In 2017, Sean McVay was just weeks away from turning 31 when he was appointed head coach of the Los Angeles Rams, making history as the youngest head coach in the NFL’s modern era.

Historically, NFL teams favored experienced coaches, so McVay’s selection raised eyebrows. However, his quick success, leading the Rams to a Super Bowl in just his second year, proved the decision was a smart one.

This milestone marked a pivotal change in how teams hire coaches in the NFL.

As revealed in the NFL coaches project by YSL News Sports, there has been a consistent trend toward younger coaches over the last decade. Team owners are increasingly comfortable hiring fresh faces in their 30s rather than sticking with seasoned coaches in their 50s and 60s.

YSL News Sports’ data shows that the average age of NFL head coaches dropped from 53.4 years in 2015 to 47.7 years at the beginning of this season. This is the youngest average age for NFL head coaches in at least a quarter of a century and places them significantly younger than coaches in the other major professional sports leagues like MLB, the NBA, and the NHL.

“Historically, head coaches were older—coaches typically had to endure several seasons and setbacks until they built resilience,” remarked Herm Edwards, a former NFL and college coach who now provides analysis for ESPN. “Today, teams want leaders who relate well to players, understand their preferences, and are closer in age to them.”

What’s driving the trend of younger NFL head coaches?

The trend toward younger coaches is partly due to the retirement of established figures such as Bill Belichick and Pete Carroll, who were both in their 70s when they stepped down at the end of the 2023 season. However, the primary catalyst for this change is coaching hires.

In the seven hiring seasons preceding McVay’s hiring in 2017, only 6% (3 of 47) of head coaching vacancies were filled by coaches in their 30s. Since then, that figure has skyrocketed to 36% for coaches in their 30s, who tend to be predominantly white and known for offensive strategies.

And there are more to come. Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, aged 38, is currently one of the most in-demand candidates, having interviewed for four jobs just last week. Joseph Brady (35), Liam Coen (39), Mike Kafka (37), Kellen Moore (36), Drew Petzing (37), and Bobby Slowik (37) are also drawing interest among the six teams still looking to fill head coach positions. Recently, the New England Patriots hired 49-year-old Mike Vrabel.

Longtime NFL head coach Ron Rivera observed to YSL News Sports that this trend is about the “flavor” of coaching—teams are looking at why some coaches succeed and emulating that to find their next leader.

‘The Sean McVay Effect’

During McVay’s initial press conference, it was unsurprising that team president Kevin Demoff and general manager Les Snead were immediately asked about their young coach’s age.

Demoff expressed, “We’ve always seen age as just a descriptor. The way players talk about Sean reflects his leadership and commitment, which to us overshadows any concerns about his age.”

While the notion of hiring young head coaches wasn’t new, successful examples had been quite rare.

As younger coaches have been engaged more frequently, YSL News Sports found no strong link between a coach’s age and their team’s success over the past 25 years.

Lane Kiffin, who became the second-youngest head coach at 31 with the then-Oakland Raiders, lasted just two seasons. Similarly, Josh McDaniels was dismissed after being hired at 32 by the Denver Broncos. Others like Raheem Morris and Eric Mangini faced similar fates after year three.

The Rams took a risk with McVay, hoping he would be more like coaching legends John Madden and Bill Cowher, who found sustained success at a young age.

When McVay led the Rams to the playoffs during his first season and then to a Super Bowl in his second year, it triggered other teams to seek their own rising stars, a trend now commonly termed “The Sean McVay Effect.”

In the same offseason, four of the eight teams searching for head coaches opted for someone in their 30s, and three chose offensive masterminds akin to McVay or Kyle Shanahan of the San Francisco 49ers, who also enjoyed a Super Bowl run the following year.

“When one young coach experiences success, it often leads to others in similar positions getting their chance,” Edwards commented. “The league operates on a ‘copycat’ basis.”

Insights on age and leadership biases

Research by Brian Spisak of Harvard highlights that biases regarding age and leadership roles are widespread and extend beyond football to various sectors. He suggests these perceptions may be deeply rooted in our evolutionary history.

His studies reveal that younger leaders are often viewed as innovative and more adaptable, making them suitable for guiding teams through periods of transformation. Historically, younger individuals were seen as naturally more energetic and physically capable.

Conversely, older leaders epitomize stability and dependability, typically being the ones who safeguarded the community or improved established practices incrementally.

Spisak noted, “The stereotypes we associate with age stem from deep-seated historical precedents. While these ideas might have had significance in the past, they are now more of an outdated artifact. We often find ourselves jumping on the latest trends.”

