The youth movement looms large in the NFL as Mike Macdonald becomes the 9th head coach of the Seattle Seahawks. Mike Macdonald, 36 years of age, now becomes the youngest current head coach in the NFL, passing Jerod Mayo up (he held the title for roughly a week).
Macdonald, 36, becomes an NFL head coach of the Seattle Seahawks.
Within the last few weeks we have moved from a 71 year old Bill Belichick, to a 37 year old Jerod Mayo, and a 72 year old Pete Carroll to a 36 year old Mike Macdonald. The age of the head coaches of these organizations gets cuts in half as these defensive minded leaders take over. Read more on Macdonald here.
We now have 7 coaches under the age of 40, with 3 of those being hired within the last hiring cycle, and 5 of the 7 hired within the last 2 hiring cycles. The average age of NFL coaches is roughly 47 years old, while over half the league is younger than the age of 50. 12 coaches under the age of 45, pending the Washington hire of course.
What is fun to see is Sean McVay still sitting 3rd on that list in terms of youth, even though he is entering his 8th season as a head coach for the LA Rams. Sean McVay, 38 years old currently was hired at the age of 30, has 70 wins and 45 loses in his 7 year career. His name always seems to surface during the hiring circuit, not for him to take over, but for someone under his coaching “tree.”
The McVay, Shanahan, Lafluer, and even McDaniel offensive staff are coveted now more than ever, which is why some might scratch their heads on Mayo or Macdonald being hired, being defensive savants. Some chatter has come up on an offensive coaching movement (as previously mentioned), but maybe it is just youth overall.
Side Note: With the departure of Pete Carroll and Bill Belichick, who is the oldest current NFL Head Coach? You guessed it! Big Red himself, Andy Reid. Coach Reid sits fourth all time in Head Coaching wins, and if has 5 more seasons of 10 wins or more, could pass Bill Belichick for wins on that list. That is obviously pending Belichick’s future plans, and the career of Patrick Mahomes.
It bodes the question whether or not there is some sort of underlying push for the NFL to move towards these younger coaches. The average NFL age dropped due to the loss of two 70+ year old, and added two individuals in their mid-30s.
The need/ability for head coaches to “level” with players is more necessary than ever, so move younger to help that along. Maybe the continued hiring & firing of coaches is getting exhausting, so moving to someone young in hopes for a long career for that team, like trying to find their McVay for example. Maybe it is as simple as the cost of hiring someone younger, but some of the reports that are coming from certain camps, I do not think that is the case.
Regardless of the reason why, it will be interesting to track these young coaches, offensive or defensive, over their careers.
Interested in more articles like this? Follow me on X & Insta @Coach_CDowns. Check out my author page to follow along with other articles that I have written.