The most loyal: Frank Schmidt has been in charge of 1. FC Heidenheim since 17th September 2007, making him the longest-serving coach of a single team in this season’s edition of the DFB-Pokal.
Five years: Only three other coaches have spent at least five years at their respective clubs: Daniel Jurgeleit, who has been leading Weiche Flensburg since 12th August 2010, Christian Streich, who has been in charge at Freiburg since 29th December 2011, and Sven Körner, who has been at 1. FC Lok Stendal since 1st July 2013.
Debutants: 18 of the 64 coaches in the first round of the DFB-Pokal this season have never coached a team in the domestic cup competition. However, five of these debutants (Timo Wenzel, Thomas Hoffmann, Mike Terranova, Steven Jones and Daniel Jurgeleit) have experience in the competition as a player. Current SC Weiche 08 coach Jurgeleit played 21 DFB-Pokal games in total – he played in the competition for Union Solingen, FC 08 Homburg, VfB Lübeck and Holstein Kiel, scoring five goals in total.
Diversity: The 64 coaches in the first round originate from nine different countries.
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A 28-year-old whippersnapper, an oldie with 33 victories under his belt – DFB.de takes a closer look at the dugout and the 64 coaches who will take part in the first round of the DFB-Pokal.
The most experienced: Bundesliga newcomers Fortuna Düsseldorf’s coach Friedhelm Funkel by far and away tops the ranking with 60 DFB-Pokal games. Borussia Mönchengladbach’s Dieter Hecking lies in second place with 49 games, followed closely by RB Leipzig’s Ralf Rangnick with 42 games. The first round therefore brings about a milestone for Hecking: his team’s game against BSC Hastedt will be his 50th DFB-Pokal game as a coach.
Title collector: Three of the 64 coaches in the 2018/19 DFB-Pokal know what it is like to coach a team to the title in Berlin. Ralf Rangnick won in 2011 when his Schalke team beat MSV Duisburg 5-0. Dieter Hecking took the title in 2015 with VfL Wolfsburg courtesy of a 3-1 win against Dortmund. Last season, Niko Kovac’s Eintracht Frankfurt team overcame the overwhelming favourites Bayern 3-1 for what was his first title as a coach.
Lonely Kovac: Niko Kovac is the only coach in this year’s competition to have previously won the title as both a player and coach. He won as a player with FC Bayern in 2003 and as a coach with Frankfurt in 2018. However, Union Berlin coach Urs Fischer achieved the same feat in Switzerland, in 2000 as a player and 2017 as a coach, while new Frankfurt coach Adi Hütter did the same in the Austria in 2002 as a player and 2015 as a coach.
Title success as a player: Six other coaches have taken the title as players: Andre Breitenreiter (1992 with Hannover), Bruno Labbadia (1990 with Kaiserslautern), Claus-Dieter Wollitz (1996 with Kaiserslautern), Friedhelm Funkel (1985 with Uerdingen), Rene Rydlewicz (1993 with Leverkusen) and Heiko Herrlich (1993 with Leverkusen and in 1995 with Gladbach).
Most wins: The coach with the most wins in DFB-Pokal competition is Friedhelm Funkel with 33 victories. He is followed by Dieter Hecking with 31 and Ralf Rangnick with 28.
The oldie: Friedhelm Funkel will be the oldest of the 64 first-round coaches in the 2018/19 DFB-Pokal. Funkel was born in 1953 and will celebrate his 65th birthday on 10th December.
The young buck: The youngest coach in this season’s competition is Key Riebau of SSV Jeddeloh II. Riebau was born in 1990 and will be 28 on 12th May. Riebau is therefore the first ever person born in the 1990s to coach a team in the DFB-Pokal.
The most loyal: Frank Schmidt has been in charge of 1. FC Heidenheim since 17th September 2007, making him the longest-serving coach of a single team in this season’s edition of the DFB-Pokal.
Five years: Only three other coaches have spent at least five years at their respective clubs: Daniel Jurgeleit, who has been leading Weiche Flensburg since 12th August 2010, Christian Streich, who has been in charge at Freiburg since 29th December 2011, and Sven Körner, who has been at 1. FC Lok Stendal since 1st July 2013.
Debutants: 18 of the 64 coaches in the first round of the DFB-Pokal this season have never coached a team in the domestic cup competition. However, five of these debutants (Timo Wenzel, Thomas Hoffmann, Mike Terranova, Steven Jones and Daniel Jurgeleit) have experience in the competition as a player. Current SC Weiche 08 coach Jurgeleit played 21 DFB-Pokal games in total – he played in the competition for Union Solingen, FC 08 Homburg, VfB Lübeck and Holstein Kiel, scoring five goals in total.
Diversity: The 64 coaches in the first round originate from nine different countries.