Nagelsmann played at youth level for 1860 Munich and Augsburg, before persistent knee injuries ended his career at U19 level. He took Business Administration in university for four semesters, until he transferred to Sports Science. Afterwards, he moved into coaching, returning to former club Augsburg, where he briefly worked under Thomas Tuchel.
Managerial career
Early career
He was an assistant coach during 1899 Hoffenheim's 2012–13 season and up until 11 February 2016, was coaching the club's U19 team. During his time as assistant coach, Tim Wiese nicknamed him "Mini-Mourinho." He has also coached U16 to U19 teams for other clubs in the southwest of Germany. He coached Hoffenheim's U19 "junior team" to win the 2013–14 Under 19 Bundesliga title.
Nagelsmann was appointed head coach of 1899 Hoffenheim on 27 October 2015. He was due to begin his tenure at the beginning of the 2016–17 season. He was given a three-year contract. At the time of his appointment, Nagelsmann was 28, and the youngest manager in Bundesliga history. He was to be the successor for Huub Stevens, who had replaced Markus Gisdol the previous day. On 10 February 2016, Stevens resigned as head coach due to health problems, and Nagelsmann's tenure as head coach was brought forward by the Hoffenheim board a day later. When Nagelsmann took over the club in February 2016, Hoffenheim were 17th in the table, 7 points from the safety of 15th spot and facing relegation. Under Nagelsmann they avoided relegation by winning 7 of their remaining 14 matches and finished a point above the relegation playoff spot. Their good run of play continued in the 2016–17 Bundesliga season, where they finished 4th in the table and qualified for the UEFA Champions Leaguefor the first time in their history. On 9 June 2017, Hoffenheim extended the contract of Nagelsmann until 2021. On 21 June 2018, Hoffenheim announced that Nagelsmann would be leaving the club at the end of the 2018–19 season. He made his 100th league appearance as Hoffenheim manager on 19 January 2019, in a 3–1 defeat to Bayern Munich. In doing so, he became the youngest ever Bundesliga manager to reach the 100 match milestone.
RB Leipzig
On 21 June 2019, RB Leipzig announced that Nagelsmann would be their manager from the 2019–20 season and signed a four-year contract which would expire in 2023. Nagelsmann won his first Bundesliga match as RB Leipzig manager against FC Union Berlin 4–0, he also led Leipzig to a 1–1 draw against FC Bayern Munich. On Match day 10 Leipzig won against Mainz 8–0. Nagelsmann faced his former club Hoffenheim on match day 14 and won 3–1 against them. On 10 March 2020, following Leipzig's 4–0 win against Tottenham Hotspur, Nagelsmann became the youngest coach in history to win a UEFA Champions League knockout tie.
