Going Pro: College Football Coaches Historically Struggle in the NFL

Greg Schiano’s decision to leave Rutgers for the Tampa Bay head coaching opening marks the next installment in a long series of college coaches trying their hand at the NFL level.

Though it’s completely unknown how Schiano, who went 68-67 over his 11 seasons at Rutgers, will fare in the pros, we do know that the history of college coaches in the NFL is by-and-large a tale of failure rather than success.

Yes, there have been the exceptions, those who have made good at both levels, but overall the college to pro transition has been a perilous one for head football coaches.

Is it due to dealing with adults rather than kids?  Is it due to the higher win totals being harder to reach in the pros (making comparisons more difficult)? Is it the higher level of competition and talent spread across 32 teams rather than 120?

Or is it due to the source of the athletic talent which is a controlled draft rather than the wide-open nature of recruiting?

 Regardless of why, the following slideshow pinpoints successful college football coaches who have made the move to the NFL and then reveals what happened next in the course of their careers.

The first 13 slides highlight coaches who tanked in the NFL, and the final six slides mention coaches who were at least marginally successful at both levels.

This obviously is not meant to be a complete list of coaches who have advanced levels, but instead it serves as a means of making the point that success at one level doesn’t guarantee victory at the other.

If history means anything, in less than three seasons we’ll know which of the two categories Greg Schiano belongs in. If we’re going to use the past as an instrument to predict the future, it might be far from peaches and cream for Schiano in the NFL ranks.

 

Bobby Petrino

Record as a College Head Coach: 75-26

Record as an NFL Head Coach: 3-10

Petrino spent all but three of his 20 years as an assistant coach at the college level and ascended to the ranks of head coach when he took the Louisville job in 2003.

Petrino was 41-9 in his four seasons at Louisville, where he won a C-USA title and a Big East crown and led the Cardinals to an Orange Bowl victory in 2006.

The successful stint beefed up his resume to the point that the Atlanta Falcons came calling in 2007, an experiment that wound up being a short-lived affair as Petrino resigned after a single season.

Bobby Petrino returned to college ball in 2008 and thus far is 34-17 in four seasons as the head man at Arkansas, which is an impressive mark in the scary SEC West.

 

 

Steve Spurrier

Record as a College Head Coach:  197-75-2

Record as an NFL Head Coach: 12-20

Steve Spurrier’s college to NFL story is a bit more complicated than others because his first job as a head coach actually came in the USFL when he led the Tampa Bay Bandits to a 35-19 record from 1983-85.

When the USFL finally folded, Spurrier joined the college ranks where he has amassed his impressive collegiate record with stops at Duke, Florida and now South Carolina.

Spurrier’s much-publicized move to the NFL with the Washington Redskins, between jobs at Florida and South Carolina, flopped royally, making him one of the most visible members of the association of successful college coaches who tanked in the NFL.

 

Nick Saban

Record as a College Head Coach: 145-54-1

Record as an NFL Head Coach: 15-17

Nick Saban has won three national championships as a college head coach with whistle stops at Toledo, Michigan State, LSU and now Alabama.

Like Spurrier, Saban left a successful stint at LSU behind to try his hand at the NFL, only to enjoy hugely underwhelming results.

Saban’s pro debacle came with the Miami Dolphins (2005-06), a job he fled in favor of the more fertile fields of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where he has already managed two national titles in the last three years.

Dennis Erickson

Record as a College Head Coach: 179-96-1

Record as an NFL Head Coach: 40-56

Dennis Erickson has served as a head football coach at six college football programs (seven if you count each stint at Idaho individually) and two NFL franchises.

Yes, if anyone’s been ridden hard and put up wet in coaching, it’s the Teflon-like Erickson.

Overall, Erickson owns two national titles and seven conference crowns via collegiate tour stops at Idaho, Wyoming, Washington State, Miami (FL), Oregon State and Arizona State.

In the NFL, Erickson’s win/loss stats come by way of the Seattle Seahawks in the mid-1990s and then two seasons at San Francisco in the early 2000s.

 

Butch Davis

Record as a College Head Coach: 99-43

Record as an NFL Head Coach: 24-34

Butch Davis got his first opportunity as a head football coach at Miami, FL in 1995, a job that came straight off of spending six seasons as a defensive assistant and then coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys.

