2005 (36 years)
Teams: Los Angeles Rams (1969, 1971-1973, 1997-1999); Philadelphia Eagles (1976–1982); and Kansas City Chiefs (2001–2005)
photo source: Wikimedia Commons via hshark
Dick Vermeil coached at every level from high school to the big leagues, and he won “Coach of the Year” awards for each of these levels. In the NFL, each team that Vermeil took on had a losing streak before going under his wing, and he coached them all to the playoffs.
Vermeil is known for being highly supportive of his team, both players and staff, and for his emotional speeches and appearances at interviews and press conferences. In between coaching different teams, Vermeil worked as a sports announcer for CBS and ABC.
Did You Know?
Vermeil has also earned the unofficial record breaking title of the oldest coach to ever win a Super Bowl. He was 63 at the time, and over the course of his career, Vermeil accumulated two Super Bowl wins.
8. Tom Coughlin (August 31, 1946 – Present)
Oldest Age While Coaching: 69 years old in 2015
Years Active: 1984 – 2002; 2004 – 2015 (28 years)
Teams: Philadelphia Eagles (1984–1985); Green Bay Packers (1986–1987); New York Giants (1988–1990); Jacksonville Jaguars (1995–2002); and New York Giants (2004–2015)
photo source: Wikimedia Commons via Sgt. Mikki Sprenkle
Tom Coughlin retired from coaching in 2015, but is currently the Jacksonville Jaguars’ executive vice president of football operations. Known for being very meticulous and detail-oriented as well as a strict disciplinarian, Coughlin was given the nickname Colonel Coughlin due to his rigidness as a coach.
Coughlin has won two Super Bowl championships and has been awarded the New York Giants Ring of Honor. Outside of football, Coughlin is a charitable man. In 1996, he founded the Tom Coughlin Jay Fund Foundation, known more commonly as the Jay Fund, which is dedicated to providing support to families whose children have cancer. As of 2017, they have helped over 4,000 families.
Did You Know?
Tom Coughlin spent 20 of his 28 years coaching as a head coach.
7. Bill Belichick (April 16, 1952 – Present)
Oldest Age While Coaching: 69 years, 11 months, 29 days (as of April 2022)
Years Active: 1975 – Present (47 years)
Teams: Baltimore Colts (1975); Detroit Lions (1976 – 1977); Denver Broncos (1978); New York Giants (1979 – 1990); Cleveland Browns (1991 – 1995); New York Jets (1997 – 1999); and New England Patriots (1996; 2000 – Present)
photo source: Navy Live via Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Rawad Madana
Bill Belichick has had an exceptionally long career as an NFL coach and will be entering into his 47th season when the 2022 season begins. Belichick has been head coach of the New England Patriots for over 20 years and his name has now become synonymous with the record setting team.
As Patriots head coach, Belichick has led the the team to a record six Super Bowl wins. Due to his impressive coaching record, Belichick is widely considered to be one of the greatest coaches in NFL history.
Did You Know?
Bill Belichick is the longest-tenured active head coach in the NFL. He also has the record for playoff coaching wins with 31.
6. Gunther Cunningham (June 19, 1946 – May 11, 2019)
Oldest Age While Coaching: 70 years old in 2016
Years Active: 1982 – 2016 (34 years)
Teams: Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts (1982–1984), San Diego Chargers (1985–1990), Los Angeles Raiders (1991-1994), Kansas City Chiefs (1995–2000, 2004-2008), Tennessee Titans (2001–2003) Detroit Lions (2009 –2016)
photo source: prideofdetroit.com
Gunther Cunningham spent most of his coaching career in the NFL as an assistant coach, a special teams coach, or a defensive coordinator. Cunningham did briefly serve as a head coach for the Kansas City Chiefs during 1999 and 2000 seasons.
Cunningham began his career as a college football coach and then moved on to the Canadian Football League before he joined the NFL in 1982. After 34 years working various coaching jobs for different teams, Cunningham announced that he was retiring from the league. Cunningham left the NFL to work for the analytics-based website Pro Football Focus as its director of football oversight.
Did You Know?
Statistically, Gunther Cunningham was not a very good coach and often ranked at the bottom of the league for most of his career.
5. Pete Carroll (September 15, 1951 – Present)
Oldest Age While Coaching: 70 years, 6 months, 30 days (as of April 2022)
Years Active: 1984 – 1999; 2010 – Present (27 years)
Teams: Buffalo Bills (1984); Minnesota Vikings (1985 – 1989); New York Jets (1990 – 1994); San Francisco 49ers (1995 – 1996); New England Patriots (1997 – 1999); and Seattle Seahawks (2010 – Present)
photo source: Wikimedia Commons via Mike Morris
After leaving the NFL for nearly a decade to coach college football for the University of Southern California (USC) Trojans, Pete Carroll returned to the NFL in 2010 as the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks. At 70 years old, Carroll is currently the oldest active coach in the NFL and his coaching career stretches all the way back to 1973.
