With Jim Harbaugh leading his 49ers into their second consecutive NFC title game appearance, we got to thinking… how many college coaches have successfully made the transition into the ranks of the NFL? (Harbaugh coached Stanford for 4 years (29 – 21) while taking the Cardinal to a 12 – 1 record and Fiesta Bowl appearance in his final year before taking the San Fran job.) Also, for conversation purposes, let’s say that the coach had to have been a HC for at least 4 years in the college ranks before moving up.
Jimmy Johnson is one of the most successful college-to-NFL coaches of all time. He started his coaching career at Oklahoma State in 1979 where he spent five seasons. He had a record of 29 – 25 – 3 and a bowl victory over #20 Baylor in the Bluebonnet Bowl in his final season. From there he moved on to The University of Miami where he continued the domination that former coach, Howard Schnellenberger, had built during the previous seasons. In his five seasons at “The U”, he compiled a 52 – 9 record which included five straight New Year’s Day bowl games (2 – 3), two #2 final rankings, and an undefeated National Championship in 1987.
From there, he moved to the NFL where he took the head coaching job for the Dallas Cowboys. He, again, built that team into a dynasty after two seasons of below .500 ball. In 1991, they would go 11 – 5 before bowing out to the Detroit Lions in the Divisional round. The next two years would be much more successful for Johnson and the Cowboys as he would become only the fourth coach (at the time) to take his team to back-to-back Super Bowl victories. He would leave Dallas after the 1993 season and take a two year break before becoming the Miami Dolphins head coach. There he would compile a 36 – 28 record which included three straight playoff appearances (0 – 3).
Barry Switzer, like Jimmy Johnson, is one of two coaches to win a National Championship and a Super Bowl. He started his head coaching career at The University of Oklahoma where he spent 16 seasons compiling a record of 157 – 29 – 4. In each of his years at Oklahoma, his teams finished no worse than second in the Big Eight Conference ,which includes 12 times they shared or won the Big Eight Championship. They also participated in 11 New Year’s Day bowl games (Orange 9 times, Fiesta twice) and won 3 National Championships.
Switzer would take a six year absence from coaching after resigning from Oklahoma after the 1988 season. He would come back to coaching in 1994 to take over for Jimmy Johnson with the Dallas Cowboys. There, Switzer would continue his winning ways by taking them to the NFC Title game in his first year and a Super Bowl victory in his second year (Yes, that Super Bowl). He would coach two more years before stepping down after the 1997 season.
Marv Levy is well known for the four straight Super Bowl appearances in the early ‘90’s. What you didn’t know is he got his head coaching start all the way back in 1958 at New Mexico. He coached there two years before moving to Cal where he only mustered 8 wins in four seasons. From there, he went to William & Mary where he coached for five years and shared a Conference championship in 1966. He would take a few years off before landing his first professional head coaching job in the CFL with Montreal. There he spent five years (5 seems to be the norm in the coaching ranks) where he made the playoffs each year and won 2 Grey Cup’s (The CFL’s version of the Super Bowl).
The success he had in Montreal finally landed him a job in the NFL with the Kansas City Chiefs. There he led the team for five seasons without success and was fired after the strike-shortened season in 1982. He would take a job for one season with a USFL team in between coaching stints. After the short break from the NFL, he was appointed as the Buffalo Bills head coach midway through the 1986 season. In only a year and a half with the team he would lead them to their first of four straight AFC East titles and from 90’ to 94’ send them to the Super Bowl where they would lose each (Everyone remembers Scott Norwood, poor guy). His Bills teams would only miss the playoffs three times in his 11 full years of coaching the team.
John Robinson’s head coaching career started off with a bang. He took over at USC in 1976 and led the Trojans to an 11 – 1 season, Pac-10 Title, and Rose Bowl title in his first year as well as a #2 final ranking. Two years later, they would finish with one loss and a Rose Bowl title again, but this time a National Title came with it. He would coach four more years with USC (1 more Rose Bowl win) before moving on to the LA Rams.
