When the Los Angeles Rams appointed Sean McVay in 2017, he was just two weeks away from turning 31, making him the youngest head coach in the history of modern NFL.

In a league traditionally dominated by seasoned mentors, the Rams’ choice to hire a coach in his 30s raised many eyebrows. Yet, it turned out to be a brilliant move, as McVay led the team to the Super Bowl by his second season.

This marked a pivotal moment in the NFL’s coaching landscape.

According to YSL News Sports, the average age of NFL head coaches has steadily declined over the past ten years, as team owners have become more open to selecting ambitious coaches in their 30s over older, more seasoned veterans in their 50s and 60s.

Research from YSL News Sports indicates that the average age of head coaches has drastically decreased from 53.4 years in 2015 to 47.7 years at the start of this season, marking the lowest average in the last 25 years. Now, NFL coaches are notably younger, on average, than those in the other major professional leagues: Major League Baseball, the NBA, and the NHL.

“Previously, older coaches dominated the head coaching roles. You had to spend time in the league, get fired, and stumble around before you were deemed ready,” explains Herm Edwards, an ex-NFL and college football head coach now working as an ESPN analyst. “Now, they’re hiring these younger individuals who can actually relate to players. They know what players enjoy and are not far removed from their age.”

What is driving the trend of younger NFL head coaches?

The decline in average age partly results from veteran coaches like Bill Belichick and Pete Carroll retiring in their 70s at the end of the 2023 season. However, the primary cause lies in hiring practices.

Before McVay’s era began in 2017, just 6% of NFL head coach openings (3 out of 47) were occupied by coaches in their 30s. In the seven hiring cycles since, that number has surged to 36%, with most of these young candidates being white and offensive-minded.

The trend appears to be continuing, with Ben Johnson, the 38-year-old offensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions, emerging as a highly sought-after candidate; he has reportedly interviewed for four positions recently. Additionally, young coaches like Joe Brady (35), Liam Coen (39), Mike Kafka (37), Kellen Moore (36), Drew Petzing (37), and Bobby Slowik (37) are also attracting attention from the remaining teams looking for head coaches. (Recently, the New England Patriots appointed 49-year-old Mike Vrabel.)

“I believe it’s all about the current trend,” stated veteran NFL coach Ron Rivera when asked about the rise of young head coaches. “It’s what people think is the key to success now.”

‘The Sean McVay Effect’

When McVay was introduced to the media, the first question posed to Rams president Kevin Demoff and general manager Les Snead revolved around their coach’s age.

“I think we always considered that just one descriptive term,” said Demoff. “When you hear from the players, this is about effectively leading them. Their loyalty to Sean, the way they talk about him, is what really dismissed any concerns about his age.”

Though the concept of hiring young head coaches wasn’t new, it had been relatively rare — and success stories even more so.

Even as teams increasingly seek younger coaches, YSL News Sports found little to no significant link between a head coach’s age and his team’s success—at least within the last 25 years.

YSL News Sports NFL Coaches Project

For instance, Lane Kiffin, the second-youngest head coach in the NFL, only lasted two seasons after being hired by the Oakland Raiders at 31. Josh McDaniels also faced a similar fate, being dismissed after two seasons with the Denver Broncos at age 32. Others like Raheem Morris (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) and Eric Mangini (New York Jets) found themselves out after three years.

The Rams hoped McVay would emulate successfully enduring coaches like John Madden and Bill Cowher, who thrived despite their youth.

After guiding the Rams to a playoff spot in his rookie season and a Super Bowl appearance in his second, teams began seeking out their own rising stars—sparking what has been termed “The Sean McVay Effect.” That offseason, four out of eight teams with coaching vacancies went for a coach in his 30s, while three opted for a brilliant offensive mind similar to McVay or Kyle Shanahan of the San Francisco 49ers, who would reach the Super Bowl the following season.

“When one young coach has success, guess what? A few of the young coaches from his staff often get their chance next,” Edwards remarked.

“The league operates on trends; it’s a copycat environment.”

Insights on age and leadership biases

Brian Spisak, a research associate at Harvard, notes that biases regarding age and leadership are neither new nor uncommon in NFL coaching; they occur across various sectors and may even trace back to our evolutionary background.

Spisak’s findings suggest that younger leaders are often viewed as innovative and adaptable—particularly suited to guide teams through change. He theorizes this might stem from historical contexts where younger individuals were energetically tasked with exploration, being generally more vigorous and fit.

In contrast, older leaders tend to be seen as symbols of stability and reliability, having historically been assigned to protect camps and improve established methods incrementally.

“There is a strong argument that we possess ingrained prototypes of leadership tied to age, which may have been relevant in the past but are now somewhat outdated,” Spisak stated, who also leads a course on AI and leadership at Harvard. “We are therefore prone to following trends.”

