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List of Detroit Lions head coaches
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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.
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. 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. 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. 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.
Coaches
Note: Statistics are accurate through Week 18 of the 2025 NFL season.
| † | Spent entire professional head coaching career with the Lions |
|---|
| # | Image | Name | Term | Regular season | Division | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| titles | Playoffs | Awards | GC | W | L | T | Win% | GC | W | L | Win% | |||||||
| Detroit Lions | border=2}};" | Portsmouth Spartans | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Hal Griffen† | 1930 | 14 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 0 | – | – | – | ||||||||
| Detroit Lions | border=2}};" | Portsmouth Spartans / Detroit Lions | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | [[File:George "Potsy" Clark.jpg | 60px]] | George "Potsy" Clark | 1931–1936 | 74 | 48 | 20 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||||||
| 3 | Earl "Dutch" Clark* | 1937–1938 | 22 | 14 | 8 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | ||||||||
| 4 | [[File:Gus Henderson, 1922.jpg | 60px]] | Gus Henderson† | 1939 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | ||||||
| – | [[File:George "Potsy" Clark.jpg | 60px]] | George "Potsy" Clark* | 1940 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | ||||||
| 5 | [[File:Bill Edwards 1943 (cropped).jpg | 60px]] | Bill Edwards† | 1941–1942 | 14 | 4 | 9 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | ||||||
| 6 | John Karcis† | 1942 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 0 | .000 | 0 | – | – | – | |||||||
| 7 | Gus Dorais† | 1943–1947 | 53 | 20 | 31 | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | ||||||||
| 8 | [[File:Bo McMillin (c. 1920).jpg | 60px]] | Bo McMillin | 1948–1950 | 36 | 12 | 24 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | ||||||
| 9 | [[File:Buddy Parker - 1952 Bowman Large.jpg | 60px]] | Buddy Parker | 1951–1956 | 72 | 47 | 23 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 1 | UPI NFL Coach of the Year (1956) | |||||
| 10 | [[File:George Wilson 1961.jpg | 60px]] | George Wilson | 1957–1964 | 104 | 53 | 45 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | AP Coach of the Year (1957) | |||||
| 11 | [[File:Harry Gilmer - 1948 Bowman.jpg | 60px]] | Harry Gilmer† | 1965–1966 | 28 | 10 | 16 | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | ||||||
| 12 | [[File:Joe Schmidt 1961.jpg | 60px]] | Joe Schmidt* | 1967–1972 | 84 | 43 | 34 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||||
| 13 | Don McCafferty | 1973 | 14 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | ||||||||
| 14 | Rick Forzano† | 1974–1976 | 32 | 15 | 17 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | ||||||||
| 15 | [[File:Tommy Hudspeth 1964.jpeg | 60px]] | Tommy Hudspeth† | 1976–1977 | 24 | 11 | 13 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | ||||||
| 16 | Monte Clark | 1978–1984 | 105 | 43 | 61 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | ||||||||
| 17 | Darryl Rogers† | 1985–1988 | 58 | 18 | 40 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | ||||||||
| 18 | Wayne Fontes† | 1988–1996 | 133 | 66 | 67 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 4 | AP Coach of the Year (1991) | |||||||
| Pro Football Weekly Coach of the Year (1991) | ||||||||||||||||||
| UPI NFC Coach of the Year (1991) | ||||||||||||||||||
| 19 | [[File:Bobby Ross.jpg | 60px]] | Bobby Ross | 1997–2000 | 57 | 27 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | ||||||
| 20 | [[File:Gary Moeller (15962822839) (1).jpg | 60px]] | Gary Moeller† | 2000 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | ||||||
| 21 | Marty Mornhinweg† | 2001–2002 | 32 | 5 | 27 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | ||||||||
| 22 | [[File:Steve Mariucci 2011 (cropped).jpg | 60px]] | Steve Mariucci | 2003–2005 | 43 | 15 | 28 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | ||||||
| 23 | Dick Jauron | 2005 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | .200 | 0 | – | – | – | |||||||
| 24 | Rod Marinelli† | 2006–2008 | 48 | 10 | 38 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | ||||||||
| 25 | [[File:Detroit Lions head coach Jim Schwartz at the 2012 Detroit Lions training camp.jpg | 60px]] | Jim Schwartz† | 2009–2013 | 80 | 29 | 51 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||||
| 26 | [[File:Jim Caldwell 2016.jpg | 60px]] | Jim Caldwell | 2014–2017 | 64 | 36 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | ||||||
| 27 | [[File:Matt Patricia 2021.png | 60px]] | Matt Patricia† | 2018–2020 | 43 | 13 | 29 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | ||||||
| 28 | [[File:Darrell Bevell Lions.png | 60px]] | Darrell Bevell | 2020 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | ||||||
| 29 | Robert Prince† | 2020 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | ||||||||
| 30 | [[File:Rivera-Campbell-shake (cropped).jpg | 60px]] | 2021–present | 85 | 48 | 36 | 1 | .571 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Notes
References
References
- "Detroit Lions Championship History".
- "Marty Mornhinweg's Coaching Record". Pro Football Reference.
- "Hall of Famers by Franchise".
- (January 20, 2021). "Lions agree to terms with Dan Campbell to become team's new head coach".
- "Potsy Clark's Coaching Record". Pro Football Reference.
- "Buddy Parker".
- "George William Wilson".
- "Wayne Howard Joseph Fontes".
- "Pro Football Hall of Fame Field at Fawcett Stadium".
- Vainisi, Jerry. "Barry Sanders retire? No Payton record? Not a chance".
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