Last week as the NFL concluded the regular season, black Monday was officially underway with several coaches fired. Jay Gruden was the first coach fired by the Washington Redskins on October 7th. Their new head coach Ron Rivera, who coached the Carolina Panthers, was fired a month ago is now the new coach.
Other teams like the Browns, Cowboys, and Giants are searching for their new head coaches and have interviewed several coordinators from different teams, especially from playoff teams.
One name, in particular, is Lincoln Riley, who is the head coach of Oklahoma, who led Oklahoma to the Peach Bowl, where they lost to LSU 63-28. Riley is one of several college football coaches linked to the NFL as possible head coaches. The others are former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer, former Temple and current Baylor coach Matt Rhule, Florida coach Dan Mullen and former NFL coach and current coach of Michigan Jim Harbaugh.
What makes NFL owners think that college coaches are the answer? Every NFL owner has been searching for the next Jimmy Johnson, who coached the Miami Hurricanes, winning the National Championship in 1987 before becoming the Dallas Cowboys head coach. He coached the Cowboys to two Super Bowl wins and was named Coach of the Year in 1990.
After coaching the Cowboys, Johnson was a studio analyst for Fox before joining the Miami Dolphins. He didn’t do well in Miami as Johnson resigned from the Dolphins in January 1999. Johnson’s successor, Barry Switzer, who was also a college coach at Oklahoma and lost to Johnson in the 1987 National Championship, took over for Johnson in 1994. He coached the Cowboys to win Super Bowl XXX. Switzer resigned from the Cowboys after the 1997 season after a 6-10 record.
Since then, a handful of college coaches have coached in the NFL. Most notably, Nick Saban, who coached LSU from 2000-2004. He won two SEC titles and a National Championship before leaving to become the Miami Dolphins head coach. He coached for two years before heading back to college to coach Alabama. I think he made the right decision given his accomplishments since going back to college.
The other notable coach is Chip Kelly, who coached the Oregon Ducks from 2009-2012, and led the Ducks to the BCS National Championship falling short to the Auburn Tigers. Kelly went 46-7 as the Ducks head coach before leaving to become the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles.
In his first year as the Eagles’ coach, Kelly led the team to a 10-6 record, winning the NFC East and losing to the New Orleans Saints in the playoffs. The Eagles finished 10-6 again in his second year but didn’t make the playoffs. In his final year with the Eagles, the team fell hard to a 6-9 record, Kelly was fired after week 16. Kelly then coached the 49ers; he didn’t do any better going 2-14 in his lone year in San Francisco and left the NFL. Kelly returned to college football coaching the UCLA Bruins in 2018. So far, he is 7-14 in two years at UCLA.
Only two college coaches have done well transitioning to the NFL since Johnson and Switzer. They are Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, who was initially in the NFL as the Jets and Patriots coach before coaching USC and won two National Championships, five PAC 10 titles, four Rose Bowl wins, and an Orange Bowl win.
The other coach who was mentioned earlier is Jim Harbaugh, who coached Stanford from 2007-2010, was 29-21, and led the Cardinals to an Orange Bowl win. He left Stanford to become the coach of the 49ers. In his first year as the 49ers coach, he led the team to the NFC Championship, losing to the New York Giants.
The following year, led the 49ers to Super Bowl XLVII losing to his brother John, who is the coach of the Baltimore Ravens. Harbaugh led the 49ers back to the NFC Championship game, losing to the Seahawks and in his final year in 2014 failing to make the playoffs. Harbaugh, like other college coaches who took a shot at the NFL, also returned to college this time coaching his alma mater Michigan.
Overall, college coaches don’t do well in the NFL. It’s a different environment for them. They are used to coaching kids, not adults. And some adults still act like kids and don’t listen to their coaches. The other reason most won’t go to the NFL is the pressure from owners. Coaches only have two to three years to get a team to a winning record. If players don’t listen to them, players will find a way to get that coach fired.
Why leave college football, especially when they are settled there and have full control of the team, unlike the NFL? If a college coach wants an opportunity to coach in the NFL then fine, but don’t pressure these guys into the NFL. NFL owners should quit trying to find the next Jimmy Johnson and focus on hiring coaches that are in the NFL right now.
