Preps to pros: NFL coaches who got their start in high school

In October of 1942, Detroit Lions owner Fred Mandel had a problem. His team was off to an 0-3 start and had scored just one touchdown in the three games. In an effort to turn things around, Mandel fired his head coach, Bill Edwards, and elevated 33-year old backfield coach Johnny "Bull" Karcis to head coach. In doing so, Mandel made Karcis the first, and so far only, person to coach an NFL team one year after coaching at the high school level.

The NFL has had 536 individuals who have coached at least one game in the league over the organization's 106 years of existence, according to Pro-Football-Reference.com. In that time, only 46 have coached at the high school level. MaxPreps has compiled a list of all 46 with their high school coaching positions and record along with their professional head coaching position and career record.

Some of those coaches, like Paul Brown, Vince Lombardi and Bill Walsh, have gone from the prep ranks to winning at the highest level in the NFL with all three winning multiple championships. Others, like Karcis, weren't so lucky.

A former NFL running back and a standout at Carnegie Tech, Karcis took the job of head coach and athletic director at Pitcairn High School in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, Pa., in 1940 after playing eight seasons in the NFL. A native of western Pennsylvania, Karcis had been playing locally for the Pittsburgh Pros before retiring. He led Pitcairn to a 4-9-4 record in his two seasons as head coach, but left in the summer of 1942 to join Edwards as the backfield coach with the Lions.

Edwards, a former high school football player at Washington (Massillon, Ohio), had been hired by the Lions in 1941 after coaching Western Reserve University to a 49-6 record over the past five seasons. Edwards also got his start at the high school level, however, coaching Fostoria (Ohio) to a 12-7 record from 1932-33. Edwards replaced Potsy Clark, who surprisingly left the Lions after a 5-5-1 season in 1940 to coach at Grand Rapids University.

After a 4-6-1 season in 1941 under Edwards, the Lions started the 1942 season 0-3 and Mandel decided it was time for Edwards to go. He put Karcis in charge and the first order of business was changing Detroit's offense from the "T" Formation to the Single Wing in order to refuel the offense after scoring just the one touchdown.

The changes did little to spark the Lions, however. Detroit scored just four touchdowns the rest of the season and Karcis finished his lone stint as an NFL coach with an 0-8 record. He is one of just five coaches in NFL history to coach eight or more games and not register a win. Detroit, meanwhile, broke the NFL record for most losses in a winless season that lasted until Tampa Bay went 0-14 in its inaugural season of 1976.

Karcis went back to the high school ranks and coached at North Catholic (Cranberry Township, Pa.) and West Deer (Pa.), finishing his high school coaching career with a 31-52-7 record.

While Karcis is the only high school coach to coach an NFL team the year after coaching at the prep level, most coaches who made the leap from preps to pros spent many years coaching at the college level or as an NFL assistant. Brown, Lombardi and Walsh are among those who took this approach.

Brown famously took over a Massillon Washington team in 1932 and led the Tigers to an 80-8-2 record with five state championships in his nine seasons at the helm. He revolutionized high school football with his coaching innovations and four of his teams (1935, 1936, 1939, 1940) are recognized as national champions. He went on to win a national title at Ohio State in 1942 and was a seven-time champion at the professional level with the Cleveland Browns.

Lombardi got his start at St. Cecilia (Englewood, N.J.) after a solid college playing career at Fordham. He led the Catholic school to a 39-6-6 record during his tenure (1942-46) and his 1943 team, which defeated a Brooklyn Prep team led by quarterback Joe Paterno, was considered one of the best in the country.

Lombardi left St. Cecilia to coach at Fordham before ending up as an assistant coach with the New York Giants and finally the head coach of the Green Bay Packers where he won five NFL championships.

Walsh was not nearly as successful at the prep level as Brown and Lombardi. He coached three seasons at Washington (Fremont, Calif.) in the late 1950s and sandwiched a 7-1 season in 1958 around losing records in 1957 and 1959. He went on to assist at California and Stanford before eventually joining Brown's staff with the Cincinnati Bengals in the 1970s. He joined the San Francisco 49ers in 1979 and went on to win three Super Bowls.

The most successful high school coaches to move on to the professional ranks had great success at the college level, but only fair success in the NFL. Gus Henderson led Broadway (Seattle, Wash.) to three city championships in Washington with a 19-1 record in four seasons (1914-17) before accepting the head coaching job at Southern California. There he went undefeated in 1920 and won the Rose Bowl in 1922. He coached the Detroit Lions in 1939, the year before Potsy Clark became coach of the team, going 6-5.

