List of Detroit Lions head coaches

Jim Schwartz coaching the Lions
Jim Schwartz was head coach of the Lions for five seasons.

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 a total of 26 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.

George "Potsy" Clark is the only coach to have more than one tenure. Three different coaches have won NFL championships with the team: Potsy Clark in 1935, Buddy Parker in 1952 and 1953, and George Wilson in 1957.[1] 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.[2] Karcis is followed by Marty Mornhinweg with a winning percentage of .156.

Of the 26 Lions coaches, two have been elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame: Dutch Clark and Joe Schmidt.[3] 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, and Dick Jauron. The current head coach of the Lions is Jim Caldwell, who was hired on January 14, 2014.[4]

Coaches

Note: Statistics are accurate through Week 13 of the 2016 NFL season.

GC Games coached
W Wins
L Losses
T Ties
Win% Win – Loss percentage
* Elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame
Spent entire professional head coaching career with the Lions
# Name Term Regular season Playoffs Awards
GC W L T Win% GC W L
Portsmouth Spartans
1 Hal Griffin 1930 14 5 6 3 .455
Portsmouth Spartans / Detroit Lions
2 George "Potsy" Clark[N 1] 19311936 74 48 20 6 .703 1 1 0
3 Earl "Dutch" Clark* 19371938 22 14 8 0 .636
4 Gus Henderson 1939 11 6 5 0 .545
George "Potsy" Clark*[N 1] 1940 11 5 5 1 .500
5 Bill Edwards 19411942 14 4 9 1 .308
6 John Karcis 1942 8 0 8 0 .000
7 Gus Dorais 19431947 53 20 31 2 .392
8 Bo McMillin 19481950 36 12 24 0 .333
9 Buddy Parker 19511956 72 47 23 2 .671 4 3 1 UPI NFL Coach of the Year (1956)[6]
10 George Wilson 19571964 104 53 45 6 .541 2 2 0 AP Coach of the Year (1957)[7]
11 Harry Gilmer 19651966 28 10 16 2 .385
12 Joe Schmidt* 19671972 84 43 34 7 .558 1 0 1
13 Don McCafferty 1973 14 6 7 1 .462
14 Rick Forzano 19741976 32 15 17 0 .469
15 Tommy Hudspeth 19761977 24 11 13 0 .458
16 Monte Clark 19781984 105 43 61 1 .413 2 0 2
17 Darryl Rogers 19851988 58 18 40 0 .310
18 Wayne Fontes 19881996 133 66 67 0 .496 5 1 4 AP Coach of the Year (1991)[8]
Pro Football Weekly Coach of the Year (1991)[9]
UPI NFC Coach of the Year (1991)[10]
19 Bobby Ross 19972000 57 27 30 0 .474 2 0 2
20 Gary Moeller 2000 7 4 3 0 .571
21 Marty Mornhinweg 20012002 32 5 27 0 .156
22 Steve Mariucci 20032005 43 15 28 0 .349
23 Dick Jauron 2005 5 1 4 0 .200
24 Rod Marinelli 20062008 48 10 38 0 .208
25 Jim Schwartz 20092013 80 29 51 0 .363 1 0 1
26 Jim Caldwell 2014present 44 26 18 0 .591 1 0 1

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 .679. He is also 1–0 in 1 Playoff game.[5]

References

  1. "Detroit Lions Championship History". NFLTeamHistory.com. Retrieved 2008-03-19.
  2. "Marty Mornhinweg's Coaching Record". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved 2008-03-20.
  3. "Hall of Famers by Franchise". Pro Football Hall of Fame. Retrieved March 19, 2008.
  4. Patra, Kevin (January 14, 2014). "Jim Caldwell to be hired by Detroit Lions as next coach". National Football League. NFL Enterprises LLC. Retrieved January 14, 2014.
  5. "Potsy Clark's Coaching Record". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved 2008-03-20.
  6. "Buddy Parker". Databasefootball.com. Retrieved 2008-04-12.
  7. "George William Wilson". Databasefootball.com. Retrieved 2008-04-12.
  8. "Wayne Howard Joseph Fontes". pro-football-reference.com. Retrieved 2008-04-12.
  9. "Pro Football Hall of Fame Field at Fawcett Stadium". Pro Football Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2008-04-12.
  10. Vainisi, Jerry. "Barry Sanders retire? No Payton record? Not a chance". Retrieved 2008-04-12.
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