- Curly Lambeau was the head coach from 1952–1953. He was elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963.
- George Allen was the head coach of the Redskins from 1971–1977 and was elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2002.
This is a complete list of head coaches for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). There have been 30 head coaches for the team, including their time as the Boston Braves (1932), Boston Redskins (1933–1936), Washington Redskins (1937–2019), Washington Football Team (2020–2021), and Washington Commanders (2022–present). [1]
Joe Gibbs is the only coach to have more than one tenure. [2] Two different coaches have won NFL championships with the team: Ray Flaherty in 1937 and 1942, and Joe Gibbs in 1982, 1987 and 1991. [3] Gibbs is the all-time leader in games coached and wins, and Dudley DeGroot leads all coaches in winning percentage with .737. [4] Of all the coaches, seven have been elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame: Ray Flaherty, Turk Edwards, Curly Lambeau, Otto Graham, Vince Lombardi, George Allen, and Gibbs. [5]
# | Number of coaches [lower-alpha 1] |
GC | Games coached |
W | Wins |
L | Loses |
T | Ties |
Win % | Winning percentage |
† | Elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a coach |
‡ | Elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a player |
* | Spent their entire NFL head coaching career with Washington |
# | Name | Years | Regular season | Playoffs | Awards | Ref. | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GC | W | L | T | Win% | GC | W | L | ||||||||||
Boston Braves | |||||||||||||||||
1 | Lud Wray | 1932 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 2 | .500 | – | [6] | ||||||||
Boston Redskins | |||||||||||||||||
2 | Lone Star Dietz* [lower-alpha 2] | 1933–1934* | 24 | 11 | 11 | 2 | .500 | – | [7] | ||||||||
3 | Eddie Casey* | 1935* | 11 | 2 | 8 | 1 | .200 | – | [8] | ||||||||
Washington Redskins | |||||||||||||||||
4 | Ray Flaherty † | 1936–1942 | 78 | 54 | 21 | 3 | .720 | 4 | 2 | 2 | [9] | ||||||
5 | Dutch Bergman* | 1943* | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | .667 | 2 | 1 | 1 | [10] | ||||||
6 | Dudley DeGroot* [lower-alpha 3] | 1944–1945* | 20 | 14 | 5 | 1 | .737 | 1 | 0 | 1 | [4] | ||||||
7 | Turk Edwards* ‡ | 1946–1948* | 35 | 16 | 18 | 1 | .471 | – | [11] | ||||||||
8 | John Whelchel* [lower-alpha 4] | 1949* | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | .500 | – | [12] | ||||||||
9 | Herman Ball* [lower-alpha 5] | 1949–1951* | 20 | 4 | 16 | 0 | .200 | – | [13] | ||||||||
10 | Dick Todd* | 1951* | 9 | 5 | 4 | 0 | .556 | – | [14] | ||||||||
11 | Curly Lambeau † | 1952–1953 | 24 | 10 | 13 | 1 | .435 | – | [15] | ||||||||
12 | Joe Kuharich | 1954–1958 | 60 | 26 | 32 | 2 | .448 | – | Sporting News Coach of the Year (1955) UPI NFL Coach of the Year (1955) [16] | [17] | |||||||
13 | Mike Nixon | 1959–1960 | 24 | 4 | 18 | 2 | .182 | – | [18] | ||||||||
14 | Bill McPeak* | 1961–1965* | 70 | 21 | 46 | 3 | .313 | – | [19] | ||||||||
15 | Otto Graham* ‡ | 1966–1968* | 42 | 17 | 22 | 3 | .436 | – | [20] | ||||||||
16 | Vince Lombardi † [lower-alpha 6] | 1969 | 14 | 7 | 5 | 2 | .583 | – | [21] | ||||||||
17 | Bill Austin | 1970 | 14 | 6 | 8 | 0 | .429 | – | [22] | ||||||||
18 | George Allen † | 1971–1977 | 98 | 67 | 30 | 1 | .691 | 7 | 2 | 5 | AP Coach of the Year (1971) Pro Football Weekly Coach of the Year (1971) Sporting News Coach of the Year (1971) UPI NFC Coach of the Year (1971) [16] | [23] | |||||
19 | Jack Pardee | 1978–1980 | 48 | 24 | 24 | 0 | .500 | – | AP Coach of the Year (1979) UPI NFC Coach of the Year (1979) | [24] | |||||||
20 | Joe Gibbs* [lower-alpha 7] | 1981–1992* | 184 | 124 | 60 | 0 | .674 | 21 | 16 | 5 | AP Coach of the Year (1982, 1983) Pro Football Weekly Coach of the Year (1982, 1983) Sporting News Coach of the Year (1982, 1983, 1991) UPI NFC Coach of the Year (1982) [16] | [2] | |||||
21 | Richie Petitbon* | 1993* | 16 | 4 | 12 | 0 | .250 | – | [25] | ||||||||
22 | Norv Turner | 1994–2000 | 109 | 49 | 59 | 1 | .454 | 2 | 1 | 1 | [26] | ||||||
23 | Terry Robiskie [lower-alpha 8] | 2000 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | .333 | – | [27] | ||||||||
24 | Marty Schottenheimer | 2001 | 16 | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | – | [28] | ||||||||
25 | Steve Spurrier* | 2002–2003* | 32 | 12 | 20 | 0 | .375 | – | [29] | ||||||||
