There have been 19 head coaches in the history of the San Francisco 49ers professional football franchise. The San Francisco 49ers franchise was formed in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) before joining the National Football League (NFL) in 1950 after the AAFC merger with the NFL. Buck Shaw became the first head coach of the 49ers in 1946, serving for nine seasons—four in the AAFC and five in the NFL. [1] He coached a number of future College and Pro Football Hall of Famers, such as Frankie Albert, Joe Perry, Leo Nomellini, Y. A. Tittle, Bob St. Clair and Hugh McElhenny. [2]
In terms of tenure, Bill Walsh has coached more games (152) and more complete seasons (10) than any other head coach in 49ers franchise history. He led the 49ers to playoff appearances in seven seasons, three of which led to the Super Bowl championship, in 1981, 1984 and 1988. [3] Jerry Rice, Joe Montana, Charles Haley, Ronnie Lott, Johnny Davis, Roger Craig, Fred Dean and Steve Young are among the players Walsh has coached in his career. [a] [4] [5] [6]
Four 49ers coaches—Dick Nolan, Bill Walsh, George Seifert, and Jim Harbaugh—have been named coach of the year by at least one major news organization. [7] Walsh, Jack Christiansen and Mike Singletary are the only 49ers coaches currently in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Walsh was selected for his coaching contributions. Singletary and Christiansen were voted into the Hall of Fame primarily for their defensive play. Four times in 49ers history has there been an "interim" head coach. Three games into the 1963 season, coach Red Hickey resigned and was replaced by Jack Christiansen. Christiansen coached the 49ers to a 2–9 record in the remainder of the season [8] and came back to coach the team for four more years. In 1978, Pete McCulley was fired after coaching the 49ers to a 1–8 record. [9] He was replaced by offensive coordinator Fred O'Connor, who was himself fired after leading the 49ers to one win in their final seven games. [10] After a 2–5 start to the 2008 season, Mike Nolan was fired and replaced by Mike Singletary, [11] who finished the season 5–4 and became the official head coach following that season. After a 5–10 start to the 2010 season, Mike Singletary was fired and replaced by Jim Tomsula for the final 49ers game of the 2010 season. [12] Stanford University head coach Jim Harbaugh succeeded Tomsula as head coach in January 2011, [13] and led the franchise to the NFC Championship Game, where the 49ers lost in overtime to the New York Giants. [14] The following season, the 49ers reached Super Bowl XLVII, where they faced off against the Baltimore Ravens, coached by Jim's older brother John Harbaugh. The 49ers trailed by as many as 22 points during the game, but ultimately lost 34–31 to the Ravens; the 49ers losing a Super Bowl for the first time.
# | Number of coaches |
GC | Games coached |
W | Wins |
L | Losses |
T | Ties |
Win% | Winning percentage |
† | Elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a coach |
‡ | Elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a player |
* | Spent entire NFL head coaching career with the 49ers |
William Ernest Walsh was an American professional and college football coach. He served as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers and the Stanford Cardinal, during which time he popularized the West Coast offense. After retiring from the 49ers, Walsh worked as a sports broadcaster for several years and then returned as head coach at Stanford for three seasons.
The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play their home games at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, located 38 miles (61 km) southeast of San Francisco. The team is named after the prospectors who arrived in Northern California in the 1849 Gold Rush.
James Joseph Harbaugh is an American football coach and former quarterback who is the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the head coach at the University of Michigan from 2015 to 2023, the San Francisco 49ers from 2011 to 2014, Stanford University from 2007 to 2010 and the University of San Diego from 2004 to 2006.
Thomas Dean Rathman is an American former professional football player who was a fullback for the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
Michael Singletary, nicknamed "Samurai Mike", is an American former football player and coach. He played as a linebacker for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). After playing college football for the Baylor Bears, Singletary was selected by the Bears in the second round of the 1981 NFL Draft and was known as "the Heart of the Defense" for their Monsters of the Midway defense in the mid-1980s. He was part of their Super Bowl XX championship team that beat the New England Patriots. Singletary was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 1995 and into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1998.
