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When the Seahawks and Steelers square off in Super Bowl XL so to will the most tenured coaches in the NFL, one of which is looking to make history.
If Mike Holmgren and his Seattle Seahawks can upset the favored Steelers in Super Bowl XL the coach will find himself in a rather exclusive club. So exclusive, in fact, that the coach would be the only member.
Holmgren finds himself in position to win a Super Bowl with a second team, a feat that over the course of 40 years of Super Bowls has only even been possible once before. Ironically, had Bill Parcells defeated Holmgren's Packers back in 1997, the Tuna would have been the first head coach to earn rings with different franchises and Holmgren would still be looking for his first Vince Lombardi Trophy.
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Parcells narrowly missed getting to a Super Bowl with a third franchise when he took the Jets to the AFC title game in 1998.
Parcell's Giants of course won Super Bowl XXI and XXV before falling to the Patriots in XXI. Several others have made it to the Super Bowl with two teams, but none found themselves in the position of Parcells and Holmgren.
Don Shula, who has more Super Bowl appearances that only head coach with six, was the losing coach in III when his Colts were upset by the New York Jets. Shula would reach the Super Bowl five more times with the Dolphins, posting a 2-3 mark with the Fish.
Dick Vermeil lost his first Super Bowl with the Eagles back in 1981 and won Super Bowl XXXIV with the Rams before coaching the Chiefs and retiring for a third time.
Dan Reeves made it to the Super Bowl four times, dropping his first three with the Broncos and losing again with the Falcons in XXIII.
Steeler Coach Bill Cowher is making his second appearance in the Super Bowl, having lost to the Cowboys 27-17 in XXX.
Cowher and Holmgren made their head coaching debuts in 1992 and have enjoyed similar success over their 14-year careers, an unparalleled coaching run that places them as the most tenured coaches in the NFL.
Cowher, who has had the Steelers in the AFC Championship game in 6 of his 14 seasons has a career mark of 141-82, a tad better than the 138-86 mark posted by Holmgren.
What makes Cowher unique his 14-year-tenure with Pittsburgh considering that the NFL has seen 95 coaching changes since 1992. To put the significance of Cowher's longevity streak in some perspective consider that Mike Ditka was coaching the Bears back in 1992 and Marv Levy was still head coach in Buffalo. Holmgren spent the first seven years of his head coaching career with the Packers and the last seven with Seattle.
Some other notable Super Bowl coaches include Tom Landry, who is second to Shula in appearances with five, posting a 2-3 record in those games.
The most successful Super Bowl coach in history is Chuck Noll, who is in fact in a club by himself among Super Bowl coaches with four titles earned at the helm of the Steelers in the 1970s. Noll's success explains why he and Cowher are the only two to have coached the Steelers in 37 years.
Behind Noll are the Bills, as in Walsh and Belechick, both of whom are the only Super Bowl coaches to have perfect 3-0 records on Super Bowl Sunday.
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Joe Gibbs has a 3-1 record in four appearances with the Redskins and five coaches are 2-0 on Super Sundays. Vince Lombardi, whose Packers won the first two Super Bowls ever played heads this list that also includes George Seifert, who won his with the 49ers, Jimmy Johnson with the Cowboys, Mike Shanahan with the Broncos and Tom Flores with the Raiders.
There are seven coaches who were successful in their only Super Bowl appearance, including John Madden and his Raiders in Super Bowl XL in 1977 and 15 Super Bowl coaches who were on the losing end in their only trip to the big game, a list that for another few days includes Cowher.
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