Rangnick was one of the first coaches to publicise football tactics, notably during a ZDF SportsStudio TV broadcast in December 1998. As a result, Rangnick became known as the "professor"; a title initially used to jeer him, which then grew to be used to show respect.
Early career Rangnick began his coaching career in the 1980s, first as
player-coach at his hometown club Viktoria Backnang, then continuing on to play and coach at
VfB Stuttgart II and TSV Lippoldsweiler. In 1988, he became the head coach at SC Korb, remaining for two seasons before returning to
VfB Stuttgart for four seasons to manage the Under 19 team. In 1991, he won the U-19 Bundesliga (German: A-Junioren Bundesliga), the highest honor in German U-19 football. Rangnick then returned to first team management in 1995 with two seasons as head coach at
Reutlingen 05. He took the club to a fourth-place finish in his first season. They began the following campaign strong, with the club in the midst of the promotion push by Christmas. However, Rangnick would not see the season to its finish as he was sought after by his former club Ulm in January 1997. Reutlingen were in fifth position when Rangnick left the club. His first match in charge of Ulm finished in a 2–0 loss to
Greuther Fürth. Ulm were also positioned in the Regionalliga Süd, and although Rangnick could only manage a sixth-place position from the remainder of the 1996–97 season, they started the following season with a 3–1 win against Karlsruhe II. They won the Regionalliga Süd Championship in 1998. Rangnick adapted well to life in the
2. Bundesliga, and Ulm mounted a strong promotion push that led them to the Bundesliga for the first time in their history in 2000. During the winter break of his second season, he signed a deal to move to top flight VfB Stuttgart for the next season. This was supposed to remain secret until the end of the season, but in February it was leaked out into public knowledge. This caused an outcry, especially as the team began to lose ground in the table, and by the end of March, Rangnick resigned from the post prematurely for the club's final five matches. His final match was a 2–0 loss to
Unterhaching.
VfB Stuttgart On 3 May 1999, Rangnick took control of VfB Stuttgart, He won two out of the club's five final matches. The following season was much tougher, however the team succeeded in making the round of 16 in the
2000–01 UEFA Cup after winning the
UEFA Intertoto Cup, and the semi-finals of the
DFB-Pokal. Nonetheless, Stuttgart's
Bundesliga form left them hovering in the relegation zone by the halfway point. After their European exit in February 2001, Stuttgart dismissed Rangnick. His final match was 2–1 loss to
Celta Vigo in the UEFA Cup on 22 February 2001. Stuttgart were in 17th place at the time of his sacking. Rangnick finished with a record of 36 wins, 16 draws and 34 losses. His first match was a 1–1 draw against
Union Berlin on 30 July 2001. His first season was a complete success as they romped home as champions and were promoted to the Bundesliga after a 13-year absence. Their first season back at the top level saw them consolidate with an 11th-place finish, but, as their form nosedived in the second half of the
2003–04 season, Rangnick was dismissed following a 0–1 defeat at
Borussia Mönchengladbach in March 2004. Hannover were in 15th place at the time of his sacking. Rangnick finished with a record of 44 wins, 22 draws and 32 losses.
Schalke 04 After missing out on the role as assistant manager for the
Germany national team to
Joachim Löw, Rangnick was hired by
Schalke 04 on 28 September 2004, after
Jupp Heynckes left just weeks into the
2004–05 season. Rangnick again tasted European action as the club had earned a
UEFA Cup spot via the
UEFA Intertoto Cup. His first match was in the UEFA Cup. Schalke won 4–0 against
Metalurgs Liepājas. The next season started well, with Rangnick defeating former club VfB Stuttgart 1–0 and securing the
2005 DFL-Ligapokal. Their second-place league finish of the previous year had also qualified them for the
2005–06 UEFA Champions League, Rangnick's first entry into the prestigious competition. However, the team would fail to progress beyond the group stage, and sat ten points off the pace in the
Bundesliga, as well as having crashed 0–6 in the
DFB-Pokal to
Eintracht Frankfurt. He left with a record of 36 wins, 15 draws and 14 losses.
TSG Hoffenheim in 2007 Rangnick's next appointment as head coach was at
TSG Hoffenheim of the Regionalliga Süd for the
2006–07 season. His first match was a 2–2 draw against
1860 Munich II on 5 August 2006. The team instantly won promotion and played the
2007–08 season in the
2. Bundesliga for their first time in their history. The stay in the 2. Bundesliga was short, as a second-place finish for Hoffenheim in 2007–08 earned the club, and Rangnick, promotion to the Bundesliga for the
2008–09 season. They also reached the quarter-finals of the
DFB-Pokal. During the 2008–09 season, Hoffenheim reached the second round of the
DFB-Pokal. In the first half of the season, Hoffenheim won 35 out of 51 available points, however in the second half, the club won only 20 out of 51 points to drop down to seventh place. During the
2009–10 season, Hoffenheim reached the quarter-finals of the
DFB-Pokal. Hoffenheim finished in eleventh place in the
Bundesliga. On 2 January 2011, Rangnick resigned as head coach of Hoffenheim, citing the sale of midfielder
Luiz Gustavo to Bayern Munich, of which he had not been informed, as his reason for resigning from the club. Rangnick's final match was a 2–0 win against
Borussia Mönchengladbach on 21 December 2010 in the DFB-Pokal. Hoffenheim were in eighth place when Rangnick left the club. Rangnick finished with a record of 79 wins, 43 draws and 44 losses.