Michael Tullis Nolan is an American football coach who is the head coach for the Michigan Panthers of the United Football League (UFL). Nolan previously served as a head coach for the San Francisco 49ers, and a defensive coordinator for the National Football League (NFL)'s Baltimore Ravens, New York Jets, Washington Redskins, New York Giants, Denver Broncos, Miami Dolphins, Atlanta Falcons, and Dallas Cowboys. Nolan is a former linebackers coach for the Denver Broncos, San Diego Chargers, and New Orleans Saints.
Alexander Douglas Smith is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons. Smith played college football with the Utah Utes, earning first-team All-American honors and winning the 2005 Fiesta Bowl as a senior. He was selected first overall by the San Francisco 49ers in the 2005 NFL Draft.
John LeRoy Christiansen was an American professional football player who became a college and pro coach. He played professionally in the National Football League (NFL) for the Detroit Lions as a safety and return specialist from 1951 to 1958. He helped lead the Lions to three NFL championships in 1952, 1953, and 1957 and was a first-team All-NFL player in six of his eight years in the league. He led the NFL in interceptions in 1953 and 1957 and in punt returns for touchdown in 1951, 1952, 1954, and 1956. His eight career punt returns for touchdowns was an NFL record until 1989 and remains the fourth best in league history. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1970.
John William Harbaugh is an American football coach who is the head coach for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). Previously, he coached the defensive backs for the Philadelphia Eagles and served as the Eagles special teams coach for nine years. Harbaugh and his younger brother, former San Francisco 49ers and current Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh, are the first pair of brothers in NFL history to serve as head coaches. Jack Harbaugh, Jim and John's father, served 45 years as a college defensive coach, an assistant coach, and a running backs coach. John and the Ravens beat his brother, Jim, and the 49ers at Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans on February 3, 2013, by a score of 34–31.
The Stanford Cardinal football program represents Stanford University in college football at the NCAA Division I FBS level and is a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The team is known as the Cardinal, adopted prior to the 1982 season. Stanford was known as the "Cardinal" for its first two decades of athletic competition, then more commonly as the "Cardinals" until 1930. The name was changed to the "Indians" from 1930 to January 1972, and back to the "Cardinals" from 1972 through 1981. A student vote in December 1975 to change the nickname to "Robber Barons" was not approved by administrators.
Wendell Tyrone Davis is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for six seasons with the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL) from 1988 to 1993. He was selected by the Bears in the first round in the 1988 NFL Draft. Davis was a consensus All-American playing college football for the LSU Tigers.
The San Francisco 49ers are the first major league professional sports franchise to be based in San Francisco, and one of the first professional sports teams based on the West Coast of the United States.
James Andrew Tomsula is an American football coach who is the head coach for the Rhein Fire of the European League of Football (ELF). Serving as a defensive coach throughout his career, Tomsula has also been the head coach for the Rhein Fire of NFL Europe and the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). Tomsula was born and raised in the Pittsburgh suburb of Homestead. Attending Catawba College, he played defensive end from 1987 to 1990, after transferring from Middle Tennessee State University after the 1986 season. At Catawba College, Tomsula made 109 tackles in two seasons.
John Edward "Jed" York is an American businessman who is the CEO of the San Francisco 49ers NFL franchise. York is the son of Denise DeBartolo York and John York, nephew of former 49ers owner Edward J. DeBartolo Jr. and a board member at Leeds United.
Trent John Baalke is an American football executive who is the general manager of the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL).
The 2015 season was the San Francisco 49ers' 66th in the National Football League (NFL), the 70th overall, second playing their home games at Levi's Stadium, and the only season under head coach Jim Tomsula. They were attempting to make history as the first Super Bowl host team to play the Super Bowl on their own home field, but they failed to improve on their 8–8 record from 2014, and ended with a 5–11 record to miss the playoffs for the second season in a row and finish with a losing record for the first time since 2010. They also finished last in the NFC West for the first time in a decade, and marked the 31st consecutive year in which the Super Bowl did not include the team in whose region the game was being played – a feat that never has been achieved since themselves in 1984.