The 10 Best NFL-to-College Coaching Moves Ever

In case anyone needed evidence that college football coaching jobs can be every bit as desirable as professional gigs, you need only take a look at the list of coaches who have shunned the ranks of the professionals for the good old college game.

Okay, so not every coach is as successful in the NFL as they are in college, but that doesn't mean the college game doesn't have its appeal. And several coaches have used the switch to the college game to their advantage—as well as the program's advantage.

Let's face it; the NFL isn't the end-all and be-all of football coaching any more. Heck, even ESPN, the relentless cheerleader of the NFL, admits that there are college jobs that can pull coaches away from the pros.

Not every former NFL coach is successful in the college game, but many are. From turning around a career or a program to winning conference and national championships, here are 10 of the best NFL-to-college coaching moves in history.

Jim Mora

After finishing just 5-11 in his final season (2009) in the NFL, Jim Mora was fired by the Seattle Seahawks and replaced with then-USC head coach Pete Carroll.

It might seem fitting to some that Mora is now the head coach of USC's cross-town rival, UCLA.

While it's much too soon to consider this a truly great NFL-to-college coaching move, the fact remains that it can't get much worse for the Bruins.

Can it?

Bill Walsh

When Bill Walsh left an assistant position with the San Diego Chargers in 1976 to take over as the head coach at Stanford, it was still regarded by many in the professional football world as somehow a sort of demotion.

But Walsh set about building a foundation of success at Stanford—something he would get a second opportunity to build on later in his career.

After leaving Stanford just two years later to take over for the cross-town San Francisco 49ers, Walsh presided over one of the great dynasties of the NFL. His 49ers won three Super Bowl titles, and Walsh amassed a record of 92-59-1 before he retired immediately following his Super Bowl XXIII victory.

The broadcast booth didn't satisfy him for long, as Walsh again returned to Stanford in 1992. This final coaching move removed the last of the perceived stigma of an NFL coach taking over a college program.

In his first season, Walsh's Cardinal team posted a 10-3 record, finishing with the No. 9 ranking in the final AP Poll.

After three seasons, Walsh retired again—this time for good (although he later became the GM for the 49ers).

Because of Walsh's contribution to removing the negative connotations associated with an NFL coach moving to the college ranks, he earns a spot on our list.

Bill O'Brien

Bill O'Brien was a curious selection for the first new head coach at Penn State in nearly half a century.

Bill O'Brien is best known for his rich NFL coaching pedigree, having been an assistant coach—most recently offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach—with the powerful New England Patriots organization.

But O'Brien has previous experience as a college assistant at Brown, Georgia Tech, Maryland and Duke.

While we haven't seen much from O'Brien yet, as he a still a few months away from coaching his first college game as a head coach, we recognize him for what he's already brought to Penn State—beyond stabilizing the recruiting mess in the wake of the horrible scandal in State College.

O'Brien has brought a calming influence to State College. Not only is O'Brien a no nonsense type of coach, he also has absolutely no previous connection to Penn State. That's exactly what this program needed following the horrible allegations surrounding its former defensive coordinator and the seeming lack of action by the entire football institution following the initial discover of those allegations.

Even if O'Brien never wins a game at Penn State—which is highly unlikely—he'll have served a very important purpose in restoring some stability to a program absolutely rocked by the scandal, subsequent firing of Joe Paterno and the ensuing passing of the college coaching legend.

Joe Walton

Joe Walton may not be a name most college football fans know.

But they should.

Joe Walton got his coaching start as a scout for the New York Giants in 1967. After years of varying coaching jobs for different pro teams, Walton was named head coach for the New York Jets in 1983.

In seven seasons, he compiled a lackluster record of 53-57-1 for the Jets before becoming the offensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

After leaving the Steelers after the 1991 season, Walton sought out a quieter life in retirement.

That was until Robert Morris University asked him to become the first head coach of their brand new football program.

Walton jumped at the opportunity to build a program from scratch, and the Colonials began football in 1994.

Impressively, the new program got off to a quick start with a 7-1-1 record in 1994. Within two seasons, RMU joined the Northeast Conference and posted a 9-2 record in 1996, earning a berth in the ECAC Bowl (played between the champions of the Northeast Conference and the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference).

Walton is still the head coach at RMU, and the Colonials now play in Joe Walton Stadium

Despite the Northeast Conference restricting FCS scholarships to Division II levels, Walton has been able to compile a 106-79-1 record at RMU.

Nick Saban

Nick Saban seems to be the quintessential traveling man in his coaching career.

After just one season at Toledo—in which the Rockets won the MAC championship—Saban left for the Big Ten, taking over at Michigan State.

After just five seasons, Saban left MSU for a much more lucrative job at Louisiana State. In just five seasons at LSU, Saban posted a 48-16 record with two SEC titles and a BCS National Championship. Is it any wonder the NFL came calling?

Saban found himself coaching the Miami Dolphins to a mediocre 15-17 record over two seasons.

After Alabama fired Mike Shula, Saban was widely reported to be at the top of the Tide's wish-list. After persistent media pestering, Saban finally ruled out coaching at Alabama, stating he wasn't going to coach at Alabama.

Clearly, Saban changed his mind. After all, is it better to coach a second-rate NFL franchise or a best-of-the-best college program where you have absolute control?

The move probably worked out for everybody, but Saban and the Crimson Tide came out major winners.

Since Saban took over in 2007, the Tide are 55-12 with two SEC and two BCS titles.

Bobby Petrino

After leading Louisville to a 41-9 record over four seasons, Bobby Petrino was tapped to become the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons in 2007.