Dan Devine never lost a game while at East Jordan (Mich.), going 13-0-2 from 1948-49 at the age of 24. He eventually became head coach at Missouri before accepting the Green Bay Packers job in 1971. He replaced the beleaguered Phil Bengston, who had the misfortune of having to follow Lombardi as the head coach in Title Town. Devine won a division championship in 1972, but the Packers replaced him in 1975. He went on to coach Notre Dame and led the Fighting Irish to a national championship in 1977 with future Bill Walsh protege Joe Montana at quarterback.

And then there are some who have way more success at the professional level and then find the high school ranks much more challenging. Such is the case of Lou Rymkus.

An All-American tackle at Notre Dame and an All-Pro in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns, Rymkus got his first head coaching job, after several years as an NFL assistant, with the Houston Oilers in the newly-formed American Football League in 1960. Rymkus and the Oilers defeated the San Diego Chargers in the first AFL championship game.

In doing so, it is believed that Rymkus became one of two coaches, along with Baltimore Colts coach Don McCafferty in 1971, to win a professional championship in their first season as head coach after never previously being a head coach at any level.

Fired from the Oilers the next year after a 1-3-1 start, Rymkus bounced around for a few years before being convinced by Louisiana native Charley Hennigan, a standout on his 1960 Oilers team, to take the job as head coach at Many (La.), a small high school in west central Louisiana. Hennigan had been a school teacher before becoming an AFL all-star receiver, and the plan was for Hennigan to assist Rymkus at Many.

"I convinced him that he ought to settle down and stop roaming all over the pro leagues," Hennigan told the Shreveport Times in July of 1968. "I told him about the hunting and fishing around the Toledo Bend area and he came up and talked to the folks in Many. Pretty soon I had him liking the idea."


While the name of the town was "Many", the wins under Rymkus, and his salary as a teacher, was not. Rymkus went 0-10 and left Many in January of 1969, citing that he couldn't afford to live on the school salary of $9,200. He later coached a semi-pro team in West Texas before accepting an assistant coaching position with, ironically, McCafferty and the Baltimore Colts. Although fired during the season, Rymkus reportedly received a Super Bowl ring after the Colts defeated the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl V in 1971.

NFL coaches who coached in high school
Ranked in order of high school winning percentage

Gus Henderson
High school, years: Broadway (Seattle, Wash.), 1914-17
Career record: 19-1 (.950)
NFL teams, years: Detroit Lions, 1939
Career record: 6-5

Dan Devine
High school, years: East Jordan (Mich.), 1948-49
Career record: 13-0-2 (.933)
NFL teams, years: Green Bay Packers, 1971-74
Career record: 25-27-4

Charlie Waller
High school, years: Decatur (Ga.), 1947-50
Career record: 43-3-1 (.926)
NFL teams, years: San Diego Chargers, 1969-70
Career record: 9-7-3

Paul Schissler
High school, years: Hastings (Neb.), 1913-14
Career record: 17-2 (.895)
NFL teams, years: Brooklyn Dodgers, 1935-36
Career record: 8-14-2

Stan Cofall
High school, years: Roman Catholic (Philadelphia, Pa.), 1922-23
Career record: 15-0-4 (.895)
NFL teams, years: Cleveland Tigers, 1920
Career record: 0-2-1

Homer Rice
High school, years: Wartburg Central (Tenn.), 1951; Spring City (Tenn.), 1952-53; Highlands (Fort Thomas, Ky.), 1954-61
Career record: 101-9-7 (.893)
NFL teams, years: Cincinnati Bengals, 1978-79
Career record: 9-7

Paul Brown
High school, years: Severn School (Severna Park, Md.), 1930-31; Washington (Massillon, Ohio), 1932-40
Career record: 92-10-3 (.890)
NFL teams, years: Cleveland Browns, 1946-62; Cincinnati Bengals, 1965-75
Career record: 213-104-9

Dick Henley
High school, years: Pendleton (Ore.), 1921
Career record: 7-1 (.875)
NFL teams, years: Chicago Rockets, 1946
Career record: 1-1-1

Jerry Burns
High school, years: St. Mary of Redford (Mich.), 1953
Career record: 6-1 (.857)
NFL teams, years: Minnesota Vikings, 1986-91
Career record: 52-43

