Which NFL coaches have faced each other most often in NFL history?

While Owen's rivalry with George Halas stretched over a 20-plus-year period, geographic proximity nearly allowed he and Neale to face off as many times in a decade-long span. Neale took over as Eagles head coach in 1941; he and Owen squared off twice a year until 1950. The Giants and Eagles nearly split during this period, and the series veered the Eagles' way as the 1940s progressed. The Eagles took each of this matchup's home-and-home contests from 1947-49; that period doubled with the Eagles -- fronted by legendary running back Steve Van Buren -- advancing to three NFL title games and winning two. Still, Neale squeaked out a 9-8-1 record against Owen.

In terms of rivals, Halas is best known for his duels with Curly Lambeau. But the Bears leader hung around long enough to face Lombardi throughout the latter's Packers tenure. Lombardi was Green Bay's HC from 1959-67, and he met Halas' Bears twice a season. By this point, Chicago's dynasty was in the rearview mirror. Another Packers surge began under Lombardi, who went 13-5 against Halas. The Bears did interrupt the Packers' reign by winning the 1963 championship, but the Pack struck back with an NFL threepeat from 1965-67. Both Midwest icons stepped down from their posts after the 1967 season, leaving the NFL much lighter on coaching firepower.

This series endured a significant pause, thanks to Marchibroda's head coaching hiatus. After leading the Colts to prominence in the mid-1970s, Marchibroda was out in Baltimore by 1980. Following stints as an OC elsewhere, Marchibroda returned to the Colts as head coach in 1992. By the time Marchibroda migrated to Indianapolis, Shula was winding down a storied career. The two-time Super Bowl winner stayed 26 years in Miami. Against Marchibroda, however, the NFL's all-time wins leader went 9-9. This came despite Shula rostering Hall of Fame QBs Bob Griese and Dan Marino. Marchibroda closed the series by piloting the Colts to a 1995 sweep en route to the AFC title game.

This rivalry started when a flatlining Oilers team, reeling after a divisional-round collapse against the Chiefs closed a chaotic 1993 season, fired Jack Pardee and promoted Fisher. The former NFL DB became the longest-tenured coach in franchise history. After the Oilers' 1993 division win, the Steelers quickly became the AFC Central power. But Fisher's teams became a regular thorn for Cowher's. From December 1997 until November 2000, the Oilers/Titans won seven straight in this series. Then, they stalled the Steelers, albeit controversially, in a 2002 divisional-round overtime win. Leaving the AFC Central via realignment in 2002, the Titans went 11-7 against the Steelers during this coaching series.

Payton's Broncos and Rivera's Commanders met up in 2023, likely closing this chapter. The ex-NFC South rivals had gone against each other twice annually for eight seasons. The Panthers hired Rivera in 2011 and fired him during the 2019 season. The teams also met up once in the playoffs, with Payton's team winning a wild-card matchup in New Orleans. In the teams' 18 matchups, Payton went 10-8. Rivera won both 2012 matchups, when Payton was suspended for Bountygate, and held off the Broncos after a successful Hail Mary in the sides' Week 2 meeting two years ago. Rivera's Washington Football Team lost to Payton's Saints early in the 2021 season.

Two titans of early- and mid-century football combined to win eight championships. Halas' tenure paused due to World War II service, but he returned to continue his rivalry against Owen's Giants. The Giants bested the Bears in 1934's Sneakers Game, a year after losing the first true championship game to the Bears, but Owen ended up 1-3 against Halas in league deciders. The Bears edged the Giants for the 1941 and '46 championships. Overall, Halas held a 12-6-1 record against Owen. The sides' rivalry ceased in 1953, after the Giants leader resigned. 

This rivalry is best known for Cleveland-Detroit matchups that helped define the 1950s in the NFL. Brown made his All-American Football Conference dynasty, steeped in innovation, an NFL power upon the Browns' 1950 entrance. Brown's team booked championship game spots from 1950-55. However, Parker's Lions interfered by winning the 1952 and '53 titles. Brown's team struck back in 1954, however, thanks to Otto Graham's historic six-TD (three pass, three rush) showing. Parker resigned before the 1957 season and joined the Steelers, facing Brown for five more seasons. This rivalry changed when Parker left the Lions. After going 1-4 against Parker in Detroit, Brown finished the rivalry 9-8.

