Sports

List of Famous Football Coaches

Reference
29.4k views 653 items

List of famous football coaches, with photos, bios, and other information when available. Who are the top football coaches in the world? This includes the most prominent football coaches, living and dead, both in America and abroad. This list of notable football coaches is ordered by their level of prominence, and can be sorted for various bits of information, such as where these historic football coaches were born and what their nationality is. The people on this list are from different countries, but what they all have in common is that they're all renowned football coaches.

List is made up of people like Bill Belichick and Knute Rockne.

From reputable, prominent, and well known football coaches to the lesser known football coaches of today, these are some of the best professionals in the football coach field. If you want to answer the questions, "Who are the most famous football coaches ever?" and "What are the names of famous football coaches?" then you're in the right place. 
Jerry Sandusky is listed (or ranked) 1 on the list List of Famous Football Coaches
Gerald Arthur Sandusky (born January 26, 1944) is an American retired college football coach who was convicted of rape and child sexual abuse. Sandusky served as an assistant coach for his ...more
Jim Harbaugh is listed (or ranked) 2 on the list List of Famous Football Coaches
James Joseph Harbaugh (; born December 23, 1963) is an American football coach and former player who is currently the head football coach of the University of Michigan Wolverines and is a former ...more
Mike Ditka is listed (or ranked) 3 on the list List of Famous Football Coaches
Michael Keller Ditka (born Michael Dyczko; October 18, 1939) is an American former football player, coach, and television commentator. A member of both the College Football (1986) and Pro ...more
Joe Paterno is listed (or ranked) 4 on the list List of Famous Football Coaches
Joseph Vincent Paterno (; December 21, 1926 – January 22, 2012), sometimes referred to as JoePa, was an American college football player, athletic director, and coach. He was the head coach of ...more
Andy Reid is listed (or ranked) 5 on the list List of Famous Football Coaches
Andrew Walter Reid (born March 19, 1958) is an American football head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). Reid was previously the head coach of the ...more
Marv Levy is listed (or ranked) 6 on the list List of Famous Football Coaches
Marv Levy
Marvin Daniel Levy (born August 3, 1925) is a former American and Canadian football coach, front office executive, and author. He served as head coach in the Canadian Football League (CFL) for ...more
Bobby Bowden is listed (or ranked) 7 on the list List of Famous Football Coaches
Robert Cleckler Bowden (born November 8, 1929) is a retired American football coach. Bowden is best known for coaching the Florida State Seminoles football team from the 1976 to 2009 seasons. ...more
Tony Dungy is listed (or ranked) 8 on the list List of Famous Football Coaches
Anthony Kevin Dungy ( DUN-jee; born October 6, 1955) is a former professional American football player and coach in the National Football League (NFL). Dungy was head coach of the Tampa Bay ...more
Jon Gruden is listed (or ranked) 9 on the list List of Famous Football Coaches
Jon David Gruden (born August 17, 1963) is an American football coach who is the head coach of the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He first served as the Raiders' head ...more
Woody Hayes is listed (or ranked) 10 on the list List of Famous Football Coaches
Wayne Woodrow Hayes (February 14, 1913 – March 12, 1987) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at Denison University (1946–1948), Miami University in Oxford, ...more
Don Shula is listed (or ranked) 11 on the list List of Famous Football Coaches
Donald Francis Shula (born January 4, 1930) is an American former professional football coach and player who is best known as the head coach of the Miami Dolphins, the team he led to two Super ...more
Steve McMichael is listed (or ranked) 12 on the list List of Famous Football Coaches
Stephen Douglas "Mongo" McMichael (born October 17, 1957) is a former American college and professional football player as a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL), a ...more
Bill Belichick is listed (or ranked) 13 on the list List of Famous Football Coaches
William Stephen Belichick ( or (; born April 16, 1952) is an American football coach who serves as the head coach of the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). His extensive ...more
Tom Osborne is listed (or ranked) 14 on the list List of Famous Football Coaches
Thomas William Osborne (born February 23, 1937) is a former American football player, coach, college athletics administrator, and politician from Nebraska. He served as head football coach of ...more
Lane Kiffin is listed (or ranked) 15 on the list List of Famous Football Coaches
Lane Monte Kiffin (born May 9, 1975) is an American football coach who is currently the head football coach at Florida Atlantic University. Kiffin formerly served as the offensive coordinator ...more
Pete Carroll is listed (or ranked) 16 on the list List of Famous Football Coaches
Peter Clay Carroll (born September 15, 1951) is an American football coach who is the head coach and executive vice president of the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He is ...more
Bo Schembechler is listed (or ranked) 17 on the list List of Famous Football Coaches
Glenn Edward "Bo" Schembechler Jr. ( SHEM-bek-lər; April 1, 1929 – November 17, 2006) was an American football player, coach, and athletics administrator. He served as the head ...more
Knute Rockne is listed (or ranked) 18 on the list List of Famous Football Coaches
Knute Kenneth Rockne ( kə-NOOT; March 4, 1888 – March 31, 1931) was a Norwegian-American football player and coach at the University of Notre Dame. Rockne is regarded as one of the greatest ...more
Lou Holtz is listed (or ranked) 19 on the list List of Famous Football Coaches
Louis Leo Holtz (born January 6, 1937) is a former American football player, coach, and analyst. He served as the head football coach at The College of William & Mary (1969–1971), North ...more
Mike MacIntyre is listed (or ranked) 20 on the list List of Famous Football Coaches
George Michael MacIntyre (born March 14, 1965) is an American football coach. He is the defensive coordinator at Ole Miss. MacIntyre played college football at Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech and ...more
Joe Gibbs is listed (or ranked) 21 on the list List of Famous Football Coaches
Joe Jackson Gibbs (born November 25, 1940) is a retired American football coach, NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series team owner, and former NHRA team owner. He was the 20th and 26th head ...more
Mike Shanahan is listed (or ranked) 22 on the list List of Famous Football Coaches
Michael Edward Shanahan (born August 24, 1952) is a former American football coach, best known as the head coach of the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL) from 1995 to 2008. ...more
Major Applewhite is listed (or ranked) 23 on the list List of Famous Football Coaches
Major Lee Applewhite (born July 26, 1978) is an American football coach and former player who is currently an analyst at the University of Alabama. He served as head coach at the University of ...more
Mike Singletary is listed (or ranked) 24 on the list List of Famous Football Coaches
Michael Singletary (born October 9, 1958) is an American football coach and former professional football player. After playing college football for Baylor University, Singletary was drafted by ...more
John Madden is listed (or ranked) 25 on the list List of Famous Football Coaches
John Earl Madden is a former American football player in the National Football League, a former Super Bowl-winning head coach with the Oakland Raiders in the American Football Conference of the ...more