And after going 51-20 over six seasons at Miami and earning three Big East crowns, the collegiate success plus previous NFL experience made Davis seem like the right guy to take over the Cleveland Browns in 2001.

But Davis, like many who came both before him and after him, struggled in the pro ranks and ultimately suffered through four forgettable seasons, which led to his four-year campaign as the head guy at North Carolina from 2007-10.

 

Mike Riley

Record as a College Head Coach: 72-63

Record as an NFL Head Coach: 14-34

Mike Riley’s coaching career isn’t straightforward from a collegiate/pro standpoint, as his first head job was in the CFL followed by a short stint at Oregon State, then three seasons at the NFL's San Diego Chargers and then his long-term (and continuing) stretch back with the Beavers.

Even without a Pac-12 title, Riley has been far more successful as a college coach than he was during his 1999-2001 spell in the NFL.

 

June Jones

Record as a College Head Coach: 100-69

Record as an NFL Head Coach: 22-36

June Jones may not technically belong on this list because he started his head football coaching career in the NFL, struggled there and then went on to be a winner at two tough collegiate posts.

Jones led the Atlanta Falcons from 1994-96 before ultimately returning to his alma mater Hawaii in 1999, followed by his present post at SMU that began in 2008.

Regardless of the schematics, Jones is made of the stuff that wins at the college level and not so much at the pros.

Chan Gailey

Record as a College Head Coach: 68-41

Record as an NFL Head Coach: 28-38

Chan Gailey is another guy whose head coaching career hasn’t been necessarily straightforward.

Gailey’s first head job was at Troy from 1983-8,4 followed by the Birmingham Fire (WLFA) from 1991-92, Samford in 1993, the Dallas Cowboys from 1998-99, Georgia Tech from 2001-07 and finally the Buffalo Bills from 2010 until present.

Though Gailey never won a conference crown at the FBS level, he did lead Troy to a NCAA Division II national championship in 1984.

Bud Wilkinson

Record as a College Head Coach: 145-29-4

Record as an NFL Head Coach: 9-20

From 1947-63, Bud Wilkinson’s Oklahoma teams dominated the college football landscape to the tune of 14 Big Eight titles and three national championships.

What’s easier to forget is the fact that after 15 years out of coaching, Wilkinson was persuaded to coach the St. Louis Cardinals from 1978-79 in what was ultimately a forgettable two-year stretch back on the sidelines.

Tommy Prothro

Record as a College Head Coach: 104-55-5

Record as an NFL Head Coach: 35-51-2

In case the name Tommy Prothro doesn’t ring any bells, he led Oregon State to a 63-37-2 mark from 1955-64 and then took UCLA to a 41-18-3 mark from 1965-70.

Prothro had six teams finish in the top 10, won four conference championships and earned three berths to the Rose Bowl (once at Oregon State and twice at UCLA) in an era where making a bowl game was still a huge honor.

Prothro’s NFL experience came on the heels of his collegiate success but never quite panned out.  He led the then-L.A. Rams from 1971-72 and then closed out his coaching career at San Diego from 1974-78.

John McKay

Record as a College Head Coach: 127-40-8

Record as an NFL Head Coach: 44-88-1

It’s almost unfair to pin the “you didn’t get it done in the NFL” badge on John McKay because he is the guy who bravely took on the task of leading Tampa Bay from the infancy of an expansion team in an era where there were no draft advantages or helpful ways to grab talent from other franchises.

McKay was the decorated leader of powerhouse USC from 1960-75, winning nine conference titles and four national championships.

Though McKay’s NFL career wasn’t pretty, he deserves a shout-out for leading the 1979 Buccaneers to a shocking 10-6 record and a berth into the NFC Championship, just one step from the Super Bowl in their fourth year of existence.

Lane Kiffin

Record as a College Head Coach: 25-13

Record as an NFL Head Coach: 5-15

Since Lane Kiffin got his start as a head coach during an ugly spell at Oakland from 2007-08, it’s impossible to say he belongs on this list because his career moves came out of order (technically).

And this point is somewhat exasperated by the fact you could argue that Kiffin isn’t a bona fide collegiate success…yet.

But, despite all the disclaimers, Kiffin tanked big time in the NFL, and it would seem that he has all the pieces in place to make a long run at USC, making him a one-level type guy.