Return to Schalke 04 In March 2011, Rangnick was named as the replacement for
Felix Magath as coach of Schalke 04. His first match was a 2–0 forfeit win against
St. Pauli on 1 April 2011. The game was stopped in the 89th minute, after a beer mug was thrown at the assistant, overshadowing Rangnick's successful debut at Millerntor. At the time of the cancellation, Schalke was leading 2–0. Just weeks after being named the new Schalke coach, Rangnick led his old club to their first
UEFA Champions League semi-finals by defeating holders
Inter Milan 7–3 on aggregate. However, Schalke were eliminated by
Manchester United in the semi-finals. Schalke began the
2011–12 season by defeating
Borussia Dortmund in a shootout in the
2011 DFL-Supercup. On 22 September 2011, Rangnick stepped down as Schalke's coach due to
chronic fatigue syndrome, stating he did not have "the necessary energy to be successful and to develop the team and the club". He finished with a record of ten wins, three draws and ten losses. His first match was a 1–0 win against
Frankfurt on 25 July, and Rangnick secured promotion to the Bundesliga with the win against
Karlsruher SC on 8 May 2016. On 16 May, Leipzig announced
Ralph Hasenhüttl would take over from Rangnick. Rangnick finished with a record of 21 wins, seven draws and eight losses. On 9 July 2018, Rangnick took over, once again, as coach of RB Leipzig. He won his first match on his return 4–0 against Swedish club
Häcken in the
second qualifying round of the
Europa League. Leipzig eventually won the tie 5–1 on aggregate. They then eliminated
Universitatea Craiova in the
third qualifying round. The first domestic match (and victory) came against
Viktoria Köln in the
German Cup, Leipzig's first
Bundesliga match took place on 26 August 2018. Leipzig qualified for the
Europa League group stage after knocking out
Zorya Luhansk with a 3–2 aggregate score in the play-off round. In the group stage, they were drawn against
Red Bull Salzburg,
Celtic and
Rosenborg, finishing in third in the group stage. Notwithstanding, the club ended the season third in
Bundesliga, qualified to the
UEFA Champions League for the
2019–20 season, and reached the
DFB-Pokal final, losing to
Bayern Munich. Rangnick finished his second term as coach with a record of 29 wins, 13 draws and ten losses. Although the board had initially decided to give
caretaker manager
Michael Carrick a longer run of games while scouting replacements, Rangnick quickly emerged as the outstanding candidate during interviews, and was appointed as interim manager until the end of the season on 29 November 2021. Following this period, it was stated he would continue in a consultancy role for a further two years. He officially took charge a few days later on 2 December, following the approval of his
work permit. His first match saw the club victorious against
Crystal Palace 1–0 with a goal from
Fred. Rangnick quite often talked about intensity, physicality, energy as all the technical qualities being necessary to be successful. Results under Rangnick were good until a Champions League game against Atlético Madrid in February, but the first signs were visible that the temporary nature of the spell and having no long-term plan caused uncertainty. After overseeing United lose 4–0 to rivals Liverpool in April 2022, Rangnick suggested that Liverpool were "six years ahead" of United, and outlined the club's need to invest in the upcoming transfer window. The German expressed his frustration with his spell at Manchester United as it came to a close at the end of the
season, stating: "In the end, I'm not happy with the results". United finished the season in sixth place with 58 points, which was until the
2024–25 season the worst points-total record in their Premier League history. The club and Rangnick decided that he would not continue with his planned consultancy role with the club, due to the demands of his new role at the Austria national team.
Austria national team On 29 April 2022, Rangnick was appointed manager of the
Austria national team on a two-year deal, starting in June. Austria had just failed to qualify for the
2022 FIFA World Cup, finishing fourth behind Denmark, Scotland, and Israel, and then losing the
play off against Wales. One of his goals is to bring back the fans by entertaining football, and showing team spirit. On 3 June, Rangnick's first game in charge finished in a 3–0 win over
Croatia in the
UEFA Nations League A. However, that remained Austria's only victory of
the season and, following a 3–1 defeat to Croatia on 25 September, they got relegated to
League B. On 16 October 2023, the team
qualified for
UEFA Euro 2024. As a result, his contract with Austria national team was automatically extended through to the
2026 FIFA World Cup. In April 2024, Rangnick was approached by
Bayern Munich, but despite holding talks with the club he turned down their interest and reaffirmed his commitment to Austria. Rangnick's first game at Euro 2024 ended in a 1–0 loss to
France. However, Austria won their next two group games with a 3–1 win against
Poland and a 3–2 win against the
Netherlands to finish
top of the group. Austria were subsequently eliminated in the round of 16, losing 2–1 to
Turkey. ==Executive career==