Whether it's a head coach firing or someone stepping down, coach turnover in sports is inevitable.
The end of the 2025 NFL season saw the firing of John Harbaugh, who went 180-113 with a Super Bowl win with the Baltimore Ravens. Harbaugh wasn't out of work for long, however, as the New York Giants just signed him to a five-year deal.
Harbaugh has been an excellent coach in the NFL, but just because he has been successful before doesn't mean he'll win with the Giants. Things change, situations are fluid, and even the greatest coaches don't always win in their next gig. Here's a cross-sport look at how some notable names fared in their first stop after leaving their iconic teams.
NFL
Bill Belichick
Belichick's tenure as New England Patriots head coach ended with a whimper, with neither Cam Newton nor Mac Jones able to replace the Tom Brady-sized hole in Foxborough. Belichick and the team mutually agreed to part ways after a 4-13 2023 season.
After a year off, Belichick took a job as head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels, establishing "Chapel Bill" as potentially the next center of college football greatness. It didn't quite go that way in Year 1, with the Tar Heels losing 48-14 to TCU to start the season. UNC finished 2025 with a 4-8 record, and it remains to be seen whether Belichick can turn things around in 2026.
Pete Carroll
In 14 years with the Seattle Seahawks, Pete Carroll went 137-89-1, winning a Super Bowl and an NFC Championship Game. After going 25-26 in his final three seasons, however, Carroll and the team mutually agreed to part ways.
A year later, Carroll signed with the Las Vegas Raiders, and initially things went well, with a 20-13 win over the New England Patriots in Week 1. The Raiders lost their next four games, however, and finished 3-14. Carroll was fired a day after the season ended.
Mike Vrabel
The former linebacker had some initial success with the Tennessee Titans, going 55-27 in his first four seasons. Two losing seasons in a row, however, took some of the shine off Vrabel's excellent start, and the Titans ended up firing him in 2023.
That may have been a mistake. After taking the head coaching job with the Patriots, where he spent the bulk of his playing career, Vrabel stormed out of the gate with a 14-3 record, leading his team to their first AFC East title since 2019.
Bill Parcells
After winning two Super Bowls with the New York Giants between 1981 and 1990, Parcells retired.
He came back three years later to coach the Patriots until 1996 then went to the New York Jets from 1997 to '99. Parcells retired before making a return as coach of the Dallas Cowboys in 2003. He retired for good after the 2006 season.
For the most part, Parcells wasn't able to replicate any Super Bowl-winning success.
He amassed a 77-49 regular season and 8-3 playoff record with the Giants. However, with the Patriots, Jets and Cowboys, Parcells had a 95-81 regular season and 3-5 playoff record. He also made just one appearance in the Super Bowl, losing to the Green Bay Packers in 1996.
Mike Shanahan
Shanahan served as an architect of the 1990s Denver Broncos, winning consecutive Super Bowls in 1997 and 1998. The Broncos missed the 2006 and 2008 playoffs, resulting in Shanahan getting the boot. He is Denver's winningest coach with a 138-86 record.
He found his way back into the league when the Washington Commanders hired him to be their head coach in 2009.
Shanahan struggled in Washington. The team missed the playoffs his first two seasons before posting a 10-6 record in 2012. The Commanders ended up losing to the Seahawks in the wild-card round. After a 3-13 record the next season, Shanahan was fired again.
Andy Reid
Reid had an impressive tenure with the Philadelphia Eagles before becoming the Kansas City Chiefs' lead man. He had a 130-93 regular season and 10-9 playoff record, leading the Eagles to Super Bowl XXXIX, resulting in a loss to the Patriots.
After a 4-12 record in 2012, Reid moved to the Chiefs and topped his Eagles success.
Reid's won three Super Bowls with Kansas City with at least a .500 record in 12 of his 13 seasons. He also passed Hank Stram in 2023 to become the franchise's winningest coach with a 128-51 record.
Paul Brown
Brown won four straight All-American Conference League championships with the Cleveland Browns from 1946 and 1949 and three NFL Championships.
Brown spent 17 years as the Browns' head coach with a 158-48 record before he was fired after the 1962 season.
The Cincinnati Bengals of the then-AFL hired Brown in 1968. He struggled with a 55-56 regular-season record and losses in all three playoff games. Brown retired after the 1975 season.
NBA
Phil Jackson
In nine seasons with the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls, Jackson won six championships and 545 games -- a Bulls record. The 1997-98 season served as Jackson's final in Chicago before he joined the Los Angeles Lakers in 1999.
It didn't take long for him to replicate his success -- Jackson won three straight titles with the Lakers from 2000 to '02. He briefly retired after the 2003-04 season, but came back the following year. Jackson spent six more seasons in Los Angeles, winning two additional championships.
Don Nelson
The second-all-time winningest coach in NBA history started strong with the Milwaukee Bucks. He had a 540-344 record with the Bucks, but resigned after the 1986-87 season.
Nelson sat out a year before being poached to coach the Golden State Warriors in 1988.
He served as the head coach during the Warriors' popular "Run TMC" era and led them to the playoffs four times in six seasons. Nelson resigned midway through the 1994-95 season with a 14-31 record.
Pat Riley
The Showtime Lakers of the 1980s enjoyed great success under Riley's tutelage.
They won four championships in nine seasons, holding a 533-194 regular season record. In 1989, the Lakers became the first team to win consecutive championships since the Boston Celtics in the 1960s.
Riley left Los Angeles in 1990 and joined the New York Knicks a year later. The Knicks reached the playoffs in each of his four seasons with the franchise and appeared in the 1994 NBA Finals, losing to the Houston Rockets.
He resigned after the 1995 season with the highest all-time win percentage (.680) of any Knicks head coach.
MLB
Tony La Russa
The manager with the second-most wins in MLB history (2,884), La Russa had success with the Oakland Athletics between 1986 and '95.
He won the World Series in 1989 and three American League pennants. His 798 wins are the third most in Athletics history. La Russa left Oakland after the 1995 season and became the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals.
They hovered around .500 for the majority of La Russa's first eight seasons before breaking through in 2004. The Cardinals won the National League pennant after a 105-win regular season, then the World Series in 2006 and 2011.
La Russa's 1,408 wins across 16 years are the most in franchise history.
Joe Torre
Torre's 12-year run with the New York Yankees included six pennants and four World Series titles. New York never finished with a losing record with Torre as manager. He left the Yankees after the 2007 season and became the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
In Los Angeles, Torre didn't have the same postseason success.
The Dodgers never got past the National League Championship Series and missed the playoffs in 2010. Torre stepped down after that season, finishing with a 259-227 regular season record in three years.
Sparky Anderson
The Cincinnati Reds had four pennants and two World Series titles with Anderson as the manager for nine seasons. His 863 wins make him the Reds winningest manager, and he had a losing record only once with the franchise.
Anderson was dismissed after the 1978 season. The Detroit Tigers hired him in June 1979 and he immediately brought success as Detroit finished with a winning record.
In 17 years with the Tigers, Anderson won a franchise-high 1,331 games plus a pennant and World Series each. He retired from managing in 1995.