While the trend of hiring younger coaches persists, YSL News Sports found no notable correlation between a head coach’s age and his team’s success over the last 25 years.

Since 2000, teams led by full-time head coaches under the median age of 50 have posted a winning percentage of .504, whereas those with coaches over 50 recorded a .500 winning rate. The difference of .004 translates to merely one extra win over a span of 14 seasons.

“For players, age isn’t really significant,” stated retired New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning.

“It all comes down to experience. It’s about the number of coaches they’ve learned from, the influence on their style, and their philosophy as a head coach. Leadership is what matters most.”

Are More Young Coaches Being Hired in the NFL Due to Increased Turnover?

Manning believes that the rise in young coaches being appointed in the NFL is largely due to the increased opportunities for hiring them.

In the current coaching cycle, 22 out of the league’s 32 teams have made changes to their head coaches within the last five years — with 11 of those teams having hired multiple coaches in that timeframe. Today’s owners seem open to taking significant risks and doing so more frequently.

“There’s much more turnover now than in the past,” Manning stated, who is a finalist for this year’s Hall of Fame class. “So it’s challenging to keep terrific coordinators as coordinators.”

Jed Hughes, vice chairman and leader of the sports sector at Korn Ferry — a long-standing search firm that played a key role in hiring veteran coaches like Andy Reid for Kansas City and Bruce Arians for Tampa Bay, believes the trend towards hiring younger coaches is not about a search for youth itself, but rather about adopting a system that just happens to have young leaders.

Both McVay and Shanahan began their careers under Super Bowl-winning coach Mike Shanahan, who is Kyle’s father. They are well-known for combining his foundational offensive principles with sophisticated pre-snap motions and option plays that gained popularity in college football. As their top assistants have been recruited by teams seeking to replicate their success, Hughes pointed out that McVay and Shanahan have frequently promoted younger assistants — such as Coen in Los Angeles or Mike McDaniel in San Francisco — to significant roles like offensive coordinators, positions that would have typically required many more years of waiting 20 or 30 years ago.

“They’re younger because they had to succeed the person who was already in that position, who was also young,” Hughes remarked. He spoke to YSL News Sports a few weeks before the Las Vegas Raiders engaged him to assist in their coaching and general manager search. “It occurred due to attrition.”

The trend of hiring younger coaches goes beyond just the top echelons of coaching.

YSL News Sports discovered that on-field coaches across all levels of the NFL are, on average, over two years younger than they were ten years ago. At the start of the 2024 season, NFL teams not only had hundreds of coaches in their 30s but also employed 39 full-time assistants in their 20s, the youngest being Christian Daboll of the New York Giants at just 23 years old.

Impact of Player Relatability and NFL Changes on Head Coach Hiring

The NFL has undergone significant changes since Edwards took his first head coaching position with the New York Jets in 2001. He notes that the players have transformed as well.

NFL players today are “more conscious than athletes were two decades ago,” Edwards explained — more prone to question the purpose of drills and less likely to follow orders without hesitation. They’ve also reached a level of financial stability and market-driven motivations earlier, thanks to rule changes permitting them to secure endorsement deals while still in college.

“By the time a player arrives, he’s already driving a nice car and earning a salary,” said Edwards, who most recently served as head coach at Arizona State before his dismissal in 2022.

“It’s a different kind of athlete. It’s not negative; it’s simply a reflection of changing times.”

Because of this, Edwards believes that younger coaches might find it easier to connect with today’s players — especially quarterbacks, who significantly influence the success or failure of a coach’s career.

Researcher Spisak from Harvard pointed out that NFL coaches might be getting younger due to broader changes within the league — particularly the influx of data and analytics.

“It’s a time of innovation. We’re seeking leaders capable of fully utilizing all this innovation,” he stated. “Now, is it completely true that younger leaders will better harness all of that innovation? Certainly not. But that seems to be the prevailing belief.”

Spisak opines that the league is experiencing a transformative phase — akin to the “moneyball” strategy in Major League Baseball — and just like in previous instances, when the new reality is established, team owners may revert to hiring seasoned head coaches again. After a wave of younger hires in 2009, for example, the average age of NFL head coaches rose for four consecutive years.

The upcoming coaching changes, which have already started with Vrabel’s hiring in New England, will be indicative of what’s ahead — and if the current trend persists.

“If owners notice something working, they will emulate it,” Hughes observed. “That’s one thing about the NFL: If something’s effective, you better figure out how to stop it or jump on the trend, as long as that trend continues.”

Contributors: Chris Bumbaca and Jim Sergent

Reach out to Tom Schad on social media @tomschad.bsky.social.