First of all seven coaches have never coached a pre-season game as they are in their first year or took over midway through last season. Jason Garrett (DAL), Ron Rivera (CAR), Leslie Frazier (MIN), Jim Harbaugh (SF), Pat Shurmur (CLE), Mike Munchak (TEN), and Hue Jackson (OAK) have never coached a pre-season game. So we won’t discuss those coaches or their teams.
I will discuss the other teams and coaches in 3 groups. The first will be coaches who have a winning record. The second will be coaches that are at or around .500. The third group will be coaches who have a losing record. I will also discuss the coaches’ record over/under records.
Winners
It is no coincidence that some of the most successful coaches in the pre-season are among the most competitive coaches in football. Bill Belichick, Tom Coughlin, Jack Del Rio, Jim Schwartz, Mike Shanahan, Steve Spagnuolo, Tony Sparano, John Harbaugh and Mike Tomlin are all at least 4 games over .500 straight up. Belichick, Coughlin, Shanahan, and Tomlin have all won Super Bowl titles. Schwartz, Spagnuolo, and Sparano all coached under head coaches who had success in the pre-season. Schwartz used to coach under Jeff Fisher before taking over the Lions. Spagnuolo coached under Coughlin before taking over the Rams. Sparano coached under Bill Parcells before taking over the Dolphins. Shanahan has had the most success in the preseason. He is 16 games over .500 straight up and 8 games over .500 ATS. Tomlin is 13-4 straight up in his career with the Steelers.
In the middle
Eleven coaches are within 2 games of .500, including some of the most successful coaches in the league. Mike McCarthy and Sean Payton have won the last two Super Bowl titles while John Fox and Lovie Smith coached in Super Bowls. Rex Ryan has coached the Jets to two straight AFC Championship game appearances. Pete Carroll, Marvin Lewis, Mike Smith, and Norv Turner have all coached teams into the playoffs in the last two seasons. Gary Kubiak and Raheem Morris came within a game of getting their teams into the playoffs in the last two seasons. For the most part, these coaches are pretty laid back and most are considered “player’s coaches.”
Losers
Only 5 coaches have a losing record in the pre-season. Jim Caldwell, Chan Gailey, Todd Haley, Andy Reid, and Ken Whisenhunt are all below .500 . In the case of Caldwell for the Colts and Reid for the Eagles it is more a case of the coaches not wanting to get their players injured in meaningless pre-season games. With Haley, Gailey, and Whisenhunt, it is more a case of having lousy teams, though Haley and the Chiefs did make the playoffs last year. Reid has the worst record of any current coach in any pre-season as he is 12 games below .500 straight up and 8 games under ATS.
Totals
Of the 25 coaches who have coached in the pre-season 17 have had a majority of their games go over the total in the pre-season. This is mainly because teams don’t want to show off the full defensive playbook before the regular season starts. Also in the second half you have players playing who not a lot of scouts have seen play. The coaches don’t know how to adjust to players they have never seen before and don’t care about adjusting to some 4th string quarterback that they will never see again.
Here is a chart with a complete list of the coaches records in pre-season. The coaches listed in Green have winning records. The ones in orange have records within 2 games of .500. The ones in red have a losing record. For the over/unders green denotes teams that have mostly overs, and red denotes mostly unders.
Check out our NFL odds page for the best line on every pre-season game.
| Coach | Current Team | W/L Record | ATS Record | O/U Record |
| Bill Belichick | NE | 36-29 | 33-26-6 | 41-23-1 |
| Jim Caldwell | IND | 1-7 | 2-6 | 6-2 |
| Pete Carroll | SEA | 11-10 | 12-8-1 | 19-2 |
| Tom Coughlin | NYG | 33-28 | 30-27-4 | 40-21 |
| Jack Del Rio | JAX | 20-12 | 20-10-2 | 17-15 |
| John Fox | DEN | 19-17 | 16-19-1 | 18-17-1 |
| Chan Gailey | BUF | 3-11 | 4-10 | 11-3 |
| Todd Haley | KC | 1-7 | 0-8 | 1-7 |
| John Harbaugh | BAL | 8-4 | 7-5 | 3-9 |
| Gary Kubiak | HOU | 10-10 | 10-8-2 | 14-6 |
| Marvin Lewis | CIN | 17-16 | 17-16 | 17-16 |
| Mike McCarthy | GB | 9-11 | 11-9 | 15-5 |
| Raheem Morris | TB | 3-5 | 4-4 | 5-3 |
| Sean Payton | NO | 11-10 | 12-9 | 9-10-2 |
| Andy Reid | PHI | 18-30 | 19-27-2 | 26-21-1 |
| Rex Ryan | NYJ | 4-4 | 5-3 | 6-2 |
| Jim Schwartz | DET | 6-2 | 5-3 | 4-4 |
| Mike Shanahan | WAS | 44-28 | 39-31-2 | 46-26 |
| Lovie Smith | CHI | 14-15 | 12-16-1 | 15-14 |
| Mike Smith | ATL | 6-6 | 6-4-2 | 4-8 |
| Steve Spagnuolo | STL | 6-2 | 6-2 | 6-2 |
| Tony Sparano | MIA | 9-3 | 7-4-1 | 3-9 |
| Mike Tomlin | PIT | 13-4 | 10-7 | 4-12-1 |
| Norv Turner | SD | 26-26 | 23-24-5 | 34-18 |
| Ken Whisenhunt | ARI | 5-11 | 6-10 | 7-9 |
If you enjoyed this type of do it yourself approach you may be interested in our NFL library for handicappers which features articles like how to bet the NFL and how to read NFL odds.