Despite the growing trend to employ younger coaches recently, YSL News Sports has not identified a clear relationship between a head coach’s age and team success in the last 25 years.

From the year 2000 onward, teams led by full-time coaches below the median age of 50 have achieved a combined winning percentage of .504, which is similar to the .500 winning percentage for teams with coaches over 50. The minimal difference—.004—equates to just one win over 14 seasons.

Retired Giants quarterback Eli Manning emphasized, “Age is irrelevant from a player’s perspective.”

“It ultimately comes down to experience and the impact of previous coaching relationships on a coach’s philosophy and style.”

being a head coach. It’s just about their leadership.

Does a higher turnover mean younger NFL coaches?

Manning believes that the influx of young coaches in the NFL is largely due to an increase in opportunities available for hiring them.

In the current coaching cycle, 22 out of 32 NFL teams have replaced their head coaches within the last five years, with 11 of those teams having made multiple changes during that timeframe. Nowadays, team owners seem more willing to take risks and make more frequent coaching changes.

“There’s a lot more turnover now than there used to be,” said Manning, who is a finalist for this year’s Hall of Fame. “So, it’s difficult to retain talented coordinators as they are often promoted to head coach positions.”

Jed Hughes, vice chairman and sports sector leader at Korn Ferry, a prominent search firm responsible for hiring notable coaches like Andy Reid in Kansas City and Bruce Arians in Tampa Bay, thinks the trend toward younger coaches is not merely about seeking youth but rather the results produced by systems that are often led by younger individuals.

Both McVay and Shanahan began their careers under Super Bowl-winning coach Mike Shanahan, who is Kyle’s father. They have gained a reputation for combining his foundational offensive strategies with modern pre-snap motions and creative option plays that became popular in college football. As their top coaches have been hired away by other teams looking to replicate their success, Hughes pointed out that McVay and Shanahan frequently promote younger assistants, such as Coen in Los Angeles or Mike McDaniel in San Francisco, to significant roles like offensive coordinator—positions that would have typically required more experience decades ago.

“They are young because they had to fill the positions of those who were young before them,” explained Hughes, who was consulted by the Las Vegas Raiders in their coaching and general manager search. “It’s largely due to attrition.”

Indeed, the trend of hiring younger coaches isn’t limited to just head coaching positions.

Research from YSL News Sports indicates that coaches across all levels of the NFL are, on average, over two years younger than they were ten years ago. As the 2024 season approaches, NFL teams have not only hired many coaches in their 30s but also employed 39 full-time assistants in their 20s—with the youngest being Christian Daboll of the New York Giants at just 23 years old.

How relatability and changes in the NFL have influenced head coach hiring

The NFL has evolved significantly since Edwards first became a head coach with the New York Jets in 2001, and he believes the players have changed as well.

According to Edwards, NFL players today are “more aware than athletes were two decades ago”—they are more inclined to inquire about the reasoning behind drills and less willing to accept orders without question. He noted that recent rule adjustments enabling players to sign endorsement deals while in college have contributed to their financial stability upon entering the league.

“By the time a player arrives with you, he’s already driving a nice car and has earned a salary,” said Edwards, the former head coach at Arizona State before his dismissal in 2022. “This is a different kind of athlete… It’s not a negative; it simply reflects the passage of time.”

Due to these changes, Edwards believes younger coaches may find it easier to connect with today’s players—including quarterbacks, who often determine a coach’s success or failure.

Spisak, a researcher from Harvard, suggests that the trend toward hiring younger coaches may also reflect broader changes in the league, primarily due to the rise of data and analytics.

“This is a period of innovation, and we’re searching for leaders capable of fully harnessing this wave of change,” he said. “However, it’s not necessarily true that younger leaders will be better at navigating all this innovation, but that seems to be the prevailing assumption.”

Spisak posits that the league is undergoing a transformative phase akin to the onset of “moneyball” in MLB, and there’s a possibility that once the new reality stabilizes, team owners could return to appointing older head coaches. For example, after several young hires in 2009, the average age of NFL head coaches actually increased for the next four years.

This upcoming series of coaching changes—starting with Vrabel’s hiring in New England—could provide the first indication of what lies ahead, and whether the current trend will persist.

“If owners notice something successful, they tend to mimic it,” Hughes remarked. “One thing about the NFL: If something is proving effective, you need to find a way to counter it or adopt the trend, provided it is still viable.”

Contributors: Chris Bumbaca and Jim Sergent

Contact Tom Schad on social media @tomschad.bsky.social.