Under less-than-favorable conditions in Atlanta, Petrino's Falcons lost 10 of the first 13 games of the season, and Petrino abruptly resigned to take over as the head coach at Arkansas, announcing his decision by simply leaving a note in the locker of each player.

Despite the tactless retreat from Atlanta, Petrino set about building on the Razorbacks' recent successes (Arkansas was 19-8 in the two seasons prior to Petrino's arrival).

When Arkansas finished 5-7 in Petrino's first season as head coach, there were more than a few fans questioning whether or not the new coach was the right man for the job. After all, his less-than-inspiring performance in the NFL combined with his first year at Arkansas put his head coaching mark at just 8-17 over the previous two years.

But Petrino quickly righted the ship, and is 21-4 since 2010, including finishing as the No. 5 team in the nation in 2011.

Steve Spurrier

Steve Spurrier holds the distinction of actually moving to the college game twice after coaching a professional team.

After collegiate assistant positions, Spurrier was named the head coach for the Tampa Bay Bandits of the ill-fated USFL. That job disappeared along with the team and entire league in 1985.

After an idle year in 1986, Spurrier took over at Duke, leading the Blue Devils to a 20-13-1 record over three seasons (which included a shared ACC title in 1989).

Spurrier then coached at Florida for 12 seasons, winning six SEC titles and a national championship in 1996.

Spurrier left Gainesville after the 2001 season to take over as the new head coach of the Washington Redskins. But after just two seasons, posting a 12-20 record, Spurrier resigned.

After another idle year, Spurrier was tapped again to take over a college program, and South Carolina fans have been the direct beneficiary of his presence ever sense.

The Old Ball Coach has guided South Carolina to a 55-35 record since arriving in 2005, and the Gamecocks won their first-ever SEC-East title in 2010 under his leadership.

Today, South Carolina is a perennial Top 25 program, and there's no reason to believe that Spurrier's Gamecocks won't be right back in the SEC hunt this fall.

Butch Davis

Butch Davis began his coaching career with various assistant positions both in college and the NFL.

His first head coaching job came at the University of Miami. In a situation eerily reminiscent of today, the Miami program was sanctioned by the NCAA shortly after the new coach's arrival. Still, Davis led the Hurricanes to a 51-20 record in his six seasons, which included three Big East titles—back when that meant something.

After such an impressive display at a program recovering from NCAA sanctions, Davis was hired as the Cleveland Browns head coach for the 2001 season, taking over in the franchise's third season since it's “reinvention.”

In just his second season, Davis led the Browns to the playoffs. But the performance of the Browns fell sharply after that, as Davis's team was just 8-18 over his last two seasons for a combined record of 24-34 in Cleveland.

After a forced resignation before the end of the 2004 season, Davis returned to the college game when he was announced as the new head coach at North Carolina for the 2007 season.

Davis led North Carolina to a 28-23 record over four seasons—a far better record than that to which North Carolina fans are accustomed.

Of course, 16 of those wins were later vacated, as UNC was found to have committed major NCAA infractions under Davis; an academic cheating scandal that not only led to the vacation of wins, but the eventual firing of Davis.

While the end result was clearly negative, the lasting effect of UNC football has been an overall increase in visibility and stature.

Dan Devine

Dan Devine made the move from the NFL to college before it was cool.

Devine was the head coach of the legendary Green Bay Packers, a job he had taken after 13 seasons at Missouri.

Devine led the Packers back to the playoffs in 1972 for the first time in five seasons. It would also be the last time Green Bay played in the postseason for another decade, as Devine left for Notre Dame following the 1974 season.

Devine spent just six seasons at Notre Dame, but was part of two historical Irish moments.

The first, in Devine's first season, was during the events made famous in the movie Rudy. Devine allowed Daniel Ruettiger to dress and play in the final game of his senior year, thus fulfilling a life-long dream of the diminutive football player. Although the movie portrayal of Devine was heavily dramatized (to the extent that Devine criticized it), even without further accomplishments Devine would have been forever linked with Notre Dame football.

Luckily, Devine made headlines of his own in 1977.

Notre Dame began the season as the No. 3 team in the nation, but lost to an unranked Ole Miss team in mid-September. Despite dropping as far as No. 14 in the AP Poll, Notre Dame won the remaining 10 games on the schedule, including a Cotton Bowl win over then-No. 1 Texas.

Notre Dame leapfrogged No. 3 Alabama, which had an identical 11-1 record, to be named the national champion in both the AP and Coaches' polls.

Pete Carroll

Pete Carroll was one of the most successful college coaches of the early part of the past decade, and he also holds the distinction of being one of the few coaches to move from the NFL to the NCAA without having coached in college prior to moving up to the pros.

Carroll's first head coaching job came in 1994 for the New York Jets. After spending a few seasons as an assistant in San Francisco, Carroll was the head coach of the New England Patriots for three seasons before being fired.

Carroll was eventually hired by USC, taking over for the 2001 season.

Despite finishing 6-6 in his first season, Carroll proceeded to lead the Trojans to one of the most successful eras in their already storied history.

From 2002 through 2008, USC won at least a share of every Pac-10 championship. Additionally, USC won BCS National Championship Games following the 2003 and 2004 seasons.

Over that span, USC never finished with fewer than 11 victories in a season.

Of course, all of this ignores the fact that USC was eventually forced to vacate the victory in the 2004 title (2005 BCS National Championship Game) and all 12 of its victories from the 2005 season, finishing with an official record of 0-1.

Despite the effects of the Reggie Bush scandal, Pete Carroll put together one of the greatest decades of college football we're likely to see in quite some time.

So, despite his amazing shortcomings in exercising common sense, sound judgment and adequate control of his USC program, Pete Carroll still ranks as the best NFL-to-college coaching move.