During his time as head coach for the Seahawks, Carroll has led his team to two Super Bowls, four NFC West division titles, and six playoffs. One of Carroll’s greatest achievements as the Seahawks’ head coach came during the 2014 Super Bowl when his team had a 43 – 8 victory over the Denver Broncos. While Carroll was coaching for USC, he won seven consecutive Pac-10 titles (2002-08) and two national championships (2003-04), and led the Trojans to a 97-19 record.
Did You Know?
Pete Carroll is one of only three coaches in football history to win a Super Bowl and college football national championship.
4. Al Saunders (February 1, 1947 – Present)
Oldest Age While Coaching: 71 years old in 2018
Years Active: 1983 – 2018 (36 years)
Teams: San Diego Chargers (1983 – 1988); Kansas City Chiefs (1986–1998, 2001-2005); St. Louis Rams (1999–2000, 2008); Washington Redskins (2006–2007); Baltimore Ravens (2009–2010); Oakland Raiders (2011-2014); Miami Dolphins (2015); and Cleveland Browns (2016–2018)
photo source: Fox News
Until very recently, Al Saunders was working as the senior offensive assistant coach for the Cleveland Browns. However, after Freddie Kitchens took over as head coach on January 12, 2019, it was announced that Saunders would not be returning. Before Kitchens was named head coach, Saunders was appointed as the interim head coach for the Browns during the 2018 regular season.
Saunders was named the NFL Offensive Coach of the Year in 2005 and helped develop two of the most renowned and best receiving corps in the history of the NFL with the St. Louis Rams and the San Diego Chargers. Saunders has one Super Bowl championship to his name and five division titles.
Did You Know?
Al Saunders, who was born in London, is the great-nephew of Ron Saunders, who played for the English Football League.
3. Marv Levy (August 3, 1925 – Present)
Oldest Age While Coaching: 72 years old in 1997
Years Active: 1969 – 1997 (28 years)
Teams: Philadelphia Eagles (1969); Los Angeles Rams (1970); Washington Redskins (1971–1972); Kansas City Chiefs (1978–1982); and Buffalo Bills (1986–1997)
photo source: celebritynetworthwiki.org
Although he has never won an NFL championship, he has four consecutive AFC Championship titles to his name and has been named Sporting News NFL Coach of the Year once and UPI NFL Coach of the Year twice. Levy was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2011.
Did You Know?
Marv Levy is known for his creation of the famous no-huddle offense known as the Jim Kelly-led K-Gun.
2. George Halas (February 2, 1895 – October 31, 1983)
Oldest Age While Coaching: 72 years old in 1967
Years Active: 1920 – 1967 (47 years)
Teams: Chicago Bears (formerly Decatur Staleys/Chicago Staleys)
photo source: Wikimedia Commons
Fondly nicknamed “Papa Bear”, George Halas is one of the most legendary figures in the NFL. Halas was one of the NFL’s founders and also one of the founders and owners of the Chicago Bears, a team that he played for in his youth. Under Halas, the Bears became the first team in the NFL to have daily practice and to analyze film of their opponents.
Halas has eight NFL championship titles to his name – six championships as a head coach, officially the most held – and a whopping 324 total wins, the second highest in all of NFL history. Halas was one of the first inductees in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and retired at 72 years of age, and for over 50 years Halas held the record for being the oldest coach ever in the NFL; however, this record was broken in 2020 by Romeo Crennel.
Did You Know?
George Halas provided a number of contributions to the league, including the invention of the T-Formation, the usage of tarp on the fields and press boxes for assistant NFL coaches, and the idea of shared revenue between teams.
1. Romeo Crennel (June 18, 1947 – Present)
Oldest Age While Coaching: 73 years old in 2020
Years Active: 1981 – 2020 (39 years)
Teams: New York Giants (1981 – 1989, 1990 -1992); New England Patriots (1993 – 1996, 2001 – 2004); New York Jets (1997 – 1999); Cleveland Browns (2000, 2005 – 2008); Kansas City Chief (2010 – 2012); Houston Texans (2014 – 2020)
photo source: CBS Sports
On October 5, 2020, Romeo Crennel made history after his was named the interim head coach of the Houston Texans; Crennel became the oldest head coach in NFL history at the age of 73, breaking George Halas’s 53-year record. Before being appointed interim head coach, Crennel has served in various coaching positions for the Houston Texans since 2014. Although Crennel has not yet made an official announcement to retire, as of the time of this writing his contract with the Texans has not been renewed.
Crennel grew up playing baseball and football and went on to play college football at Western Kentucky University. While earning his master’s degree from the university, Crennel became the school’s defensive line coach in 1970. Crennel first became an NFL coach in 1981 when he served as the special teams coach for the New York Giants.
Did You Know?
Romeo Crennel has five Super Bowl wins as assistant coach, two with the New York Giants and three with the New England Patriots.
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