Jack Fish
High school, years: Seton Hall Prep (West Orange, N.J.), 1925-26
Career record: 11-2 (.846)
NFL teams, years: Newark Tornadoes, 1930
Career record: 1-7-1

Dirk Koetter
High school, years: Highland (Pocatello, Idaho), 1983-84
Career record: 19-4 (.826)
NFL teams, years: Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 2016-18
Career record: 19-29

Doug Pederson
High school, years: Calvary Baptist Academy (Shreveport, La.), 2005-08
Career record: 33-7 (.825)
NFL teams, years: Philadelphia Eagles, 2016-20; Jacksonville Jaguars, 2022-24
Career record: 64-66

Vince Lombardi
High school, years: St. Cecilia's (Englewood, N.J.), 1942-46
Career record: 39-6-6 (.823)
NFL teams, years: Green Bay Packers, 1959-67; Washington Redskins, 1969
Career record: 96-34-6

Ron Erhardt
High school, years: St. Mary's (New England, N.D.), 1957-59; Bishop Ryan (Minot, N.D.), 1960-62
Career record: 45-9-2 (.821)
NFL teams, years: New England Patriots, 1978-81
Career record: 21-28

Lisle Blackbourn
High school, years: Washington (Milwaukee, Wis.), 1927-46
Career record: 141-30-6 (.814)
NFL teams, years: Green Bay Packers, 1954-57
Career record: 17-31

Herman Ball
High school, years: Ridgely (W.Va.), 1935; Allegany (Cumberland, Md.), 1936-42
Career record: 56-16-2 (.770)
NFL teams, years: Washington Redskins, 1949-51
Career record: 4-16

John McVay
High school, years: Franklin (Ohio), 1956; Canton Central Catholic (Canton, Ohio), 1957-61
Career record: 42-14-1 (.746)
NFL teams, years: New York Giants, 1976-78
Career record: 14-23

George Batterson
High school, years: Masten Park (Buffalo, N.Y.), 1915-20
Career record: 12-4-1 (.735)
NFL teams, years: Buffalo Bisons, 1925-27
Career record: 0-5

Chuck Fairbanks
High school, years: Ishpeming (Ishpeming, Mich.), 1955-57
Career record: 17-6-1 (.729)
NFL teams, years: New England Patriots, 1973-78
Career record: 46-39

Mike Pettine
High school, years: William Tennent (Warminster, Pa.), 1995-96; North Penn (Lansdale, Pa.), 1996-2001
Career record: 59-25 (.702)
NFL teams, years: Cleveland Browns, 2014-15
Career record: 10-22

Weeb Ewbank
High school, years: Van Wert (Ohio), 1928-29; Upper Scioto Valley (McGuffey, Ohio), 1930-42
Career record: 74-35-2 (.676)
NFL teams, years: Baltimore Colts, 1954-62; New York Jets, 1963-73
Career record: 130-129-7

Antonio Pierce
High school, years: Long Beach Poly (Calif.), 2014-17
Career record: 31-15 (.674)
NFL teams, years: Las Vegas Raiders, 2023-24
Career record: 9-17

Bum Phillips
High school, years: Nederland (Texas), 1951-56; Jacksonville (Texas), 1958; Amarillo (Texas), 1959-61; Port Neches-Groves (Texas), 1963-64
Career record: 86-40-7 (.673)
NFL teams, years: Houston Oilers, 1975-80; New Orleans Saints, 1981-85
Career record: 82-77

John Ralston
High school, years: San Lorenzo (Calif.), 1954-55
Career record: 11-6-1 (.639)
NFL teams, years: Denver Broncos, 1972-76
Career record: 34-33

Bill Edwards
High school, years: Fostoria (Ohio), 1932-33
Career record: 12-7 (.632)
NFL teams, years: Detroit Lions, 1941-42
Career record: 4-9-1

Buddy Ryan
High school, years: Gainesville (Texas), 1959
Career record: 6-4 (.600)
NFL teams, years: Philadelphia Eagles, 1986-90; Arizona Cardinals, 1994-95
Career record: 55-55-1

Paddy Driscoll
High school, years: St. Mel (Chicago), 1929-36
Career record: 32-21-7 (.592)
NFL teams, years: Chicago Cardinals, 1920-22; Chicago Bears, 1956-57
Career record: 31-17-5

