The Carolina Panthers fired coach Frank Reich after only 11 games but it is still not the shortest tenure in league history, not by a longshot.
Reich actually held his job longer than three other coaches, and − given the unique circumstances of the person on this list with the shortest tenure in NFL history − it’s hard to envision that record ever being broken.
Still, quick tenures has become far more common recently in the NFL, with the Broncos firing former coach Nathaniel Hackett last December after only 15 games and the Jaguars ending the Urban Meyer experiment in 2021 after only 13.
Here’s a look at the five shortest coaching tenures in NFL history, not counting interim roles.
13 games: Lou Holtz, New York Jets (1976) and Urban Meyer, Jacksonville Jaguars (2021)
Starting with Meyer, his time in Jacksonville was fraught with an inability to adapt his coaching style to the NFL after he was one of the most successful coaches in college football history. It started from the very beginning.
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A month after his hiring, Meyer hired former Iowa strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle, who had been accused of bullying and allegedly saying racist remarks while with the Hawkeyes. Doyle quit two days after being hired. Meyer then signed Tim Tebow, a career quarterback, to play tight end. This despite the fact that Tebow had not played in six seasons and had never played tight end. He was cut after team’s first preseason game. The Jaguars were fined $200,000 and Meyer received a fine of $100,000 for violation of the league’s policy on contact during off-season practices.
A video surfaced online showing a woman who was not Meyer’s wife dancing on him in a Columbus, Ohio, restaurant the day after the team lost a road game in Cincinnati. Meyer did not accompany the team back to Jacksonville after the game. Meyer apologized, saying his behavior was ‘stupid’ and caused a distraction.
Then, the act that prompted his dismissal, former Jaguars kicker Josh Lambo revealed that Meyer kicked him while stretching before practice.
Another coach making the jump from the college ranks, Holtz struggled significantly in his lone season in the NFL. Coming from NC State, Holtz was tabbed to lead the Jets in what would be Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Namath’s final season in New York.
The Jets lost their first four games and went 3-11 under Holtz before he resigned ahead of the season finale. Namath completed just 49.6% of his passes in 11 games (eight starts) that year and posted a 4:16 touchdown-to-interception ratio. The Jets also ranked 26th out of 29 teams in scoring defense, allowing 27.4 points per game that season.
11 games: Frank Reich, Carolina Panthers (2023)
This is actually the second time Frank Reich has been fired in the middle of an NFL season. In November 2022, the Colts dismissed Reich after a 3-5-1 start amid a regression at offensive line and a constant flux at quarterback.
Then, a little more than two months later, the Panthers hired Reich to be their head coach. Reich had been Carolina’s first-ever starting quarterback when the team was an expansion franchise during the 1995 season. In March, the Panthers traded up in a massive deal to secure the No. 1 overall selection in the 2023 NFL draft, a pick they eventually used to select Bryce Young.
While Reich did not have personnel control in making the decision to draft Young and while C.J. Stroud of the Texans is vastly outperforming all rookie quarterbacks, Young’s rookie campaign had been a mess under Reich.
At the time of Reich’s firing, Young ranked 27th in passing yards (1,877), 58th in yards per attempt (5.4), 53rd in quarterback rating (74.9) and has a 9:8 touchdown-to-interception ratio. The Panthers featured one of the worst offensive lines in football, ranking 29th in sacks allowed (43).
Minutes after the Panthers lost to the Titans Week 12 to drop to 1-10 under Reich, team owner David Tepper was heard shouting an expletive after leaving the locker room. By the next day, Reich was gone.
9 games: Pete McCulley, San Francisco 49ers (1978)
The 49ers fired Ken Meyer in January 1978 and tabbed Pete McCulley to lead the team. After nine games, McCulley was then fired in October of the same year. It would be McCulley’s lone head coaching job at any major level of football.
McCulley’s team faced a void of talent after the Niners traded five draft picks, including a first-rounder, for running back O.J. Simpson, who was 31 at the time of the deal. Simpson would post a career low in yards per carry (3.7) and scored only one rushing touchdown. He would play only one additional season in the NFL, also with San Francisco.
McCulley’s 49ers had a rough start, which is something of an understatement. They went 1-8 before he was fired and the team would go on to commit a stunning 63 turnovers and rank last in scoring offense (13.7 points per game) and 23rd (of 28 teams) in scoring defense (21.9).
The 49ers would finish the season 2-14. The coach they hired to replace McCulley was Bill Walsh.
2 preseason games: George Allen, Los Angeles Rams (1978)
It turns out that 1978 was a rough year in general for one-and-dones. Before the 49ers fired McCulley, George Allen lasted just a pair of games, and exhibition ones at that.
Allen, an eventual Pro Football Hall of Famer, never posted a losing season during his 12 years as a head coach, compiling a 118-54-5 mark. He coached with the Rams from 1966 through 1970 and then with Washington from 1971 through 1977.
He was appointed in 1978 to lead the Rams for his second stint with the team, but owner Carroll Rosenbloom fired Allen after just two preseason games.
The Rams elevated defensive coordinator Ray Malavasi as coach and he led the team to a 12-4 record and an appearance in the NFC Championship Game.
1 day: Bill Belichick, New York Jets (2000)
‘I resign as HC of the NYJ’.
It’s one of the iconic moments in recent NFL history: Bill Belichick, one day after being elevated as the head coach of the New York Jets − following the resignation of previous coach Bill Parcells − Belichick held a press conference that was supposed to be his introductory session, only to deliver his resignation, which he had written on a slip of paper.
Belichick, rather, preferred to be the coach of the New England Patriots, joining forces with owner Robert Kraft. Eventually, the Patriots would trade a first-round pick in the 2000 NFL draft to acquire Belichick from New York.
Belichick would go on to win six Super Bowls with the Patriots, matching the number of playoff appearances the Jets have had since 2000.
The last time New York clinched a berth in the postseason was 2010. Three of Belichick’s Patriots titles (2014, 2016, 2018) have come since then.
