A familiar face returned to Bundesliga shores in March 2023 when former Dortmund and Mainz boss Tuchel replaced Julian Nagelsmann in the Bayern hot seat. Following successful stints at Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea, with whom he won the 2021 UEFA Champions League, Tuchel arrived at the Allianz Arena.
He aims to lead the Reds to their third treble in history. Although that proved to be beyond reach, Tuchel won his first Bundesliga title and Bayern's 11th in a row on a dramatic final day of the season.
Borussia Dortmund: Edin Terzic
The 40-year-old led Dortmund to the 2020/21 DFB Cup as caretaker boss, having served as assistant to predecessor Lucien Favre. He returned to the hot seat at Signal Iduna Park after the club parted ways with Marco Rose after one season.
A Dortmund fan who has been in the crowd for their previous triumphs down the years, Terzic worked his way through the coaching ranks at Borussia, either side of spells as assistant to Slaven Bilic at Besiktas and West Ham United, and he took the Black & Yellows closer than anybody to ending Bayern's hegemony last term, but for final-day heartbreak.
RB Leipzig: Marco Rose
Rose took charge of his hometown club, Leipzig, early last season after Domenico Tedesco's dismissal. The 46-year-old had a point to prove after having spent just 12 months at Dortmund, and he beat his former side in his first game in charge.
An 18-match unbeaten run, including Real Madrid's famous scalp, saw Die Roten Bullen pull back into European contention and advanceto the DFB Cup. Leipzig ultimately retained their 2021–22 title with a victory over Eintracht Frankfurt in Berlin. Rose also ensured they would be in the Champions League again this season.
Union Berlin: Urs Fischer
Fischer remains the only person to lead Union in the Bundesliga, improving each year since guiding them to promotion in 2019 and engraving his name both in the club's and the league's history books last term by guiding them into the UEFA Champions League. The Swiss tactician masterminded Die Eisernen’s finishes in 11th, seventh, fifth, and that historic fourth place last season.
This saw them qualify for European football's elite club competition for the first time ever. His work at Stadion An der Alten Försterei has been remarkable for a club that was in the fourth tier just over a decade ago. He was not even in the top flight of the East German league system at the time of reunification.
Freiburg: Christian Streich
The only person older than Fischer in the Bundesliga is Freiburg institution Streich. The 58-year-old has been at the helm in the Black Forest for over 11 years and has made history as their coach with the most wins and also the first to guide them to a DFB Cup final, where they came up narrowly short against Leipzig in 2021/22.
He also took Freiburg to within three points of Champions League qualification last term. His side occupied that illustrious fourth spot for a large part of the final day of the season.
Bayer Leverkusen: Xabi Alonso
After a disappointing start to the season under previous boss Gerardo Seoane, former Bayern midfielder Alonso was appointed Leverkusen manager. The Spaniard's experience in the dugout remains limited, with this being just his second job after three years at the helm of Real Sociedad's B team.
However, while there have already been ups and downs for him and his team during his stint at the BayArena, enough positives suggest he can succeed. Having played under Rafael Benitez, Jose Mourinho, Pep Guardiola, and Carlo Ancelotti, the 41-year-old knows what it takes to coach a winning team.
Eintracht Frankfurt: Dino Toppmöller
After sustained success in Luxembourg, 42-year-old Toppmöller moved to Leipzig to be part of Julian Nagelsmann's coaching staff, and he also followed him to Munich in 2021, deputizing for him in a UEFA Champions League win in Benfica and a Bundesliga victory over Hoffenheim as illness kept Nagelsmann off the touchline for a brief spell. The son of former Bayer Leverkusen coach Klaus Toppmöller, who famously led Die Werkself into the UEFA Champions League final in 2002, Dino followed Nagelsmann out the door at Bayern but is now back in the saddle for his first solo ride at the helm of a Bundesliga club, tasked with getting Frankfurt back onto the top European stage.
Wolfsburg: Niko Kovac
Prior to Oliver Glasner's UEFA Europa League success, the last coach to win a trophy with Frankfurt was Kovac. Kovac took charge of Wolfsburg in the summer of 2022, seven years after the Wolves' most recenttrophy. The 51-year-old returned to Germany after 18 months in French football with Monaco, where he earned praise for his style and also beat Paris Saint-Germain in 2020/21. The Berlin-born ex-Croatia international's last Bundesliga game prior to his Monegasque adventure came in November 2019 as his Bayern team were beaten 5-1 in Frankfurt, but only after he became the first person to win the Bundesliga and DFB Cup double both as a player and a coach when he guided Bayern to glory in his first season.
Mainz: Bo Svensson
The Dane took over in 2020–21, with Mainz looking doomed with six points from 14 games. However, he turned things around in style to save them and finish 12th with 39. He then led them to eighth with the club’s fourth-best points haul in Bundesligahistory. This was built largely on remarkable home form that saw them concede just 11 times in 17 games at the Mewa Arena. This was four fewer than any other team on home soil. Despite dropping one position to ninth last term, albeit with the same number of points (46), Svensson has brought some stability to Mainz and, whispering it quietly, could even follow in the illustrious footsteps of Tuchel and Jürgen Klopp by taking the 05ers on a European journey sometime soon.
