Football is a young man's game, but that doesn't always apply to coaching.
While NFL head coaches are skewing younger -- only six coaches are older than 55 as of Week 1 — the league's oldest head coaches remain some of the most successful.
The 2025 season has a new wrinkle, as Pete Carroll's return to the NFL as coach of the Raiders means he is now the oldest head coach in NFL history — even if his boundless energy doesn't match that title.
Here's a look at the 10 oldest coaches in the NFL, from Pete Carroll to Brian Schottenheimer.
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Oldest coaches in the NFL
1. Pete Carroll, Raiders
- Age: 73
- Experience: 19th season
- Record: 170-120-1
Carroll has the energy of a 30-year-old, but he is indeed the oldest head coach in NFL history as he makes his Raiders debut just a week before turning 74. Carroll will forever be known as the coach who guided the Seahawks to their first Super Bowl win during his 14-season run in Seattle, but he also coached the Jets and Patriots before heading to USC and achieving championship-level success in Los Angeles.
2. Andy Reid, Chiefs
- Age: 67
- Experience: 27th season
- Record: 273-146-1
With 26 seasons under his belt and a 27th underway, Andy Reid feels like the elder statesman of NFL coaching even if he is younger than Carroll. The three-time champion has now coached in six Super Bowls and produced only three losing seasons — none of which have come with the Chiefs. Reid is fourth all-time in wins among NFL head coaches and may just need two or three more years to reach the 300 plateau.
3. John Harbaugh, Ravens
- Age: 62
- Experience: 18th season
- Record: 172-104
Harbaugh is the NFL's second-longest tenured head coach in 2025, with his 18 seasons in Baltimore trailing Mike Tomlin's 19 seasons in Pittsburgh. A consistent winner, Harbaugh won a Super Bowl 13 years ago and has the Ravens in the chase for another with Lamar Jackson as his quarterback. Harbaugh could be just three years away from the 200-win milestone, a mark reached by only eight head coaches in NFL history.
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4. Todd Bowles, Buccaneers
- Age: 61
- Experience: 8th season
- Record: 53-65
Now in his fourth season since succeeding Bruce Arians in Tampa Bay, Bowles has proven that winning can be sustained in the post-Tom Brady era by winning the NFC South in back-to-back seasons with Baker Mayfield under center. Bowles' career record remains under .500 after a rocky four-year stint with the Jets, but he has quickly become one of the elder statesmen among NFL head coaches.
5. Jim Harbaugh, Chargers
- Age: 61
- Experience: 6th season
- Record: 55-25-1
The younger Harbaugh brother is still one of the NFL's five oldest head coaches, but his energy resembles that of former-turned-current rival Pete Carroll. The title-winning Michigan coach took the 49ers to the Super Bowl in his first stint as an NFL head coach and led a Chargers resurgence with a playoff appearance in year one in L.A.
6. Sean Payton, Broncos
- Age: 61
- Experience: 18th season
- Record: 170-105
Born four days after Jim Harbaugh, Payton started to show why the Broncos gave him such a massive contract with a surprise playoff appearance in 2024. Between a surprisingly strong rookie season out of Bo Nix, offensive success in spite of limited weapons and a dominant defense, Payton built a hungry Denver team that looks like it can remain in playoff contention for years to come. If so, it wouldn't be surprising to see Payton coach deep into his 60s.
7. Dan Quinn, Commanders
- Age: 54
- Experience: 8th season
- Record: 55-47
Quinn finds himself right behind the NFL's six head coaches aged 60 or older, despite only being in his mid-50s himself. Turning 55 just a few days after the Commanders' season opener, Quinn got a second chance as an NFL head coach in 2024 and took full advantage of it by guiding the Commanders to an eight-win improvement and the NFC championship game. Pressure will be squarely on Quinn to sustain that success as Jayden Daniels settles into his role as face of the franchise, but he's positioned to stick around in Washington for quite some time.
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8. Mike Tomlin, Steelers
- Age: 53
- Experience: 19th season
- Record: 183-104-2
It's hard to believe the NFL's longest-tenured head coach is only 53 years old, but Tomlin earned the job in Pittsburgh as one of the youngest coaches in NFL history and has held onto it for nearly two decades. With no losing seasons and 200 wins now in sight, it's not hard to see why. Tomlin is under pressure to win a playoff game and avoid stretching that drought to nine years, but the Steelers seem content to keep moving forward with one of the league's most respected coaches.
9. Aaron Glenn, Jets
- Age: 53
- Experience: 0 seasons
- Record: 0-0
The Jets made Aaron Glenn a first-time head coach after firing Robert Saleh, and the former NFL defensive back instantly slotted in among the oldest coaches in a league that is seeing coaches in their 40s and even 30s land top jobs. Glenn worked his way up the ladder from assistant position coach, to position coach, to coordinator and finally to head coach, and he is looking to make sure his stint in New York is a long one by instilling discipline and accountability for the franchise with the NFL's longest playoff drought.
10. Brian Schottenheimer, Cowboys
- Age: 51
- Experience: 0 seasons
- Record: 0-0
The Cowboys took a risk by hiring a coach without head coaching experience to replace Mike McCarthy, but Brian Schottenheimer does have plenty of experience in other roles. The 51-year-old has spent time with nine different NFL teams and grew up watching his father, Marty Schottenheimer, become one of the league's most successful coaches. Even at just 51, Schottenheimer is the 10th-oldest head coach of the NFL's 32.