List of Detroit Lions head coaches

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Dan Campbell is the current head coach of the Detroit Lions and is already widely considered to be the best coach in Lions history, having a 2-1 record after his first postseason, with every other Detroit Lions Coach since the AFL-NFL merger having a combined 1-12 postseason record. Rivera-Campbell-shake (cropped).jpg
Dan Campbell is the current head coach of the Detroit Lions and is already widely considered to be the best coach in Lions history, having a 2–1 record after his first postseason, with every other Detroit Lions Coach since the AFL-NFL merger having a combined 1-12 postseason record.

The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are currently a member of the North Division of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The franchise has had 30 head coaches in team history, which includes its existence as the Portsmouth (Ohio) Spartans (1930–1933). In the 1934 NFL season, the franchise moved to Detroit and changed their name to the Lions.

Contents

George "Potsy" Clark is the only coach to have more than one tenure. Three coaches have won NFL championships with the team: Potsy Clark in 1935, Buddy Parker in 1952 and 1953, and George Wilson in 1957. [2] Wayne Fontes is the all-time leader in games coached and wins, and Clark leads all coaches in winning percentage with .679 (with at least one full season coached). John Karcis is statistically the worst coach the Lions have had as he never won a game. [3] Karcis is followed by Marty Mornhinweg with a winning percentage of .156. Of the 30 Lions coaches, two have been elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame: Dutch Clark and Joe Schmidt. [4] Gus Dorais was inducted in the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1954. Several former players have been head coach for the Lions, including Dutch Edwards, Buddy Parker, Harry Gilmer, Joe Schmidt, Dick Jauron, and the current head coach Dan Campbell, who was hired on January 20, 2021. [5]

Coaches

Note: Statistics are accurate through Week 1 of the 2024 NFL season.

GCGames coached
WWins
LLosses
TTies
Win%Win – Loss percentage
DivDivision titles
*Elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame
Spent entire professional head coaching career with the Lions
#ImageNameTermRegular seasonDivision
titles
PlayoffsAwards
GCWLTWin%GCWL
Portsmouth Spartans
1 Hal Griffen 1930 14563.4640
Portsmouth Spartans / Detroit Lions
2 George "Potsy" Clark.jpg George "Potsy" Clark [N 1] 19311936 7448206.6891110
3 Earl "Dutch" Clark* 19371938 221480.6360
4 Gus Henderson, 1922.jpg Gus Henderson 1939 11650.5450
George "Potsy" Clark.jpg George "Potsy" Clark* [N 1] 1940 11551.5000
5 Bill Edwards 1943 (cropped).jpg Bill Edwards 19411942 14491.3210
6 John Karcis 1942 8080.0000
7 Gus Dorais 19431947 5320312.3960
8 Bo McMillin (c. 1920).jpg Bo McMillin 19481950 3612240.3330
9 Buddy Parker - 1952 Bowman Large.jpg Buddy Parker 19511956 7247232.6673431 UPI NFL Coach of the Year (1956) [7]
10 George Wilson 1961.jpg George Wilson 19571964 10453456.5381220 AP Coach of the Year (1957) [8]
11 Harry Gilmer - 1948 Bowman.jpg Harry Gilmer 19651966 2810162.3930
12 Joe Schmidt 1961.jpg Joe Schmidt* 19671972 8443347.5540101
13 Don McCafferty 1973 14671.4640
14 Rick Forzano 19741976 3215170.4690
15 Tommy Hudspeth 1964.jpeg Tommy Hudspeth 19761977 2411130.4580
16 Monte Clark 19781984 10543611.4141202
17 Darryl Rogers 19851988 5818400.3100
18 Wayne Fontes 19881996 13366670.4962514AP Coach of the Year (1991) [9]
Pro Football Weekly Coach of the Year (1991) [10]
UPI NFC Coach of the Year (1991) [11]
19 Bobby Ross.jpg Bobby Ross 19972000 5727300.4740202
20 Gary Moeller (15962822839) (1).jpg Gary Moeller 2000 7430.5710
21 Marty Mornhinweg 20012002 325270.1560
22 Steve Mariucci 2011 (cropped).jpg Steve Mariucci 20032005 4315280.3490
23 Dick Jauron 2005 5140.2000
24 Rod Marinelli 20062008 4810380.2080
25 Detroit Lions head coach Jim Schwartz at the 2012 Detroit Lions training camp.jpg Jim Schwartz 20092013 8029510.3630101
26 Jim Caldwell 2016.jpg Jim Caldwell 20142017 6436280.5630202
27 Matt Patricia 2021.png Matt Patricia 20182020 4213281.3210
28 Darrell Bevell Lions.png Darrell Bevell 2020 5140.2000
29 Robert Prince 2020 1010.0000
30 Rivera-Campbell-shake (cropped).jpg Dan Campbell 2021–present5225261.4901321

Notes

  1. 1 2 Potsy Clark's full coaching record with the Lions is 85 regular season games coached with a record of 53–25–7 and a W–L percentage of .665. He is also 1–0 in 1 Playoff game. [6]

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References

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  4. "Hall of Famers by Franchise". Pro Football Hall of Fame . Archived from the original on October 15, 2015. Retrieved March 19, 2008.
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  6. "Potsy Clark's Coaching Record". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on February 11, 2011. Retrieved March 20, 2008.
  7. "Buddy Parker". Databasefootball.com. Archived from the original on January 27, 2008. Retrieved April 12, 2008.
  8. "George William Wilson". Databasefootball.com. Archived from the original on November 24, 2010. Retrieved April 12, 2008.
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  11. Vainisi, Jerry. "Barry Sanders retire? No Payton record? Not a chance". Archived from the original on September 28, 2008. Retrieved April 12, 2008.