Two NFL-to-AFL jumps defined this series. Ewbank had coached the Colts for nine seasons; that tenured overlapped with Wilson's eight-year Lions run. Taking over Detroit shortly after Parker's resignation, Wilson helmed the Lions to the 1957 championship. Ewbank's Colts won the next two titles. The two leaders met up twice a year for six seasons in the established league before eight AFL meetings. Wilson caught up with Ewbank in 1966, taking over the expansion Dolphins. The future AFC East rivals played twice a season to close out the decade, but the Dolphins fired Wilson after the 1969 season and traded for Don Shula's rights.

Green and Holmgren coached on 49ers staffs under Bill Walsh, both earning HC jobs in the NFC Central in 1992. Green and Holmgren faced off from 1992-98 with the Vikings and Packers and six more times from 2004-06 when Green landed with the Cardinals during Holmgren's Seahawks tenure. While Holmgren won Super Bowl XXXI with the Packers and appeared in two more Super Bowls during his career, Green won this series 11-9. A 9-5 Vikings mark, buoyed by a 4-0 stretch over the coaches' first two seasons up north, gave him the edge here. Green had a bit less to work with in Arizona, being bounced after three seasons.

Teammates on multiple occasions, Conzelman and Halas wound up in the Hall of Fame. They faced off as coaches frequently, and Conzelman's travels after a 1920 stop as a player for the Decatur Staleys (later the Bears) created a host of matchups here. Conzelman worked as a player/coach for the Rock Island Independents, Milwaukee Badgers, Detroit Panthers and Providence Steam Roller from 1921-29. Halas never left the team he founded, and Conzelman's second run as an NFL head coach came with the then-crosstown Cardinals over a six-year period in the 1940s. Although Conzelman's Cardinals won the 1947 NFL title, Halas' Bears dynasty held a 12-6-3 edge on his ex-teammate.

Schottenheimer's nomadic course put forth four iterations of this rivalry. The two did not meet when Schottenheimer was with the Browns but started the series in September 1989, when the Chiefs hired him. Al Davis fired Shanahan weeks after the Raiders' Week 2 loss. The series resumed when the Broncos hired Shanahan in 1995. Shanahan also caught Schottenheimer during his 2001 Washington one-off, with the Broncos losing at home. Shanahan faced off against him again when he took over in San Diego in 2002. Shanahan took the rivals' one playoff meeting, a 17-14 Broncos divisional-round win in 1997, and narrowly won this series 11-10. 

Reid's success as a head coach has helped ensure coaching turnover among his rivals. No long-serving AFC West challenger has emerged, and just one kept up with the six-time Super Bowl entrant during his NFC East stay. Coughlin's Jaguars beat Reid's Eagles in 2002, but Reid held bragging rights -- to a degree, as Coughlin's Super Bowl titles occurred during this rivalry's run -- once Coughlin arrived in New York. Reid went 12-9 overall against Coughlin. This included two playoff wins. Despite Jeff Garcia starting for an injured Donovan McNabb, the Eagles beat an 8-8 Giants team in the 2006 wild-card round. They then upset the No. 1-seeded Giants two years later.

Conzelman's two-part stay as an NFL head coach overlapped with Lambeau, still around by the 1940s when Conzelman returned more than a decade after his player/coach period ended. Joining Conzelman and George Halas in being a player/coach, Lambeau led the Packers from 1921-53. Prior to Conzelman leaving the Cardinals after the 1948 season to devote more time to his ad agency, he faced Lambeau more than Halas. Lambeau built a Packers dynasty by the late 1920s, a period that shaped this series. Conzelman's 1940 return to the sideline did not change the matchup's course. The Cardinals did help him make up ground by the late '40s, when they won their only NFL title, but Lambeau won this series 13-7-2.

