His most notable managerial achievements to date include coaching the Turkey national team to third place in the 2002 FIFA World Cup and winning two Süper Lig titles; both of them with Beşiktaş.

In the 1978–79 season, he set the Süper Lig clean sheet record by not conceding a single goal for 1,110 minutes.

[3] He was part of the "Trabzonpor Efsanesi" (literally "The Legend of Trabzonspor", a name given by the Turkish press) along with other local players such as Turgay Semercioğlu, Necmi Perekli and Ali Kemal Denizci.

On 8 December 2006, FC Seoul, one of the leading football clubs in the K League, announced their three-year contract with Güneş starting from 2007.

[4] Three years later, Güneş returned to his hometown as head coach of Trabzonspor for the fourth time, replacing Hugo Broos.

[12] On 28 February 2019, it was announced that Güneş would take the Turkey national team managerial post for a second time on a four-year deal, 15 years after his last stint, effective from 1 June 2019.

[14] On 28 October 2022, Güneş joined Beşiktaş for his second stint, following the departure of French head coach Valérien Ismaël.

[15] On 10 September 2024 Şenol Güneş signed a two-and-a-half year contract with Trabzonspor, becoming the club's head coach.