Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images
More than 500 people have served as the head coach of an NFL team for at least one game, and only 35 of them have managed to lead their squad to a win in the Super Bowl. There are plenty of others who’ve had successful careers and even ended up in the Hall of Fame but retired without being able to add a victory in The Big Game to their résumé.
These are the NFL coaches who had the most wins in the regular season but were unable to win a Super Bowl
Serving as the head coach of an NFL team that wins the Super Bowl makes you a member of a pretty exclusive club.
Nearly half of the men who’ve joined it have punched their ticket to the Hall of Fame, and that number will almost certainly rise to more than 50% at some point in the not-so-distant future when you consider Bill Belichick will be enshrined this year and current skippers incluiding Andy Reid, Sean Payton, and Mike Tomlin are virtual locks to be immortalized in Canton after they hang up their headsets.
However, there are some other coaches who did very well for themselves but never earned the right to hoist the Lombardi Trophy. Here’s a look at the guys who had the most wins in the regular season but never got the NFL’s ultimate prize.
9. Jim Mora: 125 Wins
RVR Photos-Imagn Images
Jim Mora spent 11 years as the head coach of the Saints beginning in 1986, and while they made the playoffs (PLAYOFFS????) four times during his tenure, every appearance was a one-and-done loss in the wild card round (a fate they met three seasons in a row starting in 1990).
Mora got another shot with the Colts in 1999 (three years after his time in New Orleans came to an end), and while they did make the postseason a couple of times during his four years in Indianapolis, he finished his career with an 0-6 record in the playoffs.
8. Marvin Lews: 131 Wins
Sam Greene via Imagn Content Services, LLC
Marvin Lewis did get a Super Bowl ring while working as the defensive coordinator for the Ravens, but he was never able to add another one to his collection as a head coach.
Lewis spent 16 years with the Bengals and led Cincinnati to the playoffs on seven occasions, which included five straight appearances between 2011 and 2015. However, he has the unfortunate distinction of being the NFL coach with the most wins in the regular season without a single one in the postseason after going 0-7 in those contests.
7. John Fox: 133 Wins
Winslow Townson-Imagn Images
John Fox had two chances to win the Super Bowl but never cashed in.
He led the Panthers to The Big Game during his second year as their head coach, but they ended up losing to the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVIII. His nine-year stint in Carolina ended up being one of diminishing returns, as their two other playoff appearances ended with a loss in the NFC Championship and another in the divisional round.
The Broncos never missed the playoffs during the four years Fox coached in Denver, but they suffered three losses in the divisional round and another at the hands of the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLVIII.
He never made it to the postseason during his three years with the Bears and ended up with an 8-7 record in the playoffs.
6. Marv Levy: 143 Wins
Rick Stewart /Allsport
There isn’t a more tragic figure on this list than Marv Levy, who was the man who served as the head coach of the Bills during the infamous run that saw Buffalo lose the Super Bowl four years in a row at the start of the 1990s.
Levy finished his career with an 11-8 record in the playoffs and achieved enough over the course of his 17 years in the NFL to get inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2001, but that seems like the ultimate consolation prize when you consider the other one that eluded him.
5. Bud Grant: 158 Wins
Darryl Norenberg-Imagn Images
Levy wasn’t the only coach who ended up in the Hall of Fame after losing the Super Bowl four times, although Bud Grant’s pain was spread out a bit more.
Grant spent 18 years as the head coach of the Vikings, and he technically earned the right to call himself an “NFL champion” during the 1968 season. However, Minnesota lost to the Chiefs (who were still in the AFL at that point) in Super Bowl IV.
The Vikings made the playoffs a dozen times during Grant’s tenure, which included a six-year streak beginning in 1973. They lost the Super Bowl two years in a row to kick off that run (falling to the Dolphins and the Steelers), and they ended up coming up short three times in the span of four years after they were bested by the Raiders in Super Bowl XI.
Grant ultimately went 10-12 in the playoffs and earned a spot in Canton in 1994.
4. Jeff Fisher: 173 Wins
Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images
Jeff Fisher is known for being one of the most decidedly average coaches in NFL history based on the number of times the teams he coached finished at or near .500 during his 22 seasons as a head coach; the Oilers/Titans went 8-8 five times when he was at the helm, and he finished his career with a 173-165-1 record in the regular season.
Fisher (who won a Super Bowl as a cornerback for the Bears during the 1985 season) only made it to the playoffs six times over the course of his career. His first appearance was a run that ended with a brutal loss to the Rams in Super Bowl XXXIV, and he led the Titans to the AFC Championship a few years later before ultimately finishing with a 5-6 record in the postseason.
3. Chuck Knox: 186 Wins
Manny Rubio-Imagn Images
Chuck Knox started and ended his coaching career with the Rams, and those stints sandwiched others with the Bills and the Seahawks.
His first run in Los Angeles began in 1973 and lasted five seasons, and they made the playoffs every year while advancing to the NFC Championship three years in a row. However, they never punched their ticket to the Super Bowl, and Knox also fell short during the six occasions where Buffalo and Seattle ended up in the postseason.
The Rams did not return to the playoffs when he returned, and he finished with a 7-11 record in the postseason.
2. Dan Reeves: 190
RVR Photos-Imagn Images
No one has coached more games without winning a Super Bowl than Dan Reeves, who patrolled the sideline for a grand total of 357 contests in the regular season (although he won a ring as both a player and an assistant coach for the Cowboys).
The bulk of those were with the Broncos, who made the playoffs six times in the 12 years he spent in Denver between 1981 and 1992. They suffered back-to-back losses in the Super Bowl XXI and XXII before missing the playoffs before the 49ers handed Reeves and Co. their third loss in four years in Super Bowl XXIV.
He’d get another chance as the head coach of the Falcons, but his old team handed him another L by prevailing in Super Bowl XXXIII. Unlike Levy and Grant, Reeves has not earned a spot in the Hall of Fame, and the man who went 11-9 in the playoffs is just one of two coaches who collectively had at least 200 wins but have not been enshrined.
The other?
1. Marty Schottenheimer
RVR Photos-Imagn Images
Marty Schottenheimer had exactly 200 wins in the regular season during the 21 seasons he spent coaching the Browns, Chiefs, Chargers, and the team that’s now known as the Commanders between 1984 and 2006.
He made the playoffs 13 times but never earned the right to play in the Super Bowl. Three appearances in the AFC Championship game (two with Cleveland and another with Kansas City) marked the apex of those runs, and he finished with a 5-13 record in the postseason.