12 Best NFL Assistants Who Never Made It as Head Coaches

There are just some guys who aren't cut out to be an NFL head coach despite having a great football mind. Some of these guys happen to be very successful NFL assistants, but when their time came to shine, they failed miserably.

Some NFL assistants who immediately come to mind who didn't have too much success as the head honcho are Buddy Ryan, Josh McDaniels and Dom Capers. 

With that being said, let's take a look at the 12 best assistants who never made it as head coaches. 

Buddy Ryan

Buddy Ryan is known as the man who created the 46 defense, and is one of the greatest defensive minds in the history of football—but he never made it as a head coach.

Ryan obviously had extreme success as a defensive coordinator, especially with the legendary 1985 Chicago Bears. However, things just weren't the same when he was a head coach.

Ryan coached the Philadelphia Eagles from 1986 until 1990 and then later coached the Arizona Cardinals in 1994 until 1995, but posted just a 55-55-1 record. 

Eric Mangini

Eric Mangini is just one of the many coaches in the Bill Belichick coaching tree who never made it as a head coach.

Mangini won three Super Bowls with the New England Patriots while being a defensive backs coach as well as the team's defensive coordinator in 2005. 

Mangini then later went on to coach the New York Jets from 2006-2008 and then the Cleveland Browns in 2009-2010 and was a complete disaster, as he currently holds a 33-47 career record. 

Bill Callahan

Bill Callahan might have been head coach of the 2002 Oakland Raiders that happened to win the AFC Championship, but that was a team practically inherited from former Raiders head coach Jon Gruden. 

Callahan lasted just two seasons with the Raiders, as he went 15-17 and was fired immediately after posting a 4-12 record with a team that was the reigning AFC Champions. 

Prior to being the Raiders head coach, he was the team's offensive coordinator from 1998-2001 and had very good success with players like Tim Brown and Rich Gannon, but he couldn't find success as the main man. 

Mike Tice

Mike Tice is one of the better offensive minds in the NFL today, as he's currently serving as the offensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears. But prior to that he had one head coaching gig with the Minnesota Vikings, and it wasn't all that impressive. 

Tice was the head coach of the Vikings from 1997-2001 and posted just a 32-33 record. At times, Tice was a decent head coach, but overall his time with the team was very mediocre, at best. 

Dom Capers

A career 48-80 record is pretty damn bad, if you ask me. And unfortunately, Dom Capers has to live with that for his entire life.

Granted, Capers is one of the best defensive minds in football, as he's currently the Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator, but when he was the head coach of the Houston Texans and Carolina Panthers, he was pretty pathetic. 

Jim Caldwell

Jim Caldwell had some success as the quarterbacks coach and the assistant head coach with the Indianapolis Colts from 2002 until 2008, considering how well Peyton Manning played, but he wasn't all that productive as head coach.

Caldwell might have coached the Colts to a Super Bowl appearance in 2009, but many believe that he deserves no credit, as it was pretty much Manning running the show—and I happen to agree. 

Caldwell was the head coach of the Colts from 2009 until 2011 and posted a 26-22 record and simply was just a cardboard cutout standing on the sidelines.

Another thing that I'd want to point out is that I cannot stand his little, near invisible, mustache and the way that he always has his head on titled. It just bothers me. 

Romeo Crennel

Perhaps Romeo Crennel can turn it around as enters his first year as head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs this season, but when he was with the Cleveland Browns, he was a complete failure, as he posted a 24-40 record.

Crennel had his best success as the defensive coordinator of the New England Patriots during their dynasty of the 2000s, as he won three Super Bowls in four seasons, but he simply couldn't do it on his own without Bill Belichick. 

Cam Cameron

Cam Cameron as a head coach is a complete joke. It's laughable, if you ask me.

Cameron was the offensive coordinator of the San Diego Chargers from 2002-2006 and had some success, but when he took the job as head coach of the Miami Dolphins in 2007, he ended up in the history books—and not in a good way.

In Cameron's lone season with the Dolphins, he led his team to a pathetic 1-15 record and was canned immediately following the season. 

Rod Marinelli

Poor Rod Marinelli. He was the man that coached the 0-16 Detroit Lions in 2008.

All in all, Marinelli is a pretty solid assistant coach, as he was with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1996-2005, and is now currently the defensive coordinator of the Chicago Bears.

Marinelli's time in Detroit was pretty terrible, as he finished with a 10-38 record. 

Kevin Gilbride

Kevin Gilbride is currently sitting pretty with two Super Bowl rings, as he's been the offensive coordinator of the New York Giants from 2007 until now, but during his time as a head coach, he failed miserably. 

Gilbride is a very smart offensive coach but couldn't get the job done as the head coach of the San Diego Chargers from 1997-1998, as he went 6-16. 

Marty Mornhinweg

Marty Mornhinweg should never be allowed to be a head coach in the NFL ever again, as he has a career 5-27 record—that is just awful. 

Mornhinweg is one of the greatest offensive minds in football, as he's had extreme success with the Philadelphia Eagles ever since 2003 and now currently as the offensive coordinator and assistant head coach of the team.

Let's just forget Mornhinweg's time as head coach of the Detroit Lions from 2001-2002. 

Josh McDaniels

Josh McDaniels is as good as it gets for an offensive genius in the NFL today. 

McDaniels is best known as the offensive coordinator of the New England Patriots who called all the plays during the team's epic, record-setting, perfect 16-0 regular season in 2007. 

McDaniels lasted just one-and-a-half seasons as a head coach with the Denver Broncos, as he went just 11-17.

Currently, McDaniels has been reunited with Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, as he's now the offensive coordinator of the Patriots.