How old is Mike Macdonald? These are the NFL’s youngest coaches listed by age
It’s official, NFL head coaches are getting younger. Kellen Moore is officially the youngest HC in the league with Mike Macdonald a very close second.
Head coaches in the National Football League are getting younger. The average age of a NFL coach in 2025 is 47.7 years - way down from the figure of 53.4 years a decade ago.
Several well-known coaches have retired during the last 10 years - Bruce Arians was 69 when he called time on his career in 2021, the same age as Bill Belichick and Tom Coughlin when they stepped back. Out of the ones who are still going strong, Raiders boss Pete Carroll will turn 74 later this month, Andy Reid is a mere spring chicken at 67 and four others are all over 60: John Harbaugh, Todd Bowles, Jim Harbaugh and Sean Payton.
But what about the new kids on the block? Mike Macdonald is the Seahawks’ HC and is just two weeks older than Kellen Moore, the league’s youngest head coach. Both are currently 37 years old.
Kellen Moore’s debut season in the hotseat
Kellen Moore, who turned 37 in July, is the youngest head coach in the NFL as the 2025 regular season gets underway. The New Orleans Saints hired Moore, back on Jan. 28, 2025 replacing interim coach Darren Rizzi.
Before accepting the New Orleans job, Moore spent a memorable year as offensive coordinator with the Eagles, and prior to that held down backroom positions with the Cowboys and the Chargers.
Kellen is the Saints’ 19th head coach and the long-term successor to Dennis Allen, who was fired last November after an abysmal run of seven straight defeats. He has the task of guiding the Saints back to the postseason, where they have been absent since 2021. That challenge starts today in the regular season opener against the Arizona Cardinals.
The youngest NFL coach of the modern era
Despite his youthfulness, and this being his first season as a fully-fledged NFL HC, Moore is way down the list of coaches who have been thrown in at the deep end. Sean McVay was just 30 years, 354 days old when he was hired by the Los Angeles Rams on January 12, 2017, making him the youngest head coach of the modern era.
McVay is still at the helm, now in his ninth year with the Rams and is still one of the league’s youngest coaches heading into the 2025 campaign.
The youngest NFL head coaches in 2025
- 37 Kellen Moore (New Orleans Saints)
- 37 Mike Macdonald (Seattle Seahawks)
- 38 Ben Johnson (Chicago Bears)
- 39 Sean McVay (Los Angeles Rams)
- 39 Liam Coen (Jacksonville Jaguars)
- 39 Kevin O’Connell (Minnesota Vikings)
- 39 Shane Steichen (Indianapolis Colts)
- 40 DeMeco Ryans (Houston Texans)
- 40 Brian Callahan (Tennessee Titans)
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