#Younger coaches staking their claim in rat race

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Bill Belichick is at home. So is Mike Tomlin, Pete Carroll, Sean Payton, John Harbaugh and Mike McCarthy. Eight teams still have a chance to win the Super Bowl, but Kansas City’s Andy Reid is the only head coach of the eight active leaders in wins with a chance to win another ring this season.

Belichick hasn’t won a playoff game since he let Tom Brady leave. Payton didn’t make the postseason in his first season without Drew Brees. Tomlin hasn’t won a playoff game in four years. Carroll has one playoff win in the past five years. Harbaugh has one playoff win in the past seven years.

This weekend’s divisional playoff round may signal a change in the NFL coaching hierarchy, with six of the eight remaining head coaches having no more than five years of experience in charge and a combined average age under 42.