With the Rams, he compiled a 75 – 68 record over 9 seasons. They would reach the playoffs in his first season but lose in the Divisional round to the Redskins. He would take them to five more playoff appearances with 1 Division title, although they would only reach the NFC title game once (30 – 3 Loss to the 49ers). He would be fired from the Rams after two straight losing seasons in 1990 and ’91.
Bobby Ross – Before Bobby Ross became a name that Steelers fans would never forget, he coached 15 years in the college ranks (5 w/ The Citadel, 5 w/ Maryland, and 5 w/ Georgia Tech). His college record was 94 – 76 – 2 which included 4 ACC Championships, a 4 – 2 bowl record, and a National Championship with Georgia Tech in 1990.
He would then take the head coaching position at San Diego in 1992 where he would build a solid squad in which he led a wild card Chargers team to the ’94 AFC Championship after defeating the Steelers at Three Rivers on a goal line stand late in the fourth quarter (Oh, the nightmares from that game). He would spend 5 years in San Diego, compiling a record of 49 -26 which was good enough for 2 division titles and 3 playoff appearances (3 – 3). Ross would then go on to Detroit to coach the Lions for 4 years where he would make 2 playoff appearances (’97 & ’99), the second playoff appearance would be surprising to people because of the unexpected retirement of Barry Sanders during training camp of that season.
Those are six coaches that defied the odds and went from the college ranks little to no NFL experience and became quite successful, if not, immortal in the pro ranks.
These guys, on the other hand, had no luck in the NFL.
Steve Spurrier – Spurrier tried his hand at the NFL following a phenomenal 12 year career at Florida that saw him put up a 122 – 27 – 1 record with 6 SEC Championships, 6 bowl victories, and a National Championship. He would then move to the Washington Redskins with a 5-year, $25 million dollar contract. After going 12 – 20 after two years, he was back in the college ranks.
Lou Holtz – Before he was becoming a legend with a statue of himself at The University of Notre Dame, he was head coach at William & Mary and NC State where he compiled a 46 – 32 – 3 and a 2 – 2 -1 record in bowls. That was good enough for the NY Jets to give him a call to become their headman for the 1976 season. The Jets would go 3 – 10 and Holtz would leave the organization before the final game of the season. He would become the Notre Dame head coach the next season and start a legacy that is well known today.
Nick Saban – Two years after leading LSU to a National Championship, Saban took the reins in Miami with the Dolphins. His first year was pretty successful with the Fins finishing with a 9 – 7 record which barely missed the playoffs. The next year wasn’t so good as they went 6 – 10. After the season, Saban received an offer he couldn’t refuse at Alabama and he jumped at the opportunity to the dismay of Dolphins players.
Pete Carroll – Yeah, he’s been doing great with the Seahawks, but this wasn’t his first rodeo. He went 6 – 10 with the Jets in 1994. He then took the Patriots to a 21 – 21 record over three years and two playoff appearances, but he was only able to get one win in the playoffs and was fired after an 8 – 8 season the next year. Only after his great run with USC (That saw him run for the hills right before sanctions hit the school) was he able to establish himself with an NFL team.
And last, but not least – Bobby Petrino – Before his motorcycle riding days at Arkansas, Petrino had a good thing going at The University of Louisville as they were moving to the Big East conference from Conference USA. In their final C-USA season, they finished as conference champions at 11 – 1 along with a Liberty Bowl victory and Top 10 finish. The two years he was with the team in the Big East were successful as well as they made a Gator Bowl appearance in their first year and a 12 – 1 season, Big East title, Orange Bowl win, and Top 6 finish. That was good enough for the Atlanta Falcons to come calling. He accepted the job expecting to lead a team with Michael Vick under center. That was not the case as Vick was arrested for Dog fighting and Petrino was out after a 3 – 10 start. What makes his tenure worse was the fact that he notified his staff and players by a note that was left at each locker.
Sometimes you just have to stay put to succeed.
