Liam Cohen and Ben Johnson could join this short list of coaches to win a Super Bowl in their rookie year 

With the playoffs just a few of days away, we have a couple rookie coaches that have turned things around for their respective teams, going from the bottom to the top in just a handful of months. Now that they have made the postseason they can set their sights on joining an elite list of rookie coaches that have won the Super Bowl in year one.

Rookie coaches reviving Jags, Bears

Last offseason Liam Cohen was named head coach by the Jacksonville Jaguars while the Chicago Bears appointed Ben Johnson as their head coach. Cohen came from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after helping revive Baker Mayfield’s as the Bucs offensive coordinator, and Johnson swapped NFC North teams going to the Bears after spending the previous three seasons as the Detroit Lions offensive coordinator.

Jacksonville was one of the worst teams in the league last year, despite having reasonable aspirations to win the AFC South. They finished the year 4-13 and fired Doug Pederson. Cohen came in and led the Jags to a turnaround year in which they went 13-4 and won the AFC South.

Johnson took over a Chicago Bears team that collapsed in the final 10 weeks of last season. After a 4-2 start to Caleb Williams rookie year, they lost to Washington on a Hail Mary which would start a 10 game losing streak that saw their coach Matt Eberflus. Johnson came in and led the Bears to an 11-6 record, the two seed and an NFC North title.

McCafferty, Seifert blazed trail

Now the two rookie coaches that have led their team to the playoffs are aiming to join a short list of rookie coaches that have taken their teams to Super Bowl glory in their first year as a head coach in the NFL. The first to do it was Don McCafferty who led the Baltimore Colts to a Super Bowl V win back in 1971 after being promoted from offensive coordinator during the offseason.

George Seifert was the next to do so after taking over for Bill Walsh during the San Francisco 49ers reign of dominance back in the 1980s. Walsh went to the front office and San Fran and named Seifert as his incumbent after serving as his defensive coordinator for five years. In his first year, Seifert led the Niners to a second straight Super Bowl title, and their fourth in the decade.

Only three other rookie coaches have ever led their team to Super Bowl Sunday. That was Red Miller who took the Denver Broncos to Super Bowl XII where they were beaten by the Dallas Cowboys in 1978. Bill Callahan did it in 2002 when he led the Oakland Raiders to Super Bowl XXXVII but lost to former Raiders head coach Jon Gruden and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Jim Caldwell took the Colts to the Super Bowl in his rookie year back in 2010, but Indy was beaten the New Orleans Saints that season.

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