Borussia Mönchengladbach: Gerardo Seoane
Seoane, 44, has signed a three-year contract with Gladbach following the departure of Daniel Papke. It is his first coaching role since departing Bundesliga rivals Bayer Leverkusen, where he held the reins from July 2021 until October 2022. After a playing career spent largely in his native Switzerland, Seoane cut his teeth as a coach at Luzern before taking over at Young Boys of Bern in 2018. Seoane won three consecutive Swiss Super League titles and the domestic cup in 2019/20. At Leverkusen, he guided Die Werkself to third place in his maiden Bundesliga campaign in 2021/22. He also guided Die Werkself to the round of 16 in the UEFA Europa League. He was relieved of his duties after Matchday 8 in 2022–23, following five defeats, two draws, and one win.
Cologne: Steffen Baumgart
The 51-year-old has brought life back to Effzeh since joining from Paderborn for the 2021/22 campaign. He took a team that survived relegation via the promotion/relegation play-off to one that finished a comfortable seventh, qualifying for continental football in the process. He has instilled a swashbuckling play style as well as a fearless, exciting approach. His touchline attire has been just as popular with the fans: Baumgart’s signature flat cap and polo shirt have become one of the most popular looks at Karneval.
Hoffenheim: Pellegrino Matarazzo
Hoffenheim was Matarazzo's second stop of the 2022–23 season, having been relieved of his duties by Stuttgart in October. The American was tasked with keeping them among the elite, and he succeeded comfortably. In his previous job, he successfullydisplayed coaching and tactical ability. He led Stuttgart to a top-half finish in their first season back in the Bundesliga in exciting style. Survival in 2021/22 was only confirmed in the last minute of Matchday 34.
Werder Bremen: Ole Werner
Ole’s been Werder boss since November 2021; Holstein Kiel boss until September; taking over with the relegated northern giants down in 10th after 15 games. The 35-year-old then won 28 of 30 points from his first 10 matches to put Bremen in pole position for promotion. Consistent team selection saw him finish the Bundesliga 2 campaign with 13 wins, four draws, and two defeats at the helm at the Weserstadion. This ensured the four-time Bundesliga champions returned to the big time at the first attempt.
Bochum: Thomas Letsch
Prior to his arrival at Bochum halfway through last season, Letsch was an unknown quantity in German football. He instead spent the majority of his top-level coaching career in Austria and the Netherlands, with Vitesse Arnhem. He led the latter to a fourth-place finish in the Eredivisie in 2021–22 and the Dutch Cup final, proving his credentials. There has been little to shout about for him at the Vonovia Ruhrstadion. However, many expected Bochum to be involved in a scrap at the bottom of the table. Keeping them in the division helped him reach his objective.
Augsburg: Enrico Maaßen
The 39-year-old joined Augsburg from Dortmund reserves last summer, impressing in the lower league. Knee problems forced the amateur midfielder to retire in 2014 from promoted fifth-tier side Drochtersen/Assel. He was named assistant coach shortly after, creating an attacking team that earned promotion to the fourth level in two years. The team narrowly lost 1-0 to Gladbach in the 2016/17 DFB Cup. He had to change his style at Rödinghausen, which he joined in 2018, stabilizing the team defensively before focusing on attacking play.
VfB Stuttgart: Sebastian Hoeneß If the surname sounds familiar to you, it's likely because football is an important family business. Sebastian is the son of former Germany international Dieter and the nephew of former Bayern Munich president Uli.
The 41-year-old became Stuttgart's third coach of the 2022–23 season, following Matarazzo and Bruno Labaddia. He led them to survival with a convincing 6-1aggregate victory over Hamburg in the play-offs. That earned him an opportunity to lead the Swabians into the upcoming season, one that they hope will be less hair-raising than the last.
Heidenheim: Frank Schmidt
There can be absolutely no doubt about the man who has had the biggest influence on Heidenheim's rags-to-riches rise. Schmidt took the reins of Heidenheim shortly after its restructuring in 2007 and has never looked back. He masterminded the aforementioned promotions and guided his side to five Württemberg Cup victories. He also led them to the quarterfinals of the 2018/19 DFB Cup. There, they came close to a stunning upset against eventual champions Bayern Munich in a barnstorming nine-goal thriller. Nearly 16 years later, he is still in the Heidenheim hotseat and boasts the unofficial title of the longest-serving current coach in German professional football, ahead of Freiburg's Streich (appointed in December 2011).
Darmstadt: Torsten Lieberknecht
A former teammate and roommate of Klopp's at Mainz, 49-year-old Lieberknecht is in regular contact with the UEFA Champions League-winning coach, exchanging ideas about squad management and tactics. Lieberknecht has a track record of success in the business world. He took Eintracht Braunschweig from the third division to the Bundesliga, marking a return to the top flight after a 28-year wait, in five seasons. Though a subsequent spell at Duisburg did not work out as well, ending with his departure in November 2020, it seems he and Darmstadt were made for each other. He led them back into the big time last season and will look to keep them there this season.
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