By HCR Staff | Aug. 28, 2018

Becoming an NFL head coach for the first time is quite an accomplishment — after all, there are only 32 of these jobs in the entire country. So it’s an exclusive club. How exclusive? Well, Augusta Country Club, home of the Masters, may be the most exclusive club in the country. But even Augusta has more than 32 members.

So when you’re an NFL head coach, you’ve done something right to get there.

One thing you’ve done for sure is move (i.e., from one organization to another) — a lot. On average, NFL head coaches have sent a forwarding address quite often during their coaching careers.

HCR recently studied all of the current NFL head coaches and all the moves they’ve made through their careers before getting their first opportunity to be an NFL head coach. Here are the results:

Head Coach Team Positions Before 1st HC Opportunity Jason Garrett Cowboys 3 Doug Pederson Eagles 4 Mike Vrabel Titans 4 Ron Rivera Panthers 5 Matt Nagy Bears 5 Sean McVay Rams 5 John Harbaugh Ravens 6 Pat Shurmur Giants 6 Marvin Lewis Bengals 7 Frank Reich Colts 7 Bill Belichick Patriots 7 Mike Tomlin Steelers 7 Jay Gruden Redskins 7 Matt Patricia Lions 8 Mike McCarthy Packers 8 Andy Reid Chiefs 8 Anthony Lynn Chargers 8 Mike Zimmer Vikings 8 Jon Gruden Raiders 8 Kyle Shanahan 49ers 8 Sean McDermott Bills 9 Vance Joseph Broncos 9 Adam Gase Dolphins 9 Sean Payton Saints 9 Todd Bowles Jets 9 Pete Carroll Seahawks 9 Doug Marrone Jaguars 10 Dan Quinn Falcons 11 Dirk Koetter Buccaneers 11 Bill O'Brien Texans 12 Steve Wilks Cardinals 14 Hue Jackson Bengals 15

The data shows that this current group of NFL head coaches has moved, on average, eight times before getting their first shot to become an NFL head coach.

A closer look reveals some interesting trends:

• Hue Jackson led the way with the most job changes/moves (15) before getting his first NFL head coaching job. Jason Garrett led the way with the least amount of moves (3), followed by fellow former players Mike Vrabel and Doug Pederson (4).

• There’s a pattern with former NFL players who become first-time NFL head coaches: They tend to get their first chance with less than the average of eight moves. There are nine former NFL players who are current head coaches (not including 1987 “replacement” players), and only three exceed the average number. Jason Garrett (3), Mike Vrabel (4), Doug Pederson (4), and Ron Rivera (5) didn’t have to move much. This also indicates that former NFL players perhaps generally pay fewer dues at lower levels of football.

• Family ties help. All seven current NFL head coaches that had a close family relative who also was formerly employed in the NFL became a first-time head coach with eight or fewer moves; in fact, of these seven, only two required as many as eight moves (Jon Gruden and Kyle Shanahan). Garrett needed only three moves and Sean McVay only five.

• Finally, the minority head coaches averaged 9.25 moves prior to getting their first NFL head coaching job. This number exceeds the average of eight, and perhaps is another indicator that the bar is higher for minority head coach candidates.