The most notable interim NFL coaches
It’s not uncommon for underachieving NFL teams to fire their head coach during the season and have an interim coach finish out the year. These positions often lead to a temporary gig, but some revered leaders began their rises from the interim level. Here are the most notable coaches to take the interim reins.
threat of legal action from the Pats — returned to coach in the playoffs. The Oilers eliminated the 11-5 Pats, whose lame-duck coach left for Colorado. The Pats OC, Erhardt replaced Fairbanks, keeping Bullough on as DC. Later, Bill Parcells’ Giants OC, Erhardt stayed on with the Pats for three years. Bullough was a Bills interim coach in 1985.
one being quite memorable). Fisher went 1-5, and the Oilers closed the year 2-14. But he ended up retaining his job longer than any interim coach in NFL history. Fisher coached the Oilers (later the Titans) for the next 16 years, taking them to Super Bowl XXXIV and five other playoff brackets.
1-18 in Houston. Gillman fired the struggling leader and stepped in for a coaching return. Gillman had already been horning in on Peterson’s coaching upon arrival, and he coached the Oilers through the 1974 season. After finishing a 1-13 Houston season, Gillman’s full Oilers year ended 7-7. He earned AFC Coach of the Year honors for the turnaround, though a power struggle with the coach Gillman hired to replace him (Bum Phillips) led to a 1975 resignation from his GM post.
from Tire World, Houston pulled its 1961 interim head coach out of a sporting goods store. The team’s 1960 defensive coordinator had quit running the Illinois-based store, but after Bud Adams fired AFL-winning HC Lou Rymkus five games into the ’61 season, he rehired Lemm. The result: the greatest interim HC stretch in football history. The Oilers started 1-3-1 but went 10-0 under Lemm and stampeded to their second straight AFL title behind pro football’s first 500-point season. Lemm parlayed this season into HC gigs with the Cardinals and then back with the Oilers.
Nov. 19, 1978). The Joe Pisarcik-Larry Csonka fumbled exchange led McVay out of coaching — to the 49ers’ benefit.
in the 1971 AFC title game. Sandusky, Baltimore’s D-line coach since 1959, managed to go 4-5 as a fill-in. He was out by season’s end, leading to Howard Schnellenberger taking over. More on this below.
left for the USFL, leaving his backup, Paul McDonald, at the controls. Despite this setup, Schottenheimer went 4-4 and did keep the gig. The Browns were rewarded for this choice; they won the next three AFC Central crowns and authored their best stretch since the 1950s. Schottenheimer (200 wins) later coached in Kansas City, Washington, and San Diego.
