Every year there’s a big debate about which state plays the best high school football. Today, we have a story that will fire-up debate about which state produce the best coaches.
Let the argument begin with the knowledge that nine of the current 32 National Football League head coaches played their high school football in Pennsylvania. Actually, it might not be that much of an argument since the next closest states are California, Michigan and New York with three coaches each. Illinois and Texas have produced two current head coaches each.
The Keystone State’s edge grew significantly since December. Four of the five head coaches hired since the end of the 2019 regular season hail from Pennsylvania.
In all, only thirteen states have produced the current bunch of NFL head coaches.
Below, you can see where every current NFL head coach played their high school football.
Where NFL Head Coaches Played High School Football
Arizona Cardinals – Kliff Kingsbury, New Braunfels HS (Texas)
Atlanta Falcons – Dan Quinn, Morristown HS (New Jersey)
Baltimore Ravens – John Harbaugh, Pioneer HS (Michigan)
Buffalo Bills – Sean McDermott – La Salle College HS (Pennsylvania)
Carolina Panthers – Matt Ruhle, State College HS (Pennsylvania)
Chicago Bears – Matt Nagy, Manheim Central HS (Pennsylvania)
Cincinnati Bengals – Zac Taylor, Norman HS (Oklahoma)
Cleveland Browns – Kevin Stefanski, St. Joseph’s Prep (Pennsylvania)
Dallas Cowboys – Mike McCarthy, Bishop Boyle HS (Pennsylvania)
Denver Broncos – Vic Fangio, Dunmore HS (Pennsylvania)
Detroit Lions – Matt Patricia, Verona-Verona-Sherrill HS (New York)
Green Bay Packers – Matt LaFleur, Mount Pleasant HS (Michigan)
Houston Texans – Bill O’Brien, St. John’s Prep (Danvers, Massachusetts)
Indianapolis Colts – Frank Reich, Cedar Crest HS (Pennsylvania)
Jacksonville Jaguars – Doug Marrone, Lehman HS (New York)
Kansas City Chiefs – Andy Reid, Marshall HS (Los Angeles, California)
Los Angeles Chargers – Anthony Lynn, Celina HS (Texas)
Los Angels Rams – Sean McVay, Marist HS (Georgia)
Miami Dolphins – Brian Flores, Brooklyn Poly Prep (New York)
Minnesota Vikings – Mike Zimmer, Lockport Township HS (Illinois)
New England Patriots – Bill Belichick, Annapolis HS (Maryland)
New Orleans Saints – Sean Payton, Naperville Central HS (Illinois)
New York Giants – Joe Judge, Lansdale Catholic HS (Pennsylvania)
New York Jets – Adam Gase, Marshall HS (Michigan)
Oakland Raiders – Jon Gruden, Clay HS (South Bend, Indiana)
Philadelphia Eagles – Doug Pederson, Ferndale HS (Washington)
Pittsburgh Steelers – Mike Tomlin, Denbigh HS (Virginia)
San Francisco 49ers – Kyle Shanahan, Cherry Creek HS (Colorado)
Seattle Seahawks – Pete Carroll, Redwood HS (California)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Bruce Arians, William Penn HS (York, Pennsylvania)
Tennessee Titans – Mike Vrabel, Walsh Jesuit HS (Ohio)
Washington Redskins – Ron Rivera, Seaside HS (California)
NFL Head Coaches by State
Pennsylvania – 9
California, Michigan, New York – 3
Illinois, Texas – 2
Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington – 1
