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It’s not often that you see an NFL head coach reach a conference title game in EACH of their first two seasons on the job, but that’s exactly what Packers coach Matt LaFleur , succeeded in Green Bay.
After leading the Packers to the 2019 NFC title game in his first year as head coach, LaFleur has them back in the NFC Championship for the second year in a row following Green Bay’s 32-18 victory over the Rams Saturday. The victory means LaFleur is just the second coach in the past 25 years to reach a conference title game in each of his first two seasons. LaFleur is now just one of six coaches who achieved the feat during the Super Bowl era.
The last coach to make it this far in their first two seasons was Jim Harbaugh, who made it in 2011 and 2012 with the San Francisco 49ers. After being hired in 2011, Harbaugh led the team to three straight games for the NFC title and a Super Bowl.
Here’s a full list of coaches who made it to the conference title game in their first two years on the job:
- John Madden, Raiders (1969-1970)
- Don McCafferty, Colts (1970-71)
- George Seifert, 49ers (1989-1990)
- Barry Switzer, Cowboys (1994-95)
- Jim Harbaugh, 49ers (2011-12)
The good news for Packers fans is that four of those five coaches ended up reaching a Super Bowl and three of those five coaches ended up winning it all. Madden was the only one who didn’t reach the big game in his first two years on the job, but he more than made up for it by winning Super Bowl XI in 1976.
Of the four who made it to the Super Bowl, Harbaugh is the only one who hasn’t won everything. McCafferty (Super Bowl V), Seifert (Super Bowl XXIV) and Switzer (Super Bowl XXX) all won a Lombardi Trophy in their first two years as a head coach.
If you’ve never heard of McCafferty, it’s probably because he was fired just two years after winning the Super Bowl. When the Eagles sacked Doug Pederson last week, he was the first coach who had been fired after winning a Super Bowl since McCafferty was fired in 1972, just two years after winning it all in Baltimore. The coach was dumped because he refused to bench Johnny Unitas.
As for LaFleur, few coaches in NFL history have been better than him in their first two years. Not only did he lead the Packers to two NFC title games, but he also compiled a regular season record of 26-6, which is the second best of all coaches in their first two seasons, behind only Seifert. , who started his career 28- 4.
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