Legacy is an overarching theme to any Super Bowl. A win puts you in an exclusive club consisting of the few that have reached the NFL’s mountaintop. For some, it can also be the crown jewel for how they are viewed in league history compared to some of the game’s best. While plenty of that legacy talk will center around both quarterbacks in Matthew Stafford and Joe Burrow, there’s also a lot on the line for the head coaches of the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams as well.
In the case of Cincinnati’s Zac Taylor, he has reached the Super Bowl for the first time in his head coaching career. The 38-year old is in his third season with the Bengals and currently has his team serving as the NFL’s Cinderella story after taking down the No. 1 seeded Titans in the divisional round and rallying to defeat Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship to punch their ticket to the Super Bowl.
After digging into the NFL history books to see if Taylor will have any beginner’s luck on his side, it looks more like a coin flip for the Bengals head coach.
In the previous 55 Super Bowls, there have been 58 head coaches reaching the big game for the first time in their careers. Combined, those coaches are just below .500, owning a 28-30 record. Of course, it is a bit more difficult to parse through those stats, particularly in the early years of the Super Bowl as multiple head coaches were playing in the game for the first time. However, even when you look at recent history, it does appear to be a true 50-50 shot. Since the 2000 season, coaches reaching the Super Bowl for the first time are 13-13.
History of first-time Super Bowl coaches
SUPER BOWL | HEAD COACH(ES) | RECORD |
---|---|---|
Super Bowl I |
Vince Lombardi, Packers (W), Hank Stram, Chiefs (L) |
1-1 |
Super Bowl II |
John Rauch, Raiders (L) |
1-2 |
Super Bowl III |
Weeb Ewbank, Jets (W), Don Shula, Colts (L) |
2-3 |
Super Bowl IV |
Bud Grant, Vikings (L) |
2-4 |
Super Bowl V |
Don McCafferty, Colts (W), Tom Landry, Cowboys (L) |
3-5 |
Super Bowl VII |
George Allen, Washington (L) |
3-6 |
Super Bowl IX |
Chuck Noll, Steelers (W) |
4-6 |
Super Bowl XI |
John Madden, Raiders (W) |
5-6 |
Super Bowl XII |
Red Miller, Broncos (L) |
5-7 |
Super Bowl XIV |
Ray Malavasi, Rams (L) |
5-8 |
Super Bowl XV |
Tom Flores, Raiders (W), Dick Vermeil, Eagles (L) |
6-9 |
Super Bowl XVI |
Bill Walsh, 49ers (W), Forrest Gregg, Bengals (L) |
7-10 |
Super Bowl XVII |
Joe Gibbs, Washington (W) |
8-10 |
Super Bowl XX |
Mike Ditka, Bears (W), Raymond Berry, Patriots (L) |
9-11 |
Super Bowl XXI | Bill Parcell, Giants (W), Dan Reeves, Broncos (L) | 10-12 |
Super Bowl XXIII | Sam Wyche, Bengals (L) | 10-13 |
Super Bowl XXIV | George Seifert, 49ers (W) | 11-13 |
Super Bowl XXV | Marv Levy, Bills (L) | 11-14 |
Super Bowl XXVII | Jimmy Johnson, Cowboys (W) | 12-14 |
Super Bowl XXIX | Bobby Ross, Chargers (L) | 12-15 |
Super Bowl XXX | Barry Switzer, Cowboys (W), Bill Cowher, Steelers (L) | 13-16 |
Super Bowl XXXI | Mike Holmgren, Packers (W) | 14-16 |
Super Bowl XXXII | Mike Shanahan, Broncos (W) | 15-16 |
Super Bowl XXXIV | Jeff Fisher, Titans (L) | 15-17 |
Super Bowl XXXV | Brian Billick, Ravens (W), Jim Fassel, Giants (L) | 16-18 |
Super Bowl XXXVI | Bill Belichick, Patriots (W), Mike Martz, Rams (L) | 17-19 |
Super Bowl XXXVII | Jon Gruden, Buccaneers (W), Bill Callahan, Raiders (L) | 18-20 |
Super Bowl XXXVIII | John Fox, Panthers (L) | 18-21 |
Super Bowl XXXIX | Andy Reid, Eagles (L) | 18-22 |
Super Bowl XLI | Tony Dungy, Colts (W), Lovie Smith, Bears (L) | 19-23 |
Super Bowl XLII | Tom Coughlin, Giants (W) | 20-23 |
Super Bowl XLIII | Mike Tomlin, Steelers (W), Ken Whisenhunt, Cardinals (L) | 21-24 |
Super Bowl XLIV | Sean Payton, Saints (W), Jim Caldwell, Colts (L) | 22-25 |
Super Bowl XLV | Mike McCarthy, Packers (W) | 23-25 |
Super Bowl XLVII | John Harbaugh, Ravens (W), Jim Harbaugh, 49ers (L) | 24-26 |
Super Bowl XLVIII | Pete Carroll, Seahawks (W) | 25-26 |
Super Bowl 50 | Gary Kubiak, Broncos (W), Ron Rivera, Panthers (L) | 26-27 |
Super Bowl LI | Dan Quinn, Falcons (L) | 26-28 |
Super Bowl LII | Doug Pederson, Eagles (W) | 27-28 |
Super Bowl LIII | Sean McVay, Rams (L) | 27-29 |
Super Bowl LIV | Kyle Shanahan, 49ers (L) | 27-30 |
Super Bowl LV | Bruce Arians, Buccaneers (W) | 28-30 |
While first-time coaches have lost three of the last five Super Bowls they’ve been in, Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians was able to get the win last year in his first crack, so there’s some positive momentum leaning in Taylor’s direction.
Meanwhile, Rams head coach Sean McVay is playing in his second Super Bowl and found himself on the unfortunate side of that split back during the 2018 season when L.A. fell to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LIII. He now enters this game as the betting favorite, so he could be on his way to earning his first career title. If that happens, McVay would also become the youngest head coach to win a Super Bowl in NFL history, leaping over Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, who was 36-years-old and 11 months when Pittsburgh won the Super Bowl XLIII. If Taylor wins, he’d become the second-youngest coach to hoist the Lombardi Trophy.
Already, McVay, 36, and Taylor, 38, are set to rewrite the record books as they will become the youngest head coaching matchup in Super Bowl history.