Detroit Lions Head Coach History: Know Their Most Successful Coach

The Detroit Lions NFL team is one of the most competitive teams in league history. They have made 19 playoff appearances and clinched several titles. From division titles to the conference championship and also the Super Bowl. They have a historic reign in the NFL, and a lot of credit goes to their players and coaching staff. Their coaches have brought the best out of every player on the team. Talking about coaches, who is their most successful coach in history? So let us look at the history of the Detroit Lions head coach and find out their most successful coach.

Detroit Lions Head Coach History

As of the 2023 season, 30 different coaches have coached the Lions. Here is the coaches’ complete list, stats, and records.

1. Hal Griffen (1930)

• Season: 1
• Regular season record: 5-6-3
• Regular season win percentage: 0.464
• Playoff appearances: nil
• Playoffs record: nil
• Titles: nil

2. George Clark (1931-1936 and 1940)

• Season: 7
• Regular season record: 53-25-7
• Regular season win percentage: 0.623
• Playoff appearances: 2
• Playoffs record: 1-1
• Titles: 1x Division and 1x Super Bowl

3. Earl Clark (1937-1938)

• Season: 2
• Regular season record: 14-8
• Regular season win percentage: 0.636
• Playoff appearances: nil
• Playoffs record: nil
• Titles: nil

4. Gus Henderson (1939)

• Season: 1
• Regular season record: 6-5
• Regular season win percentage: 0.545
• Playoff appearances: nil
• Playoffs record: nil
• Titles: nil

5. Bill Edwards (1941-1942)

• Season: 2
• Regular season record: 4-9-1
• Regular season win percentage: 0.321
• Playoff appearances: nil
• Playoffs record: nil
• Titles: nil

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6. John Karcis (1942)

• Season: 1
• Regular season record: 0-8
• Regular season win percentage: 0.0
• Playoff appearances: nil
• Playoffs record: nil
• Titles: nil

7. Gus Dorais (1943-1947)

• Season: 5
• Regular season record: 20-31-2
• Regular season win percentage: 0.396
• Playoff appearances: nil
• Playoffs record: nil
• Titles: nil

8. Bo McMillin (1948-1950)

• Season: 3
• Regular season record: 12-24
• Regular season win percentage: 0.333
• Playoff appearances: nil
• Playoffs record: nil
• Titles: nil

9. Buddy Parker (1951-1956)

• Season: 6
• Regular season record: 47-23-2
• Regular season win percentage: 0.667
• Playoff appearances: 3
• Playoffs record: 3-1
• Titles: 3x Conference and 2x Super Bowl

10. George Wilson (1957-1964)

• Season: 8
• Regular season record: 53-45-6
• Regular season win percentage: 0.538
• Playoff appearances: 1
• Playoffs record: 2-0
• Titles: 1x Conference and 1x Super Bowl

Also read: Philadelphia Eagles Head Coach History: Know Their Most Successful Coach

11. Harry Gilmer (1965-1966)

• Season: 2
• Regular season record: 10-16-2
• Regular season win percentage: 0.393
• Playoff appearances: nil
• Playoffs record: nil
• Titles: nil

12. Joe Schmidt (1967-1972)

• Season: 6
• Regular season record: 43-34-7
• Regular season win percentage: 0.554
• Playoff appearances: 1
• Playoffs record: 0-1
• Titles: nil

13. Don McCafferty (1973)

• Season: 1
• Regular season record: 6-7-1
• Regular season win percentage: 0.464
• Playoff appearances: nil
• Playoffs record: nil
• Titles: nil

14. Rick Forzano (1974-1976)

• Season: 3
• Regular season record: 15-17
• Regular season win percentage: 0.469
• Playoff appearances: nil
• Playoffs record: nil
• Titles: nil

15. Tommy Hudspeth (1976-1977)

• Season: 2
• Regular season record: 11-13
• Regular season win percentage: 0.458
• Playoff appearances: nil
• Playoffs record: nil
• Titles: nil

Read more: New Orleans Saints Head Coach History: Know Their Most Successful Coach

16. Monte Clark (1978-1984)

• Season: 7
• Regular season record: 43-61-1
• Regular season win percentage: 0.414
• Playoff appearances: 2
• Playoffs record: 0-2
• Titles: 1x Division

17. Darryl Rogers (1985-1988)

• Season: 4
• Regular season record: 18-40
• Regular season win percentage: 0.310
• Playoff appearances: nil
• Playoffs record: nil
• Titles: nil

18. Wayne Fontes (1988-1996)

• Season: 9
• Regular season record: 66-67
• Regular season win percentage: 0.496
• Playoff appearances: 4
• Playoffs record: 1-4
• Titles: 2x Division

19. Bobby Ross (1997-2000)

• Season: 4
• Regular season record: 27-30
• Regular season win percentage: 0.474
• Playoff appearances: 2
• Playoffs record: 0-2
• Titles: nil

20. Gary Moeller (2000)

• Season: 1
• Regular season record: 4-3
• Regular season win percentage: 0.571
• Playoff appearances: nil
• Playoffs record: nil
• Titles: nil

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21. Marty Mornhinweg (2001-2002)

• Season: 1
• Regular season record: 5-27
• Regular season win percentage: 0.156
• Playoff appearances: nil
• Playoffs record: nil
• Titles: nil

22. Steve Mariucci (2003-2005)

• Season: 3
• Regular season record: 15-28
• Regular season win percentage: 0.349
• Playoff appearances: nil
• Playoffs record: nil
• Titles: nil

23. Dick Jauron (2005)

• Season: 1
• Regular season record: 1-4
• Regular season win percentage: 0.200
• Playoff appearances: nil
• Playoffs record: nil
• Titles: nil

24. Rod Marinelli (2006-2008)

• Season: 3
• Regular season record: 10-38
• Regular season win percentage: 0.208
• Playoff appearances: nil
• Playoffs record: nil
• Titles: nil

25. Jim Schwartz (2009-2013)

• Season: 5
• Regular season record: 29-51
• Regular season win percentage: 0.363
• Playoff appearances: 1
• Playoffs record: 0-1
• Titles: nil

Also read: Tampa Bay Buccaneers Head Coach History: Know Their Most Successful Coach

26. Jim Caldwell (2014-2017)

• Season: 4
• Regular season record: 36-28
• Regular season win percentage: 0.563
• Playoff appearances: 2
• Playoffs record: 0-2
• Titles: nil

27. Matt Patricia (2018-2020)

• Season: 3
• Regular season record: 13-28-1
• Regular season win percentage: 0.321
• Playoff appearances: nil
• Playoffs record: nil
• Titles: nil

28. Darrell Bevell (2020)

• Season: 1
• Regular season record: 1-4
• Regular season win percentage: 0.200
• Playoff appearances: nil
• Playoffs record: nil
• Titles: nil

29. Robert Prince (2020)

• Season: 1
• Regular season record: 0-1
• Regular season win percentage: 0.0
• Playoff appearances: nil
• Playoffs record: nil
• Titles: nil

30. Dan Campbell (2021-present)

• Season: 3
• Regular season record: 24-26-1
• Regular season win percentage: 0.480
• Playoff appearances: 1
• Playoffs record: 2-1
• Titles: 1x Division

Read more: Green Bay Packers Head Coach History: Know Their Most Successful Coach

Most Successful Coach in Detroit Lions History

Buddy Parker is the most successful coach in the Lions’ history. Under Parker, the team reached the playoffs on three occasions.

He was on the team for six years (1951-1956) and had a record of 47-23-2. Regarding the postseason, he has a record of 3-1. Parker helped the Lions win three conference championships and two Super Bowls.

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