Can a Rookie Head Coach win the Super Bowl?

Overtime Heroics Editorial

2206 days ago

Can a rookie head coach win the Super Bowl? The short answer is yes (calm down Browns fans), but it is a bit more complicated than that. Though many rookie coaches have taken a team to the Super Bowl, only Don McCafferty and George Seifert won the Super Bowl. The caveat to these two rookies winning their rings is they inherited some of the best teams in the history of football. Seifert had a team coming off Super Bowl victories and future Hall of Famers in place. McCafferty was a part of a championship team lead by one of the greatest ever in Johnny Unitas. Freddie Kitchens is taking over a team that went 7-8-1 last season, which was their best in over ten years.

George Seifert

Siefert spent six years as the defensive coordinator for legendary 49ers coach Bill Walsh. Walsh had revolutionized the NFL with his west-coast offense and already won three Super Bowls by the time he retired in 1988. The 49ers kept the job in house tabbing Seifert as the next head coach. Seifert obliged and continued playing the brand of football Walsh had built, helping Seifert win the first of his two Super Bowls as a rookie coach in 1989.

Seifert’s success with the 49ers lasted eight years. Over that time he compiled the best winning percentage in NFL history (at that point). Then in 1996 he suddenly resigned. “Things change,” Seifert said at a news conference. “I feel this is maybe the right thing to do under the present environment.” After a while, the 49ers revealed Seifert sought a one-year extension, and when they refused, he chose to resign rather than finish the last year of his deal. After a couple of years out of coaching, Seifert became head coach of the Carolina Panthers. Over three years he compiled a 16-32 record before being fired. He never coached again.

Don McCafferty

McCafferty spent 11 years as a position coach for the Colts before becoming the head coach. Don Shula had left to run the Miami Dolphins. McCafferty, while not the Colts first choice, had familiarity with the team and the system ran by Shula, which would prove critical. Similar to the 49ers situation, McCafferty kept the continuity intact, and it paid off for the rookie coach in the form of a 16-13 Super Bowl win. It also didn’t hurt having Johnny Unitas at the helm. McCafferty lasted only four seasons as a head coach in the NFL compiling a record of 28-17 with that lone Super Bowl win.

Freddie Kitchens?

Freddie Kitchens enters this season as the Browns head coach after one year with the franchise and only six months in a coordinator role. There is no previous success. No proven system already in place. What does Freddie Kitchens have? A brazen young quarterback who is coming off a rookie record 27 touchdowns. A superstar wideout out to prove something. A defensive end with all the makings of one of the best to ever play the position. And finally, the pressure of having the sixth-best odds of winning the Super Bowl. So can this rookie head coach win the Super Bowl? We are about to find out.

Follow @WeirdJBronavich and Overtime Heroics for more great content! Also, join us for more debate in our sports forum.