The American Football League produced a few long-serving coaches. We catch up with two who met up for two AFL titles. Saban began his AFL career with the Boston Patriots, who fired him five games into his second season. The Bills hired him months later, and a collision course with Gillman's Chargers formed. The offensive innovator dismantled Saban's former team in the 1963 AFL title game but lost back-to-back matchups in 1964 and '65, giving the Bills two crowns. Saban kept going with the Broncos in the late '60s, before returning to Buffalo in 1972, catching Gillman in a dual GM/HC post for the Oilers. Despite the championship losses, Gillman went 13-7-2 against Saban.

A round-robin forms here between four AFL coaches, with Sid Gillman and Weeb Ewbank mixing in with the upstart league. The Chiefs featured the only wire-to-wire option in the AFL's history, employing Stram from 1960-74. The then-Dallas Texans began facing Saban's Boston Patriots, before the rivalry shifted to Chiefs-Bills. Saban bettered Stram while going head-to-head as a Buffalo leader, though Stram did end Saban's Bills run with a 1966 AFL championship game win. Stram also made up ground by consistently toppling Saban's lower-echelon Broncos squads. The Super Bowl IV winner came out ahead, 11-10-1, against Nick Saban's father.

Three chapters comprise this series. Reeves first caught Knox when the latter was leading the Bills in 1981. They closed out the series with two Giants-Rams matchups in the mid-1990s. However, the guts of this coaching rivalry played out in Denver and Seattle. The Seahawks hired Knox in 1983, Reeves' third year with the Broncos. Soon enjoying a roster-building edge via John Elway's arrival, Reeves still lost a playoff game to Knox's Hawks -- a 31-7 wild-card matchup in Elway's rookie year. But Reeves ended up the series winner (12-10) thanks largely to Elway's early prime. A 1993 Giants win over the Rams, in Phil Simms and Lawrence Taylor's final seasons, put Reeves ahead for good.

Before Jaguars-Titans matchups were AFC South affairs, Jacksonville's NFL introduction came in the AFC Central and required trips to Houston. That makes this a four-part series, with Fisher and Coughlin meeting up in Oilers-Jaguars, Titans-Jags, Titans-Giants and Giants-Rams matchups. Coughlin was the Jags' expansion coach in 1995, Fisher's first full season with the Oilers, and stayed on until the 2002 season. The Giants hired Coughlin in 2004, and after Fisher's Tennessee ouster, he caught on in St. Louis in 2012. The coaches' biggest matchup came when the Titans upended the 14-2 Jags in the 1999 AFC title game. Overall, Fisher holds a 13-9 edge. 

The modern AFC North has featured three coaches who stayed at least 16 seasons this century. Lewis was the first of those, holding the Bengals job from 2003-18. After Mike Tomlin's 2007 arrival, Harbaugh showed up in Baltimore with a special teams background in 2008. Unlike Tomlin and Lewis and Tomlin and Harbaugh, no Ravens-Bengals playoff games transpired to pad this total. Despite Harbaugh's Super Bowl triumph occurring during this rivalry series, Lewis bested him head to head by going 12-10. This period included the awkward transition from Carson Palmer to Andy Dalton. Even with no playoff wins, Lewis got the best of Harbaugh in the sides' encounters. 

Ewbank and Gillman carried a series that started in the NFL over to the AFL. The two first met up as head coaches of the Colts and Rams, respectively, in the 1950s. Briefly featuring Hall of Famers Johnny Unitas and Norm Van Brocklin at the controls in the mid-1950s, Ewbank and Gillman migrated to the AFL, where Joe Namath and John Hadl matched up in a league more open to pass-first offenses. Gillman was at the forefront of this, and his Chargers success against the Jets -- New York's Super Bowl III title notwithstanding -- turned the tide here. Gillman finished his Ewbank series 12-9-2, coming back after falling behind early in L.A.

One of the 1980s' top rivalries began when the Giants hired Parcells to reel in Washington and Dallas. The Hall of Famer did so, reviving the Giants early in Lawrence Taylor's transcendent prime. This rivalry produced back-to-back Super Bowl wins. The Giants won Super Bowl XXI after shutting out Washington in the 1986 NFC championship game, and Gibbs' team struck back with a Super Bowl XXII whitewash of the Broncos. After that game, however, Parcells won the final six meetings as Giants HC -- before stepping down for health reasons. Both coaches came out of retirement, and Gibbs doing so led to Dallas and Washington drawing even from 2004-06. Overall, however, Parcells won the series 14-9. 

