When Sean Payton arrived on the Front Range this offseason intent on turning around the Broncos, he embarked upon a challenge that has eluded every Super Bowl-winning coach who preceded him.
Since the AFL and NFL merged in 1966, a total of 35 coaches have led their teams to at least one Super Bowl title. While 14 of those have gone on to coach another franchise later in their careers, none have raised the Lombardi Trophy with another team — or, in the case of Payton’s mentor Bill Parcells, three other teams.
Thus, in taking over the Broncos after a 15-year run in New Orleans that included a Super Bowl XLIV win, Payton is attempting to make history. Here’s a look at the 14 other Super Bowl-winning coaches’ second acts:
Vince Lombardi
Super Bowl titles: Green Bay, two (1966, ‘67)
Second act: Washington, 7-5-2 in one season (1969)
The Super Bowl trophy’s namesake spent a year away from coaching after claiming his fifth NFL title with the Packers (three came before the AFL-NFL merger), then headed to D.C. While he turned a 5-9-0 team into a playoff contender, Washington finished outside the postseason and Lombardi walked away with a 96-34-6 career record.
Hank Stram
Super Bowl titles: Kansas City, one (1969)
Second act: New Orleans, 7-21 in two seasons (1976-77)
Best known for “matriculating the ball” with the Chiefs, Stram was fired after his 12th season in K.C. and hired a year later by a Saints franchise that hadn’t won more than five games once in nine seasons. Alas, he was unable to meet even that middling standard in the Big Easy, with a loss to lowly Tampa Bay in his second season inspiring him to light the game film on fire.
Don McCafferty
Super Bowl titles: Baltimore, one (1970)
Second act: Detroit, 6-7-1 in one season (1973)
McCafferty peaked in his first season with the Colts, besting Tom Landry’s Cowboys in a taut Super Bowl V. Two years later, he was fired midseason. He then spent one year in Detroit, where a 1-4-1 start doomed him right out of the gate.
Tom Flores
Super Bowl titles: Raiders, two (1980, ’83)
Second act: Seattle, 14-34 in three seasons (1992-94)
Teaming with Heisman Trophy-winning QB Jim Plunkett, who himself needed a second act after failed runs in New England and San Francisco, Flores has the distinction of winning Super Bowls with the same franchise in two different cities (Oakland and L.A.). Things didn’t go quite as well in Seattle, although Broncos fans had few complaints (he was 1-5 vs. Denver).
Mike Ditka
Super Bowl titles: Chicago, one (1985)
Second act: New Orleans, 15-33 in three seasons (1997-99)
The mustachioed leader of the vaunted ’85 Bears returned to sidelines in New Orleans five years after his ouster in Chicago. After back-to-back 6-10 seasons, Ditka traded eight draft picks for the rights to Heisman Trophy-winning running back Ricky Williams. Outside of a memorable ESPN the Magazine cover that featured Williams in a wedding dress, the trade was a flop.
Bill Parcells
Super Bowl titles: New York Giants, two (1986, ’90)
Second act(s): New England, 32-32 in four seasons (1993-96); New York Jets, 29-19 in three seasons (1997-99); Dallas, 34-30 in four seasons
Parcells was the first coach to win a Super Bowl with one franchise, then guide another (New England) to the championship round at his second stop. While “the Big Tuna” never won another Super Bowl, every franchise he coached reached the playoffs at least once. If not for Drew Bledsoe’s four interceptions in Super Bowl XXXI, he might’ve won a third ring.
George Seifert
Super Bowl titles: San Francisco, two (1989, ’94)
Second act: Carolina, 16-32 in three seasons (1999-01)
After inheriting a dynasty from innovative Hall of Fame coach Bill Walsh, Seifert guided the 49ers to Super Bowl wins with QBs Joe Montana (’89) and Steve Young (’94). While he was able to pull a Carolina franchise that had gone 4-12 the year before he arrived back to respectability his first two seasons, it all bottomed out with a 1-15 campaign in 2001.
Jimmy Johnson
Super Bowl titles: Dallas, two (1992, ’93)
Second act: Miami, 36-28 in four seasons (1996-99)
The architect of the Hershel Walker trade that laid the foundation for three Lombardi trophies in Dallas, Johnson left after the second due to a clash of egos with owner Jerry Jones. Three years later, he returned to the city where he led the Hurricanes to a national title, taking Miami to the playoffs three times but never making it past the divisional round.
Mike Holmgren
Super Bowl titles: Green Bay, one (1996)
Second act: Seattle, 86-74 in 10 seasons (1999-08)
A Bill Walsh protégé, Holmgren left Brett Favre and the Packers in ’99 for the chance to be both general manager and head coach of the Seahawks. What followed was a successful tenure — once he relinquished GM duties in 2002 — that produced five playoff trips and a Super Bowl appearance. Ask Seahawks fans about the officiating in the latter (Pittsburgh won, 21-10) if you’re interested in seeing someone’s head explode.
Mike Shanahan
Super Bowl titles: Denver, two (1997, ’98)
Second act: Washington, 24-40 in four seasons (2010-13)
The Mastermind behind the Broncos’ first two Super Bowl titles took up the headset once more in Washington a year after Pat Bowlen showed him the door in Denver. Shanahan caught lightning in a bottle with Heisman Trophy-winning QB Robert Griffin III in 2012, but RGIII’s injury in the Wild Card round derailed that run and, eventually, Shanahan’s tenure in D.C.
Dick Vermeil
Super Bowl titles: St. Louis, one (1999)
Second act: Kansas City, 44-36 in five seasons (2001-05)
After leading the Greatest Show on Turf to a championship, and thus winning the title that eluded him with the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XV, Vermeil stepped down. A year later, however, he was back at it in Kansas City. The Chiefs won double-digit games twice during his time there but lost their only playoff game.
Jon Gruden
Super Bowl titles: Tampa Bay, one (2002)
Second act: Las Vegas/Oakland, 22-31 in four seasons (2018-21)
A year after leaving Oakland and Al Davis behind, “Chucky” got sweet revenge in Super Bowl XXXVII. He never made it back to the big game again in Tampa, however, then traded in a headset for a Monday Night Football microphone. Davis’ son pulled him back to the sideline in 2018, but fired him five games into his fourth season after a string of offensive emails sent by Gruden surfaced.
Mike McCarthy
Super Bowl titles: Green Bay, one (2010)
Second act: Dallas, 30-20 in three seasons (2020-present)
A 13-year tenure in Green Bay that included a Super Bowl title and nine playoff appearances ended abruptly in the middle of the 2018 season. Two years later, he took over America’s Team and has guided them to 12 wins apiece in each of the past two seasons. The Cowboys should content once again this fall.
Doug Pederson
Super Bowl titles: Philadelphia, one (2017)
Second act: Jacksonville, 9-8 in one seasons (2022-present)
The man who outfoxed Bill Belichick in Super Bowl LII was out of a job four years later with the Eagles. Hired by Jacksonville after a year away, the former NFL backup quarterback took the Jaguars to the playoffs for just the second time in 15 years last season. With Trevor Lawrence taking snaps, he might be just getting started.
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