 

 

Barry Switzer

Record as a College Head Coach: 157-29-4

Record as an NFL Head Coach: 40-24

Even though Barry Switzer’s NFL record (earned at Dallas from 1994-97) is a long way from being awful, it’s also hard to make a logical argument that he was as good a coach at the pro level that he was during his long tenure at Oklahoma.

Switzer won three national and 12 Big Eight crowns from 1973-88 at Oklahoma. Though he won a Super Bowl and three division titles at Dallas, he was handed the reins to one of the most stacked teams in NFL history when he took over in 1994.

Switzer was a great college football coach, but it seems highly dubious to claim that he was anywhere as dominant in his brief but glitzy NFL career.

Jimmy Johnson

Record as a College Head Coach: 81-34-3

Record as an NFL Head Coach: 89-68

Jimmy Johnson kicks off the portion of our presentation where we list a few of the exceptions to the rule that college football coaches struggle in the NFL, and he may be the most successful upward transition story in history.

Johnson’s total football resume reads like a dream sequence…a college football national championship, two NFC championships and two Super Bowl rings.

The name Jimmy Johnson is defined by success at every top level of football.

 

Tom Coughlin

Record as a College Head Coach: 21-13-1

Record as an NFL Head Coach: 142-114

When you think of Tom Coughlin in the present, you no doubt picture the guy who will soon lead his NY Giants to their second Super Bowl appearance in his eight-year tenure.

Before that, you may look back to the coach who made a mark with the then-expansion Jacksonville Jaguars and came out with an impressive 68-60 record.

But what about Tom Coughlin in college?

Well, Coughlin led Boston College to a 21-13-1 mark from 1991-93, including leading BC to season-ending AP rankings in his final two seasons.

Coughlin is another guy who has managed to get it done at both levels.

Bobby Ross

Record as a College Head Coach:  103-101-2

Record as an NFL Head Coach: 77-68

Though Bobby Ross hasn’t enjoyed the extreme success of a Jimmy Johnson, he has definitely found a way to win wherever he’s coached.

As a college guy, Ross made stops at The Citadel (1973-77), Maryland (1982-86), Georgia Tech (1987-91) and then Army (2004-06) where he earned three ACC titles, the 1990 national championship and a 4-2 record in bowls.

As a pro coach, he served at San Diego (1992-96) and Detroit (1997-2000), earning an AFC title with the Chargers in 1994.

Paul Brown

Record as a College Head Coach: 18-8-1

Record as an NFL Head Coach: 206-104-10

Though Paul Brown will always be predominately considered one of the greatest coaches in the history of the NFL, if it hadn’t have been for World War II, he may have never made it to the pros and to the team that bears his name.

Before taking over at Cleveland in 1946 and then Cincinnati in 1968, Brown was the head coach at Ohio State from 1941-43, where he earned a national championship in 1942.

Brown’s stint at his dream job at Ohio State ended when the war called for his services. Though he wanted to return to his pre-war role in Columbus, a conflict with the AD at the time meant that the call home never came, and thus began his NFL career.

At the pro level, Brown won four AAFC titles and three NFL championships.

Brown was the kind of coach who would have been supremely dominant regardless of his long-term level (he also won four high school national championships). It’s intriguing to think what kind of records he might have racked up if he had stayed in college ball.

Pete Carroll

Record as a College Head Coach: 83-19

Record as an NFL Head Coach: 47-49

Though the jury is still out on Pete Carroll as an NFL coach and though it will be difficult for him to repeat his success levels at USC at any other coaching stop, he certainly has not completely tanked as a pro.

To go along six Pac-12 championships and two national championships, Carroll has led three NFL teams to the playoffs and captured two divisional titles.

If Carroll can ever put Seattle back into contention (i.e. a conference championship), his stock will rise substantially.

 

 

 

 

 

Jim Harbaugh

Record as a College Head Coach: 58-27

Record as an NFL Head Coach: 13-3

Yes, Jim Harbaugh has only coached in the NFL for a single season, but turning San Francisco into a 13-3 team and coming within a couple of plays of the Super Bowl pretty much seals the deal that he can get it done at both levels.

Before going 29-21 at Stanford from 2007-10, Harbaugh went 29-6 and captured two conference championships from 2004-06 at the University of San Diego.

If things continue at the same level of success, Harbaugh may prove to be one of the great double-level coaches in history.