Top 10 NCAA Coaches Turned Pro
By Paulie Knep
Love of NFL Correspondent
There are several factors that make it difficult for college coaches to excel in the NFL.
Players have bigger egos, coaches have less control over their personnel and the speed and style of the game is different. Additionally, the NFL’s salary cap and draft structure create playing among the teams, which is in stark contrast to the recruiting advantages that coaches from elite college programs are accustomed to.
It’s been well documented that the majority of college coaches who’ve attempted to make the jump to the NFL have been unsuccessful. In recent years, high profile coaches such as Nick Saban, Bobby Petrino and Steve Spurrier have returned to college after brief stints in the NFL. However, there have been a number of college coaches who have excelled at the professional level.
Here’s a look at the Top 10 coaches who made a successful leap from the collegiate ranks to the big leagues.
Top 10 College Coaches Turned Pro
10) STEVE MARIUCCI
Mariucci served as quarterbacks coach for the Green Bay Packers under Mike Holmgren before taking the head coaching job at Cal in 1996. Even though the Golden Bears only won six games that season, he was offered the job as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. The Niners won 58 percent of their games over the next six seasons, but that wasn’t enough for a team accustomed to winning Super Bowls and Mariucci was fired after the 2002 season. Weeks later, he was named the head coach of the Lions, though in three seasons with Detroit he was unable to duplicate the success he had in San Francisco.
9) BARRY SWITZER
Switzer led the Oklahoma Sooners to three national championships before resigning in 1988 amidst a swarm of controversy surrounding his program. In 1994, Jerry Jones asked his old friend Switzer to replace Jimmy Johnson as the coach of the defending champion Cowboys. Switzer ran a loose ship in Dallas and at times appeared overwhelmed by the demands of the NFL. His critics attributed his success in Dallas to the fantastic team he’d inherited from Johnson. But the fact is the Cowboys went 45-26 during his four seasons with the team, including a victory over the Steelers in Super Bowl XXX.
8) JOHN ROBINSON
Robinson learned a thing or two about coaching as the backfield coach for the Oakland Raiders under John Madden in 1975. From there, he went on to coach the USC Trojans to three Pac-10 titles, the 1978 National Championship and 28 consecutive wins between 1978 and 1980. In 1983, he took over the reigns of Los Angeles’ professional team, the Rams, and became one of the most successful coaches in the franchise’s history. He compiled a 79-74 record over nine seasons with the team and led them to the NFC Championship Game in both 1985 and 1987.
7) BOBBY ROSS
Early in his career, Ross was an assistant coach for the Kansas City Chiefs. He then spent five seasons calling the shots at Georgia Tech and led the team to a National Championship in 1990. Two years later, he returned to the NFL as the head coach of the San Diego Chargers. He brought discipline and a winning attitude to the team, which carried them to an appearance Super Bowl XXIX. In 1996, he left the Chargers to become head coach of the Detroit Lions, a position he held until the middle of the 2000 season. The Lions were 27-30 under his watch, and his 1999 squad was the last Detroit team to make the playoffs.
6) DON CORYELL
Coryell ran San Diego State’s football program from 1961-72, leading the Aztecs to three undefeated seasons. In 1973, he was hired by the St. Louis Rams and coached them to division titles in ‘74 and ‘75. After the ‘77 season, he left St. Louis for San Diego, where he instituted an innovative, high octane offense commonly referred to as “Air Coryell.” During his eight years in San Diego, the Chargers made the playoffs four times, including three consecutive divisions titles (1979-81), and Coryell became the first coach to win 100 games at the collegiate and professional levels.
5) TOM COUGHLIN
Coughlin was no stranger to the NFL when he left Boston College to became the first head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars in 1995. He’d spent six years as a wide receivers coach for the Eagles, Packers and Giants in the 1980s. With Coughlin at the helm, the Jaguars attained success quicker than any expansion team in league history, playing in the AFC Championship Game in just their second season. They returned to the Championship Game during the 1999 season. However, after three straight losing seasons, he was fired in 2002. A year later, he became coach of the Giants and guided them to an historic upset against the Patriots in Super Bowl XLII.
4) DICK VERMEIL
In Vermeil’s second season as UCLA’s head coach, the Bruins won their first Pac-10 title in 10 years, beating an undefeated Ohio State team in the 1976 Rose Bowl. He was rewarded with the head coaching job of the Philadelphia Eagles. In 1978, the franchise made the playoffs for the first time in 18 years and advanced to the Super Bowl two years later. Vermeil retired after the 1982 season, but returned to the sidelines 15 years after that with the St. Louis Rams, leading them to victory in Super Bowl XXXIV and being named NFL Coach of the Year for the second time in his career. Once again, he retired, only to return for a five-year stint with the Kansas City Chiefs.
3) JIMMY JOHNSON
J.J. built the University of Miami into a national powerhouse during the mid 1980s, winning the 1987 National Championship and a total of 52 games over five years. In 1989, his former college teammate, Jerry Jones, purchased the Dallas Cowboys and asked him to be his head coach. The Cowboys were a dismal 1-15 in Johnson’s first season, but he stockpiled talent through the draft and coached them to victories in Super Bowls XXVII and XXVIII. His second stop in the NFL wasn’t as successful, despite managing to win 36 games during his four years with the Miami Dolphins.
2) PAUL BROWN
The legendary Ohio native coached the Ohio State Buckeyes to a National Championship in 1943. After serving in the Navy during World War II, he became part-owner and coach of a start-up team in the All-America Football Conference called the Cleveland Browns. The Browns won the league championship all four years of the AAFC’s existence and joined the NFL in 1950 where Brown led them to three championships over the next five years. He was fired after a dispute with team owner Art Modell in 1963, but returned to pro football in 1967 as the principal owner, GM and head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals.
1) BILL WALSH
The architect of the West Coast offense got his first head coaching job in 1977 at Stanford University after paying his dues under Paul Brown with the Bengals. Two years later, he was hired as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. The Niners struggled during his first season with the team, but then he inserted a young quarterback named Joe Montana into the lineup for the 1980 season and the team’s fortunes began to change. The following year, San Fran won the first of three Super Bowls under Walsh. By the time he retired after the 1988 season, he’d revolutionized the NFL passing game and earned a reputation as one of the greatest coaches of all-time.
Well folks, that’s what we’re bringing to the table, but we’d love to hear what you think. Who belongs in your Top 10?
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a good article.thanks
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