Sammi Silber

Super Bowl 2022: Who are youngest coaches to ever win a Super Bowl in NFL history?

By Feb 13, 2022, 2:47 PM EST
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With Super Bowl LVI featuring some of the NFL’s youngest talents, the clash between coaches is also one to watch. The battle between Zac Taylor, 38, and Sean McVay, 36, will certainly be one to remember just for their history alone.

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Before Zac Taylor became the head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals in 2019, he spent two seasons working with the Rams under McVay–as an assistant wide receivers coach in 2017, and then as the quarterbacks coach in 2018. Now both coaches will go head to head in Super Bowl LVI–the first Super Bowl to feature two coaches under the age of 40.

In 2019, Sean McVay’s second season as an NFL head coach, he led the LA Rams to Super Bowl LIII becoming the youngest to ever coach in a Super Bowl at 33 years old. Now 3 years later, if the LA Rams win McVay would become the youngest head coach in NFL history to ever hoist up the Lombardi Trophy. On gameday, McVay will be 36 yrs, 20 days old, eclipsing Mike Tomlin who was 36 yrs, 323 days when he won SB XLIII.

If the Cincinnati Bengals win, Taylor would become the second-youngest coach to ever win a Super Bowl.

With history again on the line and youth again playing a role in this year’s championship, here are some of the youngest coaches to ever win a title.

Who is currently the youngest NFL coach to win a Super Bowl?

Currently holding the record for the youngest coach ever to win the Super Bowl is Mike Tomlin, who was 36 years old when he led the 2008 Steelers to a 27-23 victory over the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII.

Under his leadership, Pittsburgh was one of the league’s top defensive teams, leading in fewest points and yards allowed per game, while also finishing second in sacks (51). Led by Aaron Smith, LaMarr Woodley and James Harrison, the Steelers were dominant on defense. However, it was the offense that carried the Steelers to victory in the Super Bowl. They were led by Ben Roethlisberger and Santonio Holmes, who’s “toe tap” game-winning drive goes down as one of the most memorable plays in championship history. He finished one touchdown, nine catches, 131 receiving yards and four receptions and was named the Super Bowl MVP.

With the win, Pittsburgh won their second championship in four years and became the first team in NFL history to ever win six Super Bowl titles.

Which coach previously held the record?

Prior to Tomlin, current Los Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden was the youngest to win a championship, aged 39 and five months old. Gruden had previously been the coach of the Raiders and had helped rebuild the franchise. However, a strange scenario unfolded halfway through the 2003 season, and a trade sent him to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. While Oakland still fared well without Gruden, Tampa Bay was able to make great strides, setting up one of the Super Bowl’s most memorable story lines when Gruden’s Buccaneers and Raiders clashed in Super Bowl XXXVII.

After a slow first quarter, Tampa Bay was able to dominate for the remainder of the game after posting a 20-3 at the half. The defense and safety Dexter Johnson shined over the course of the game, forcing Raiders quarterback John Gannon to throw five interceptions. Coming out on top with a 48-21 victory, Tampa Bay won its first ever title, and Gruden became the youngest to win a Super Bowl.

When is the Super Bowl and how can I watch it?

Super Bowl LVI will kickoff at 6:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, Feb. 13.

And how can I make my Super Bowl party stand out?

First thing first, your snack game needs to be strong. Luckily, we’ve got you covered and have a huge list of Super Bowl snack ideas, party food and more. If you want to get in on sports betting as well in a casual, fun way, you and your friends can compete with Super Bowl Squares. We have you covered with how it works, the format and a free, printable template.

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Badosa beats fourth seed Mladenovic to reach Lyon Open semis

Associated PressMar 6, 2021, 12:45 AM EST
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LYON, France — Seventh-seeded Paula Badosa of Spain beat fourth-seeded Kristina Mladenovic of France 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-2 in an error-strewn match to reach the Lyon Open semifinals on Friday.

