 Nolan in 2008 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1959-03-07)March 7, 1959 (age 66) Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. |
| Career information | |
| High school | Woodside (Woodside, California) |
| College | Oregon |
| Career history | |
| |
| Awards and highlights | |
| |
| Head coaching record | |
| Regular season | NFL 17–36 (.321) USFL/UFL 17–13 (.567) |
| Postseason | USFL/UFL 1–3 (.250) |
| Career | NFL 17–36 (.321) USFL/UFL 18–16 (.529) |
Coaching profile atPro Football Reference  | |
Michael Tullis Nolan[1] (born March 7, 1959) is an Americanfootball coach. Nolan previously served as a head coach for theSan Francisco 49ers, and a defensive coordinator for theNational Football League (NFL)'sBaltimore Ravens,New York Jets,Washington Redskins,New York Giants,Denver Broncos,Miami Dolphins,Atlanta Falcons, andDallas Cowboys.[2] Nolan is a former linebackers coach for theDenver Broncos,San Diego Chargers, andNew Orleans Saints.
Nolan attended theUniversity of Oregon and was a three-year letterman in football and starter at safety.
Nolan had coached at the collegiate level atStanford University,Rice University, andLSU before moving on to the National Football League.
In 1987, Nolan was hired by theDenver Broncos as a special teams coach under head coach,Dan Reeves. In 1989, he was promoted to linebackers coach.
In 1993, Nolan followed Dan Reeves to theNew York Giants and he was hired as defensive coordinator.
In 1997, Nolan was hired as defensive coordinator for theWashington Redskins.
In 2000, Nolan was hired by theNew York Jets as their defensive coordinator under head coachAl Groh.
In 2001, Nolan was hired as wide receivers coach for theBaltimore Ravens. He was promoted to defensive coordinator in 2002.
In 2005, Nolan was hired as the head coach of theSan Francisco 49ers, following in his father's footsteps, the formerSan Francisco 49ers andNew Orleans Saints head coach,Dick Nolan. He also served as his own general manager.
Nolan and the 49ers selectedAlex Smith with the first overall pick in the2005 NFL draft. Nolan thought Smith to be cerebral, introspective, and non-confrontational. Nolan also evaluatedAaron Rodgers, but did not believe that Rodgers's attitude could co-exist with him.[3][4] Nolan finished the 2005 season with a 4–12 record. The next season, Nolan led a late season run and the 49ers improved to 7–9. That led to expectations for the 2007 season which included at least 9 wins and a playoff appearance. The season started well at 2–0, but an 8-game losing streak ended all hope of a playoff run. During the season, he publicly disagreed with Smith over the severity of the quarterback's shoulder injury.[5] Nolan had been under intense scrutiny in the Bay Area. After the season, Nolan lost his general manager position and on October 20, 2008, Nolan was fired and replaced by his assistant head coachMike Singletary.[6]
Following his hiring by the 49ers, Nolan asked the NFL for permission to wear a suit and tie on the sidelines as a tribute to his father. The league initially denied Nolan's request because of the contract it had withReebok for its coaches to wear team-logo attire, a ruling that was changed during Nolan's second season as coach. In the new NFL policy, coaches were allowed to wear a full suit for only two home games per season. The suits were designed, marketed and labeled under the Reebok corporation. Nolan debuted the suit in a game at home against theSeattle Seahawks on November 19, 2006. A day later,Jacksonville Jaguars head coachJack Del Rio sported another Reebok suit onMonday Night Football.
After further lobbying by Nolan, the NFL and Reebok reached an agreement to allow suits to be worn at all home games in the 2007 season.[7]
After his firing from the 49ers, however, he has simply worn team-issued apparel in all subsequent coaching jobs.
In early 2009, Nolan was hired by theDenver Broncos as the defensive coordinator under head coach,Josh McDaniels. With a new3-4 defense the Denver Broncos gave up the fewest points in theNFL (66) during the first six games of the season, and made their way to their first 6–0 start since the 1998 season in which they wonSuper Bowl XXXIII. The Broncos went 2 and 8 the rest of the way, and missed the playoffs. On January 18, 2010, Mike Nolan and Josh McDaniels mutually decided Nolan would resign as the defensive coordinator of the Denver Broncos.[2]
On January 19, 2010, Nolan was hired by theMiami Dolphins as defensive coordinator. In the2010 season, the Dolphins finished 14th in points allowed per game (20.8), 6th in yards allowed per game (309.3) and 12th in Football Outsiders' DVOA. In the2011 season, they finished 6th in points allowed per game (19.6), 15th in yards allowed per game (345.1) and 13th in Football Outsiders' DVOA.
