Sticking Around
Philly's all-time longest tenured professional head coaches.
Sticking Around
Bob Vetrone Jr.
By all accounts, Andy Reid’s tenure as head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles will come to an conclusion very soon. But it will end as the second-longest coaching reign in the city’s history ... and the longest by a coach who didn’t also own the team.
Cornelius Alexander McGillicuddy — Connie Mack to you and me — managed the Philadelphia Athletics for 48 full seasons and parts of two others (1937 and 1939, due to illnesses). He managed five World Series champions.
Other than Mack, the Eagles have the only other two double-digit tenured Philly head coaches — Reid and Earle “Greasy” Neale. (Neale won NFL titles in 1948 and 1949.)
Here are the 13 head coaches/managers that stuck around Philadelphia for at least six complete seasons (additional partial seasons in parentheses):
| Full |
(P) |
Coach | Team | Years |
| 48 | (2) | Connie Mack |
Athletics |
1901-50 |
| 14 | (0) | Andy Reid |
Eagles | 1999-12 |
| 10 | (0) | Greasy Neale |
Eagles | 1941-50 |
| 9 |
(1) | Harry Wright |
Phillies | 1884-93 |
| 9 |
(0) | Eddie Gottlieb |
Warriors | 1946-55 |
| 8 |
(0) | Charlie Manuel |
Phillies | 2005-12 |
| 7 |
(1) | Gene Mauch |
Phillies | 1961-68 |
| 7 |
(1) | Billy Cunningham |
Sixers | 1977-85 |
| 7 |
(0) | Fred Shero |
Flyers | 1971-78 |
| 7 |
(0) | Dick Vermeil |
Eagles | 1976-82 |
| 6 |
(1) | Danny Ozark |
Phillies | 1973-79 |
| 6 |
(0) | Burt Shotton |
Phillies | 1928-33 |
| 6 |
(0) | Larry Brown |
Sixers | 1997-03 |
Kind of funny seeing Larry Brown on that list.— theodotius- Do you mean Cornelius Alexander McGillicuddy, the birth name of the legendary Connie Mack? Gawd way too basic common knowledge to lead with Cornelius Alexander Mack. You guys need an editor to watch for things other than "uncivil discourse".— Temprock
- So, in the last 120 years in all sports, if you DON'T win a championship in Philadelphia, then your longest tenure here is 7 years. Except for Andy Reid, who stayed for 14 years. No wonder the frustration is, historically, off the charts.— PhilaLogic