Neither player looked comfortable on serve, combining for 21 double faults and 15 service breaks at the indoor tournament.

Badosa next faces 18-year-old Clara Tauson of Denmark, who continued her fine form by beating Camila Giorgi of Italy 6-3, 6-1.

Tauson had six aces and did not face a break point, also breaking Giorgi’s serve five times in a dominant display.

The 139th-ranked Tauson, a former Australian Open junior champion, knocked out top-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova in the first round.

She and Badosa are both looking to win their first WTA titles.

Second-seeded Fiona Ferro joined them in the last four in her bid for a third career title.

Ferro rallied to beat unseeded 19-year-old Clara Burel 2-6, 6-1, 6-3 in an all-French match where they dropped serve 12 times between them.

She next plays play Swiss player Viktorija Golubic, who beat unseeded Belgian player Greet Minnen 6-3, 7-6 (0).

Golubic, a qualifier ranked 130th, is seeking her second career title.

Jennifer Brady reaches Australian Open semis

Associated PressFeb 17, 2021, 1:40 AM EST
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MELBOURNE, Australia — After the unusual path Jennifer Brady followed – college tennis at UCLA; just one tour-level title so far; more recently, a two-week hard quarantine upon arrival in Australia – perhaps it was fitting she took a circuitous route to her first Grand Slam final.

Serving for the win against Karolina Muchova in the Australian Open semifinals, Brady needed to get through an 18-point game to close things out. Six deuces. Three break points. Five match points.

“It took a lot longer than I hoped for. There were a lot of extra points,” the 22nd-seeded Brady said. “I was just so nervous. Couldn’t feel my legs. My arms were shaking. I was just hoping she would miss.”

Eventually, the 25-year-old American pulled it out, dropping onto her back behind the baseline when the 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 result was settled in her favor Thursday thanks to a long forehand from the 25th-seeded Muchova.

“I didn’t take chances I had,” said Muchova, who eliminated No. 1 Ash Barty in the quarterfinals. “She took hers. Yeah, that was about it.”

Brady, who is from Pennsylvania, had previously appeared in only one major semifinal, at last year’s U.S. Open, where she lost to eventual champion Naomi Osaka in three sets.

So guess who Brady will face Saturday for the title? Yes, the No. 3-seeded Osaka, who is seeking her fourth major trophy.

“Easily one of my most memorable matches. I think it was just super-high quality throughout,” Osaka said about that 2020 meeting in New York. “For me, it’s not really surprising at all to see her in another semis or another finals.”

For Brady, it was a bit unexpected.

Not that she discounted her chances: Seeing how she was able to hang with elite players in matches and practice sessions made her realize this sort of thing was possible.

“I mean, I wouldn’t say I’m in disbelief. … I have earned the right to be sitting here, to be playing in a final,” Brady said. “I just think it’s crazy to believe. … Watching a Grand Slam final, you look at two players and you’re, like, `Wow, that’s awesome that they’re in the final.’ You don’t think about what it feels like if you were in that situation. So I think just that it’s the tables have turned and I’m here.”

That might not have seemed too realistic in January.

Brady was one of 72 players entered in the Australian Open who were forced to isolate in their hotel rooms for at least 14 days – not allowed to leave, for any reason at all – because someone on chartered flights bringing them to the country last month tested positive for COVID-19 after they landed.

Actually, Brady thinks that could have been a help, because it forced her to “reset mentally,” she explained, and rest her body and mind.

She opted not to binge-watch TV shows while cooped up at the hotel, she explained, “because I knew if I started something, then I wouldn’t want to do anything else except just lay in bed and watch Netflix.”

How relatable is that?

Instead, Brady said, she passed the days by “FaceTiming a lot with other players that were in the quarantine.”

“It was more just trying to stay positive,” Brady said, “and know that there is worse things out there than being in a room.”

And worse things than being a Grand Slam finalist.