On January 17, 2012, Nolan was hired by theAtlanta Falcons as defensive coordinator. In the 2012 season, the Falcons finished 5th in points allowed per game (18.7), 24th in yards allowed per game (365.6) and 9th in Football Outsiders' DVOA. In the 2013 season, they finished 27th in both points (27.7) and yards (379.4) allowed per game, and 26th in Football Outsiders' DVOA. In the 2014 season, Atlanta finished 27th in points allowed per game (26.1), 32nd in yards allowed per game (398.2) and 31st in Football Outsiders' DVOA.
In 2015, Nolan was hired by theSan Diego Chargers as their linebackers coach.
In 2017, Nolan was hired by theNew Orleans Saints as their linebackers coach.
On January 5, 2020, Nolan was hired by theDallas Cowboys as their defensive coordinator. He reunited with head coachMike McCarthy who was hisoffensive coordinator with theSan Francisco 49ers. Nolan faced heavy restrictions due to theCOVID-19 pandemic in terms of physical contact with the players, their availability due to a positive test forCOVID-19 or having been exposed to someone who had it, a reducedtraining camp schedule and the cancellation of preseason games, which made it difficult to implement his defensive scheme. To make matters worse, most of the free agent signings for the defense were ineffective. The team would finish with a losing record (6-10), while the defensive unit allowed the most points in franchise history (473), finishing 31st in the league in run defense (158.8 YPG), 28th in scoring defense (29.6 PPG), 11th in pass defense (227.6 YPG), 20th in sacks (31) and allowed 69 plays of 20 yards or more. On January 8, 2021, the Cowboys fired Nolan, along with defensive line coachJim Tomsula.[8]
On February 3, 2023, it was announced that Nolan was hired by theMichigan Panthers ofUnited States Football League (USFL) to be their head coach, succeedingJeff Fisher.[9] This was Nolan's first head coaching job since 2008 with the 49ers.
In Nolan's first season with the Panthers, he guided them to a 4–6 record, improving onlast season where they went 2–8. Despite the mediocre record, the Panthers reached the playoffs, and faced thePittsburgh Maulers in the USFL North Championship Game where they lost 31–27 in overtime.
Due to the Panthers surviving theUSFL andXFL's merger into theUFL, Nolan kept his job as head coach. The Panthers improved fromlast season, and finished with a 7–3 record, which was 2nd in the USFL conference. Nolan also won the UFL's Coach of the Year award.[10] Unfortunately for Nolan, the Panthers lost to theBirmingham Stallions in theUSFL Conference Championship Game 31–18 after leading 18–3 at halftime.
The Panthers finished the season with a 6-4 record, failing to improve fromlast season, but for the first time ever, the Panthers defeated the Birmingham Stallions in the USFL Conference Championship Game 44-29 which was Nolan's first career playoff win. Unfortunately for Nolan, the Panthers lost to theDC Defenders in theUFL Championship 58-34.
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Ties | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| SF | 2005 | 4 | 12 | 0 | .250 | 4th in NFC West | — | — | — | — |
| SF | 2006 | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 3rd in NFC West | — | — | — | — |
| SF | 2007 | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | 3rd in NFC West | — | — | — | — |
| SF | 2008 | 2 | 5 | 0 | .286 | Fired | — | — | — | — |
| SF Total | 18 | 37 | 0 | .327 | 0 | 0 | .000 | |||
| Total[11] | 18 | 37 | 0 | .327 | 0 | 0 | .000 | |||
| League | Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Ties | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | |||
| USFL | MICH | 2023 | 4 | 6 | 0 | .400 | 2nd in USFL North | 0 | 1 | .000 | Lost toPittsburgh Maulers in North Division Championship Game |
| UFL | MICH | 2024 | 7 | 3 | 0 | .700 | 2nd in USFL Conference | 0 | 1 | .000 | Lost toBirmingham Stallions in USFL Conference Championship Game |
| MICH | 2025 | 6 | 4 | 0 | .600 | 2nd in USFL Conference | 1 | 1 | .500 | Lost toDC Defenders inUFL Championship Game | |
| Total | 17 | 13 | 0 | .567 | 1 | 3 | .250 | ||||
Nolan is married to his wife, Kathy, and has four children, Michael, Laura, Jennifer and Christopher.[12]
Nolan attendedBellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose, California and Woodside High School, the alma mater ofJulian Edelman.
Nolan's father, former 49ers and Saints coachDick Nolan, died at age 75 on November 11, 2007, just a day before Mike's 49ers were to take on theSeattle Seahawks. Nolan decided to coach theMonday Night Football game in honor of his dad. The 49ers lost the game 24-0.
Nolan was no-nonsense, a strong personality who didn't like to be challenged. He met with Rodgers and Smith before the draft. He caught a whiff of attitude from Rodgers, and that was that.