Blanton Collier
High school, years: Paris (Ky.), 1928-43
Career record: 73-50-10 (.586)
NFL teams, years: Cleveland Browns, 1963-70
Career record: 76-34-2

Jeff Saturday
High school, years: Hebron Christian (Dacula, Ga.), 2017-19
Career record: 21-16 (.568)
NFL teams, years: Indianapolis Colts, 2022
Career record: 1-7

Pete Cawthon
High school, years: Beaumont Central (Texas), 1919
Career record: 4-3-1 (.562)
NFL teams, years: Brooklyn Dodgers, 1943-44
Career record: 2-13

Ron Meyer
High school, years: Penn (Mishawaka, Ind.), 1964
Career record: 5-4-1 (.550)
NFL teams, years: New England Patriots, 1982-84; Baltimore Colts, 1986-91
Career record: 54-50

Bill Walsh
High school, years: Washington (Fremont, Calif.), 1957-59
Career record: 11-10-1 (.523)
NFL teams, years: San Francisco 49ers, 1979-88
Career record: 92-59-1

Nick Skorich
High school, years: Central Catholic (Pittsburgh, Pa.), 1949-52
Career record: 16-15-4 (.514)
NFL teams, years: Philadelphia Eagles, 1961-63; Cleveland Browns, 1971-74
Career record: 45-48-5

Sam Rutigliano
High school, years: Lafayette (Brooklyn, N.Y.), 1957-58; Greenwich (Conn.), 1959-61; Greeley (Chappaqua, N.Y.), 1962-63
Career record: 28-27-1 (.509)
NFL teams, years: Cleveland Browns, 1978-84
Career record: 47-50

Jim Hanifan
High school, years: Charter Oak (Covina, Calif.), 1962-63
Career record: 8-10 (.444)
NFL teams, years: St. Louis Cardinals, 1980-85;  Atlanta Falcons, 1989
Career record: 39-53-1

Rick Forzano
High school, years: Hower (Akron, Ohio), 1953-55
Career record: 10-14-1 (.420)
NFL teams, years: Detroit Lions, 1974-76
Career record: 15-17

Chuck Knox
High school, years: Ellwood City (Pa.), 1956-58
Career record: 10-16-2 (.393)
NFL teams, years: Los Angeles Rams, 1973-77, 92-94; Buffalo Bills, 1978-82; Seattle Seahawks, 1983-91
Career record: 186-147

Bull Karcis
High school, years: Pitcairn (Pa.), 1940-41; North Catholic (Cranberry Township, Pa.), 1945-49; West Deer (Pa.), 1957-59
Career record: 31-52-7 (.383)
NFL teams, years: Detroit Lions, 1942
Career record: 0-8

Fritz Pollard
High school, years: Phillips (Chicago, Ill.), 1923
Career record: 1-2-1 (.375)
NFL teams, years: Akron Pros, 1921; Hammond Pros, 1924
Career record: 8-3-2

Butch Davis
High school, years: Will Rogers College (Tulsa, Okla.), 1978
Career record: 3-6 (.333)
NFL teams, years: Cleveland Browns, 2001-04
Career record: 24-35

Gregg Williams
High school, years: Belton (Mo.), 1984-87
Career record: 9-30 (.231)
NFL teams, years: Buffalo Bills, 2001-03; Cleveland Browns, 2018
Career record: 22-34

Don Coryell
High school, years: Farrington (Honolulu, Hawaii), 1952
Career record: 1-5-1 (.214)
NFL teams, years: St. Louis Cardinals, 1973-77; San Diego Chargers, 1978-86
Career record: 111-83-1

Kay Stephenson
High school, years: Baker County (Glen St. Mary, Fla.), 1973
Career record: 2-8 (.200)
NFL teams, years: Buffalo Bills, 1983-85
Career record: 10-26

Mike Sherman
High school, years: Nauset Regional (North Eastham, Mass.), 2015-16
Career record: 4-18 (.182)
NFL teams, years: Green Bay Packers, 2000-05
Career record: 57-39

Ed Biles
High school, years: Woodward (Cincinnati, Ohio), 1954-55
Career record: 1-19 (.050)
NFL teams, years: Houston Oilers, 1981-83
Career record: 8-23

Lou Rymkus
High school, years: Many (La.), 1968
Career record: 0-10 (.000)
NFL teams, years: Houston Oilers, 1960-61
Career record: 11-7-1