– | Joe Gibbs* [lower-alpha 7] | 2004–2007* | 64 | 30 | 34 | 0 | .469 | 3 | 1 | 2 | [2] | ||||||
26 | Jim Zorn* | 2008–2009* | 32 | 12 | 20 | 0 | .375 | – | [30] | ||||||||
27 | Mike Shanahan | 2010–2013 | 64 | 24 | 40 | 0 | .375 | 1 | 0 | 1 | [31] | ||||||
28 | Jay Gruden* [lower-alpha 9] | 2014–2019 | 85 | 35 | 49 | 1 | .418 | 1 | 0 | 1 | [32] | ||||||
29 | Bill Callahan | 2019 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 0 | .273 | 0 | 0 | 0 | [33] | ||||||
Washington Football Team / Commanders | |||||||||||||||||
30 | Ron Rivera | 2020–present | 44 | 20 | 24 | 0 | .455 | 1 | 0 | 1 | [34] |
The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays its home games at FedExField in Landover, Maryland; its headquarters and training facility are in Ashburn, Virginia. The team has played more than 1,000 games and is one of only five in the NFL with more than 600 total wins. Washington was among the first NFL franchises with a fight song, "Hail to the Commanders", which is played by their marching band after every touchdown scored by the team at home. The franchise is valued by Forbes at US$5.6 billion, making them the league's sixth-most valuable team as of 2022.
Earl Louis "Curly" Lambeau was an American professional football player and coach in the National Football League (NFL). Lambeau, along with his friend and fellow Green Bay, Wisconsin native George Whitney Calhoun, founded the Green Bay Packers in 1919, serving as team captain in the team's first year before becoming player-coach in 1920. As a player, Lambeau lined up as a halfback, which in the early years of the NFL was the premier position. He was the team's primary runner and passer, accounting for 35 touchdowns in 77 games. He won his only NFL championship as a player in 1929.
Joe Jackson Gibbs is an American auto racing team owner and former professional football coach. In football, he was head coach for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL) from 1981 to 1992, and again from 2004 to 2007. During his first stint with the Redskins, he led them to eight playoff appearances, four NFC Championship titles, and three Super Bowl titles over 12 seasons. Gibbs is the only head coach to have won Super Bowls with three different starting quarterbacks. Gibbs is widely regarded as one of the greatest coaches in NFL history.
Robert John Riggins, nicknamed "Riggo" and "Diesel", is an American former professional football player who was a fullback in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Jets and Washington Redskins. He played college football for the Kansas Jayhawks. He was known for his powerful running style and productivity well into the latter years of his career: in 1983 at age 34, he rushed for an NFL single-season record 24 touchdowns and again led the league in rushing touchdowns the following year at age 35. Although he earned only one Pro Bowl appearance in his career, Riggins had his greatest success in the postseason and was named the Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl XVII where he scored one touchdown and rushed for 166 yards in a 27–17 win for the Washington Redskins over the Miami Dolphins. Riggins was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1992.
Joseph John Bugel was an American football coach in the National Football League (NFL). For many years, he was acknowledged as the greatest offensive line coach in the league, particularly with the Washington Redskins under head coach Joe Gibbs in the 1980s. He was the architect behind "The Hogs", the Redskins' dominant offensive line that helped lead them to three Super Bowl wins.
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Albert Glen "Turk" Edwards was an American professional football player who was a tackle in the National Football League (NFL). He played his entire career for the Washington Redskins, starting with their first six seasons in Boston, and later became the head coach. Edwards was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1969.
Cecil Frank Isbell was an American football quarterback and coach. He played five years in the National Football League (NFL) with the Green Bay Packers, leading them to the NFL Championship in 1939. He retired after the 1942 season to become an assistant coach at his alma mater, Purdue University, and the following year became its head coach for three seasons.
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