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There is a narrative on this forum that after so many years of coaching with one team, NFL head coaches often leave to coach elsewhere. I discussed this on the thread dealing with how people feel about Sean Payton, but because the narrative seems so pervasive, I thought it deserved a separate thread.
It is actually uncommon for an NFL head coach to leave an NFL team he has coached for an extended period of time if (a) he wants to continue coaching and (b) his team still wants him to be its head coach.
Sean Payton resigned after coaching the Saints for 15 years--the 2012 season was a forced "sabbatical" year.
Bill Belichick has coached New England for 23 years, Mike Tomlin Pittsburgh for 16 years, John Harbaugh Baltimore for 15 years.
Andy Reid (14 years) left Philadelphia because his contract was not renewed. Tom Coughlin (8 years) left Jacksonville because he was fired. Jeff Fisher (16 years) left Houston/Tennessee because the team bought out the last year of his contract. Dan Reeves left both Denver (12 years) and the Giants because he was fired. Denny Green (11 years) left Minnesota because of friction with ownership. Dick Vermeil left Philadelphia and Jim Mora left New Orleans because they were truly burned out.
Payton's mentor Bill Parcells did jump from job to job--the Giants, New England, the Jets, and Dallas. But in skill set, Parcells seemed more a builder than a sustainer, and with his prickly personality, he left the Giants in part because of disagreements with general manager George Young and left New England because his relationship with owner Bob Kraft had soured.
If we go back further in NFL history, Don Shula coached the Colts for eight years before going to Miami. But Shula then coached Miami for 26 years, and he left Baltimore, certainly in part, because of his worsening relationship with its very demanding owner, Carroll Rosenbloom.
Other than Payton, I can think of only two other exceptions to what I believe is the common practice. Mike Holmgren left Green Bay after 7 years for Seattle. At Seattle, he was also the executive vice-president and general manager with total control of football operations and received a contract that made him the highest paid head coach in the NFL. A secondary factor perhaps was that Holmgren was a West Coast guy and today lives in Seattle.
Perhaps the departure closest to Payton's was Vince Lombardi leaving Green Bay for Washington. Lombardi stepped down as Green Bay's head coach after 9 years of coaching, though he remained the team's general manager. A year later, he accepted the job of head coach with Washington with a huge contract and total control. Tragically, as we know, Lombardi coached only one year in Washington because of cancer claiming his life. When Lombardi stepped down as head coach, there was certainly physical fatigue, but also the Packers were becoming an old team and were headed for decline. And again, as we know, Green Bay promoted defensive coordinator Phil Bengtson to replace Lombardi, and Bengtson failed badly as a head coach.
Usually when head coaches leave a team after so many years, the reason is that the organization wants them gone. What makes Payton's departure especially unusual is that he is leaving an organization where he had an exceptionally close relationship with the owner and general manager, and is going to an organization where ownership and management will surely have very high expectations. I have argued elsewhere that Payton principally left because he believed the team's arrow was pointed downward and did not want to endure a rebuild or challenging transition period. But the point of this post is that it is unusual for a coach who has coached a team for a long time, who wants to keep coaching, and whose organization wants him to remain as coach, to leave for another team.
It is actually uncommon for an NFL head coach to leave an NFL team he has coached for an extended period of time if (a) he wants to continue coaching and (b) his team still wants him to be its head coach.
Sean Payton resigned after coaching the Saints for 15 years--the 2012 season was a forced "sabbatical" year.
Bill Belichick has coached New England for 23 years, Mike Tomlin Pittsburgh for 16 years, John Harbaugh Baltimore for 15 years.
Andy Reid (14 years) left Philadelphia because his contract was not renewed. Tom Coughlin (8 years) left Jacksonville because he was fired. Jeff Fisher (16 years) left Houston/Tennessee because the team bought out the last year of his contract. Dan Reeves left both Denver (12 years) and the Giants because he was fired. Denny Green (11 years) left Minnesota because of friction with ownership. Dick Vermeil left Philadelphia and Jim Mora left New Orleans because they were truly burned out.
Payton's mentor Bill Parcells did jump from job to job--the Giants, New England, the Jets, and Dallas. But in skill set, Parcells seemed more a builder than a sustainer, and with his prickly personality, he left the Giants in part because of disagreements with general manager George Young and left New England because his relationship with owner Bob Kraft had soured.
If we go back further in NFL history, Don Shula coached the Colts for eight years before going to Miami. But Shula then coached Miami for 26 years, and he left Baltimore, certainly in part, because of his worsening relationship with its very demanding owner, Carroll Rosenbloom.
Other than Payton, I can think of only two other exceptions to what I believe is the common practice. Mike Holmgren left Green Bay after 7 years for Seattle. At Seattle, he was also the executive vice-president and general manager with total control of football operations and received a contract that made him the highest paid head coach in the NFL. A secondary factor perhaps was that Holmgren was a West Coast guy and today lives in Seattle.
Perhaps the departure closest to Payton's was Vince Lombardi leaving Green Bay for Washington. Lombardi stepped down as Green Bay's head coach after 9 years of coaching, though he remained the team's general manager. A year later, he accepted the job of head coach with Washington with a huge contract and total control. Tragically, as we know, Lombardi coached only one year in Washington because of cancer claiming his life. When Lombardi stepped down as head coach, there was certainly physical fatigue, but also the Packers were becoming an old team and were headed for decline. And again, as we know, Green Bay promoted defensive coordinator Phil Bengtson to replace Lombardi, and Bengtson failed badly as a head coach.
Usually when head coaches leave a team after so many years, the reason is that the organization wants them gone. What makes Payton's departure especially unusual is that he is leaving an organization where he had an exceptionally close relationship with the owner and general manager, and is going to an organization where ownership and management will surely have very high expectations. I have argued elsewhere that Payton principally left because he believed the team's arrow was pointed downward and did not want to endure a rebuild or challenging transition period. But the point of this post is that it is unusual for a coach who has coached a team for a long time, who wants to keep coaching, and whose organization wants him to remain as coach, to leave for another team.
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Good luck coach P!