The Bills' trajectory, along with the relevance of this rivalry, changed when they hired Levy during the 1986 season. Levy and Shula initially met when the Dolphins beat Levy's Chiefs in 1981, but the rivalry swung early during Levy's Buffalo years. Although Shula is the NFL's all-time wins leader, Levy dominated this rivalry. The Bills added Levy and Jim Kelly from the USFL in 1986, a year after drafting Bruce Smith. Soon, Thurman Thomas and Andre Reed helped turn the tide. Levy won all three playoff matchups -- a 1990 divisional-round game, the 1992 AFC championship and a 1995 wild-card tilt -- and finished 17-6 against Shula. The sides' wild-card meeting in Buffalo ended Shula's career. 

Two Hall of Famers stayed in the AFL throughout its existence, and each remained with the same franchise. Not joining Gillman in serving as an NFL HC before the AFL's 1960 launch, Stram began coaching against the Chargers leader with the Dallas Texans. As the L.A. Chargers moved to San Diego after Year 1, the Texans morphed into the Chiefs after winning a title in 1962. Stram led Gillman 3-1 on the championship front, winning with the Chiefs in 1966 and '69 (the latter ahead of a Super Bowl IV upset win). The head-to-head matchup, contested over a 15-year period, went Stram's way (13-10-1) after the Chiefs beat Gillman's Oilers twice from 1973-74.

Although Lewis restored the Bengals from an NFL laughingstock soon after arriving in 2003, he did not have much success against Bill Cowher's successor. Tomlin both bested Lewis' Bengals with Cowher's core and kept doing so as he built his own nuclei. While Ben Roethlisberger's mastery of the Browns is well documented, the future Hall of Famer's dominance over the Bengals is not far off. Tomlin finished this rivalry at 20-5. A 2015 wild-card matchup, in which Vontaze Burfict and Pacman Jones meltdowns cost the Bengals dearly, headlined the one-sided rivalry. The Steelers helped send Lewis packing by winning their final eight games against the defensive head coach.

The NFL's round-robin bracket in the early 20th century involved the Packers and Giants, too, as their leaders piled up matchups during World War II as well. Lambeau and Owen met three times for the NFL championship, doing so from 1938-44. The team employing all-time wide receiver great Don Hutson went 2-1, but this is the most even rivalry on the list. Owen led Lambeau 15-14-2, with the two completing their series after the latter had jumped to the Cardinals in 1950 and Washington in 1952. Like Halas and Vince Lombardi years later, both were out of coaching in the same year, wrapping their respective careers in 1953.

Moving into the clear second-place spot here, the AFC North's longstanding coaching rivalry has lasted 17 seasons. Hired in 2007 and 2008, respectively, Tomlin and Harbaugh have squared off 38 times. This includes four playoff meetings -- in 2008, 2010, 2014 and 2024. The Steelers and Ravens are 2-2 in the postseason under their current leaders, and the regular season has not brought much distance between the foes. Tomlin leads the all-time series 20-18, with No. 20 helping to keep the Ravens off the AFC's No. 2 seed line in 2024. Tomlin's team also won the rivals' 2008 AFC championship game meeting, though both coaches have a Super Bowl ring.

How the Steelers address their long-term QB need may determine if Tomlin-Harbaugh can survive long enough to threaten a 30-plus-year rivalry. Beginning as player/coaches starting this storied rivalry in 1921, Halas and Lambeau each won six NFL titles and coached against each other until 1953. Lambeau launched the first Packers dynasty with a threepeat from 1929-31, but Halas was not on the Chicago sideline during the last two seasons. Halas also missed 3 1/2 seasons during World War II. "Papa Bear" came out ahead against Lambeau Field's namesake, going 30-16-3. Lambeau did go 3-1 as the Chicago Cardinals' HC from 1950-51, but Halas won their final meeting -- in a Chicago-Washington matchup -- in 1953.