The NFL’s Longest-Tenured Head Coaches

The NFL’s Longest-Tenured Head Coaches
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By the end of the 2024 regular season, the Bears, Jets and Saints had already moved on from their head coaches. Those teams were joined by Cowboys, Jaguars, Raiders and Patriots in making a change on the sidelines.

After their midseason terminations, Matt Eberflus, Robert Saleh and Dennis Allen each landed defensive coordinator gigs during the 2025 hiring cycle. The staffers who remained in place through the end of the campaign have yet to line up their next NFL opportunity, however. Mike McCarthy withdrew from the Saints’ search, setting the 61-year-old for at least one year out of coaching (just like the pause between his Packers and Cowboys stints).

Meanwhile, Doug Pederson was unable to parlay interest in an offensive coordinator position into a hire this spring. The former Super Bowl winner is thus set to be out of coaching for 2025. The same will also be true of Antonio Pierce and Jerod Mayo after their one-and-done stints as full-time head coaches did not go as planned.

While recent months have brought about the latest round of changes, many of the longest-tenured head coaches around the league remain in place. McCarthy was the only staffer within the top 10 on last year’s list in that regard who has been replaced. In all, nine head coaches hired at the beginning of this decade (or earlier) will carry on with their respective teams in 2025.

Six of those reside in the AFC, with Mike Tomlin – who became the league’s longest-tenured head coach last year in the wake of Bill Belichick’s Patriots departure – once again leading the way, albeit with questions about his future beyond this season present. The NFC will include Sean McVay, Kyle Shanahan and Matt LaFleur handling their familiar roles in 2025, although the latter (who has two years left on his deal) will not receive an early extension.

Here is a look at how the league’s head coaches shape up entering the 2025 campaign:

  1. Mike Tomlin (Pittsburgh Steelers): January 27, 2007; extended through 2027
  2. John Harbaugh (Baltimore Ravens): January 19, 2008; extended through 2028
  3. Andy Reid (Kansas City Chiefs): January 4, 2013; extended through 2029
  4. Sean McDermott (Buffalo Bills): January 11, 2017; extended through 2027
  5. Sean McVay (Los Angeles Rams): January 12, 2017; extended through 2027
  6. Kyle Shanahan (San Francisco 49ers): February 6, 2017; extended through 2027
  7. Matt LaFleur (Green Bay Packers): January 8, 2019: signed extension in July 2022
  8. Zac Taylor (Cincinnati Bengals): February 4, 2019; extended through 2026
  9. Kevin Stefanski (Cleveland Browns): January 13, 2020; signed extension in June 2024
  10. Dan Campbell (Detroit Lions): January 20, 2021; extended through 2027
  11. Nick Sirianni (Philadelphia Eagles): January 21, 2021; signed offseason extension
  12. Brian Daboll (New York Giants): January 28, 2022
  13. Kevin O’Connell (Minnesota Vikings): February 2, 2022; signed offseason extension
  14. Mike McDaniel (Miami Dolphins): February 6, 2022
  15. Todd Bowles (Tampa Bay Buccaneers): March 30, 2022; extended through 2028
  16. Sean Payton...