Can you be a Football Coach without Playing? (Plus examples of Coaches!)

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Football captures the hearts of most sports fans and some love the sport so much that they want to pursue football coaching as a profession.

With the physical nature of football, not everyone with a passion for football will have the physical ability to play.

So, can you be a football coach without playing?

Yes, you can be a football coach without playing experience at the youth and high school level, but if you want to coach in college or in the NFL the path to becoming a head coach is much harder but it is possible.

There are some notable college and pro football coaches that have never played football.

Here are some of the most popular and their background:

College Coaches without College Football Experience

Below is a list of some of the most notable coaches without playing experience:

Mike Leach, Head Coach Mississippi State

Mike Leach Mike Leach is the most notable coach without playing experience

Leach has one of the most interesting backgrounds of a major college football coach as he has no college playing experience and did not get into coaching until after college.

Leach graduated from Law School at Pepperdine but had a fascination with college football offenses and became an assistant coach at Cal Poly in 1987.

In 1989, he joined Hal Mumme’s staff and the two moved through several different stops running which led them to Kentucky, where they ran the Air Raid passing attack.

Leach went on to become Oklahoma’s offensive coordinator under Bob Stoops and then was given a head coaching job at Texas Tech, and now he is the head coach at Mississippi State.

Leach passed away unexpectantly in December 2022 while still serving as the active head coach at Mississippi State.

Leach’s impact on the game will never be forgotten and his coaching tree is one of the most impressive in all of college football history.

Here are some of the head coaches that have coached or played under Mike Leach:

Mike Leach was a creative genius that changed the way offense was played as evidenced below in this hilarious clip:

Sonny Dykes, TCU

Sonny Dykes had an interesting path to becoming one of the most recognizable coaches in college football as well.

Sonny Dykes is the son of Spike Dykes, who was one of the most popular coaches in the 80s and 90s while at Texas Tech.

Sonny Dykes didn’t play college football but instead played college baseball at Texas Tech while his dad was the College Football coach.

Dykes then went on to coach high school football in Texas and then moved to Junior college coaching before getting a shot with Kentucky under Hal Mumme.

Dykes then parlayed that role into an opportunity as an assistant at Texas Tech and Arizona.

He got his first head coaching opportunity at Louisiana Tech, followed by Cal, and SMU, and then became the head coach at TCU in 2022.

Dave Aranda, Baylor

Dave Aranda is quickly becoming one of the highest regarded coaches in college football after the impressive job he has done with turning around the Baylor football program.

Aranda stopped playing football after high school and helped coach while he was in college at Cal Lutheran.

Aranda then went to Texas Tech as a graduate assistant under Mike Leach

David Cutcliffe, Former Head Coach, Duke

David Cutcliffe is another major college football coach that did not play in college.

He attended Alabama as a student and got into coaching at Banks High School and worked his way up to become an assistant coach at the University of Tennessee.

Cutcliffe went on to coach the Manning brothers at Tennessee and Ole Miss and went on to coach at Duke.

Charlie Weiss, Former Notre Dame/Kansas

Charlie Weiss did not play football in high school and got into coaching after he graduated from Notre Dame.

He spent years coaching high school football before getting a shot as a graduate assistant at the University of South Carolina.

Weiss went on to coach for the Patriots as offensive coordinator and later as the head coach of both Notre Dame and Kansas.

NFL Coaches without NFL playing Experience

Sean Mcvay, Head Coach, Rams

Sean Mcvay
Mcvay used his connections to get his NFL opportunity

Sean Mcvay played college football at Miami Ohio and then went on to coach directly with the Tampa Bay Bucs straight out of college.

That is extremely difficult to do and a deeper look into McVay’s background shows that he had a personal and family relationship with the Gruden family.

John Gruden’s father and Sean McVay’s grandfather worked together in the San Francisco 49ers front office in 1999.

Vic Fangio, Former Head Coach, Broncos

Fangio is the current coach of the Broncos and never played past high school and got into coaching as a defensive coach at Dunmore High School before moving on to Milford Academy and then became an assistant coach for the Baltimore Stars of the USFL.

Fangio spent the next 20-plus years as an assistant in the NFL before getting a head coaching shot with the Broncos

Jimmy Johnson, Former Cowboys Coach

Jimmy Johnson
Jimmy Johnson had a solid coaching career despite never playing in the NFL

One of the most notable coaches to never play in the NFL was Jimmy Johnson, who was a head coach during the Cowboys runs in the mid-90s.

Johnson played college football with Jerry Jones at Arkansas and got into coaching as an assistant coach at Louisiana Coach out of college.

He recruited Terry Bradshaw to Louisiana Tech before moving around through the college ranks before getting his shot to coach the Cowboys after a successful run as Miami’s head coach.

Other notable NFL Coaches without NFL playing experience:

  • Chip Kelly
  • Urban Meyer
  • Dennis Erickson
  • Lou Holtz
  • John McKay
  • Bud Wilkinson
  • Don Coryell

             Can you coach college football without playing?

            Yes, it is possible to become a college football coach without playing, but it is best to get involved as early as possible in coaching if you want to be college football coach.

            For instance, if you are not talented enough to play in college, look to see if there is any way you can be involved in the program in some sort of way.

            Even if it is in an administrative role, you will be able to build relationships with other coaches that may be able to give you a job down the line.

            Another good idea is to try and serve as a volunteer coach at a local high school to get some experience on your resume.

            If you want to get into coaching the best way to get your foot in the door is to show that you have experience, so working for free early on is a great way to check that box.

            Can you be a football coach without playing experience?

            Are there any NFL Coaches that didn’t play college football?

            Yes, Vic Fangio did not play college football and he is currently the head coach of the Denver Broncos.

            Joe Gibbs, the former Washington Redskins coach never played in college of professional football and went on to become one of the most successful coaches in NFL History.

            Adam Gase is another person who never played football in college but went on to become an NFL Coach.

            The trend with these names is that they all were involved in football early in their lives and built relationships with coaching staffs that continued to give them opportunities.

            Do you have to be a football player to become a coach?

            No, you do not have to be a football player to become a coach as the list above demonstrates.

            If you are passionate about football and want to get into coaching but don’t have the talent, the best way to do so is to get involved in coaching youth sports early on and try and climb the ladder over time.

            Start as a high school assistant coach and try and move up until you can get a head coaching job somewhere.

            Once you have some success, it will be easier to get a higher profile job or possibly a college assistant coaching job somewhere.

            Who is the youngest NFL Coach?

            Sean McVay is the youngest NFL coach at age 37 with the Rams followed by Kevin O’Connell from the Vikings who is 38 and Zac Taylor who is the Bengals head coach at age 40.

            Taylor played briefly in the NFL before becoming an assistant QB coach for the Dolphins. McVay played college football for Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

            Mcvay had some connections through his family that helped him get opportunities into the NFL directly out of college.

            What experience do you need to be a head coach?

            To be a head football coach you typically need to start out as a position coach on either the offensive or defensive side of the ball, then the next step is to become an offensive or defensive coordinator.

            Once you have some coordinator experience with some success you should be able to get an opportunity to be a head coach if you are willing to move around.

            Conclusion

            When you look into football head coaches’ backgrounds, you can uncover some good ideas on potential paths to take to get you where you want to be.

            As mentioned above, not all big-time head football coaches have playing experience, and if you want to make it as a head coach you have to be committed to the craft and willing to make multiple stops on your coaching journey before you will get an opportunity as a head coach.