Mike Ditka, who died Friday, Oct. 9, at the age of 86
, spent decades as a fixture in the game of football. The Hall of Fame tight end was a pioneer as a player after going fifth overall in the 1961 NFL Draft to the Chicago Bears. As a rookie, he became the first tight end in NFL history to surpass 1,000 yards receiving. He'd never repeat that feat but made five Pro Bowls over a 12-year career with the Bears, Philadelphia Eagles, and Dallas Cowboys.After retiring following the 1972 NFL season, Ditka immediately began his coaching career with the Cowboys under Hall of Famer Tom Landry. That started a 23-year coaching career, highlighted by his time as head coach of the Bears from 1982 to 1992. Ditka returned to the sidelines from 1997 through
1999 as coach of the New Orleans Saints.
Ditka didn't create an expansive coaching tree like the likes of Landry, Bill Walsh, or Bill Parcells, but he did oversee multiple future NFL coaches. Here's what his coaching tree looked like:
Mike Ditka coaching tree
Buddy Ryan
Ryan pioneered the 46 defense in Chicago as the defensive coordinator under Ditka from 1982 to 1985. Ryan himself has an expansive coaching tree that he developed including his twin sons Rob and Rex, Jeff Fisher, Mike Singletary, Leslie Frazier, Ron Rivera, Jim Schwartz, and Wade Phillips.
Vince Tobin
Tobin, the uncle of Cincinnati Bengals' de facto general manager Duke Tobin, succeeded Ryan as the Bears' defensive coordinator in 1986. He'd serve in that role through 1992 and later became the Arizona Cardinals' head coach in 1996. From 1996 through Week 8 of the 2000 NFL season, Tobin coached 71 games with the Cardinals and went 28-43.
Dave McGinnis
McGinnis had a 43-year coaching career but got his first break in the NFL as a linebackers coach under Ditka from 1986 through 1992. He remained in that position with the Bears through 1995 before becoming the Cardinals' defensive coordinator in 1996 under Tobin. McGinnis later took over for Tobin in 2000 after his firing and remained the team's head coach through the end of the 2003 season. McGinnis went 17-40 in his time as the Cardinals' head coach.
Jack Del Rio
Del Rio had an 11-year NFL career with the Saints, Kansas City Chiefs, Cowboys, and Minnesota Vikings. He retired after the 1996 NFL season and got his first coaching job as the assistant strength coach with the Saints under Ditka in 1997. In 1998, he was the team's linebackers coach.
After stops in Baltimore and Carolina, Del Rio became the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars from 2003 to 2011 and he went 68-71 in the regular season and 1-2 in the playoffs. Four years later, he was named the head coach of the Las Vegas (then-Oakland) Raiders. In three seasons leading the Raiders, Del Rio went 25-23 in the regular season and 0-1 in the playoffs.
NFL coaches who played for Mike Ditka
Jeff Fisher
Fisher played under Ditka as a defensive back in 1982 and 1984, appearing in 25 total games. He never coached under Ditka, instead getting his start under Ryan. Fisher spent 22 years as an NFL head coach with the Houston/Tennessee Oilers/Titans as well as the St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams. He's tied with Bill Belichick and Dan Reeves for the most regular season losses in NFL history with 165.
Mike Singletary
Singletary played nearly his entire NFL career with Ditka as his head coach. The Bears' second round pick in the 1981 NFL Draft made 10 Pro Bowls and seven All-Pro teams from 1981 through 1992. He was the San Francisco 49ers' head coach from Week 8 of the 2008 season through Week 16 of the 2010 season. In that 40-game span, he went 18-22 as a coach.
Ron Rivera
Rivera spent his entire playing career under Ditka as a Bears linebacker from 1984 to 1992. He spent 13 years as a head coach in the NFL with the Carolina Panthers and Washington Commanders. He went 102-103-2 in the regular season and 3-5 in the playoffs as a coach, highlighted by an NFC conference championship in 2015.
Jim Harbaugh
Harbaugh was the Bears' first-round pick in the 1987 NFL Draft and spent six seasons under Ditka in Chicago before stints with the Indianapolis Colts, Baltimore Ravens, and Los Angeles (then-San Diego) Chargers. Harbaugh began coaching in the NFL in 2011 with the 49ers. He spent four seasons there and went 44-19-1 and 5-3 in the playoffs, including an NFC title in 2012. He returned to the NFL in 2024 as the Chargers' coach.
Leslie Frazier
Frazier had a five-year playing career as a Bears cornerback from 1981 to 1985 which included four seasons under Ditka. He got his first NFL coaching job with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1999 and eventually became head coach of the Minnesota Vikings in Week 12 of the 2010 NFL season. Over the next four seasons, Frazier went 21-32-1 as head coach and 0-1 in the playoffs.
Sean Payton
Payton played for Ditka for three games during the NFL Players Association strike in 1987, his lone NFL experience.
“It was just a month but Ditka left a big impression,” Payton told Sports Illustrated in 2015. "I was a Chicago kid; I knew him as a fan before I found myself in pads being yelled at by him. He’s a big guy. And you knew what kind of player he was—ferocious. And he had that mustache that’d freeze, and was it water? Or was it spit? I was scared to death. But what stayed with me was his intensity."
Payton is more considered part of Parcells' coaching tree due to his time as the Cowboys' assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach from 2003 to 2005. Starting in 2006, Payton spent 15 years as the Saints' head coach and went 152-89 in the regular and 9-8 in the playoffs, highlighted by a Super Bowl win in 2009. After a year off, Payton returned to the coaching ranks with the Denver Broncos.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mike Ditka coaching tree includes Jim Harbaugh and Sean Payton
