It’s a tale as old as time (or, at least, the modern-era NFL).
A coach enjoys success at the collegiate level, turning it into an opportunity to jump to the pros. Once there, the methods they used to generate the opportunity work against them, and they fall short — often spectacularly — of intended glory.
Time and again, NFL owners and presidents have taken chances on successful college coaches who ultimately don’t pan out in the league. And while there are more than a few notable exceptions, it generally follows the aforementioned pattern. That is likely to continue as the NFL continues to glean upcoming talent and ideas from the college game.
Whether those decisions result in successful tenures or not, as always, remains to be seen. Regardless, there is enough data out there to look at the coaches who have most succeeded — and failed the worst — at jumping from college to the NFL.
BENDER: Matt Rhule will get college calls after Panthers firing
With that, The Sporting News looks at coaches who jumped from the college game to the pros, their varying levels of success, why they so often fail, and more:
Most successful college coaches in NFL
Three Super Bowl-era coaches stand above all others when it comes from successful jumps from college to the pros: Pete Carroll, Jimmy Johnson and Tom Coughlin.
Coughlin may be a surprising entry on this list, considering he is known mostly for his success as the first Jaguars coach in franchise history and for leading the Giants to two Super Bowls. But he qualifies, as he coached three seasons for Boston College from 1991-93.
Carroll still trails Coughlin’s all-time win record, though he could reasonably pass him by the end of his NFL career. He also is one of only four coaches to make the jump and win a Super Bowl.
Johnson has 80 wins and ties Coughlin for the most Super Bowls of any coach on this list, overcoming an 8-24 start in his first two seasons in Dallas to go 36-12 from 1991-93. He won the 1993 and ’94 Super Bowls, but personal issues with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones saw him leave Dallas after the 1993 season.
Special mention should be made of Chuck Fairbanks (Patriots, 1973-78), Jim Harbaugh (49ers, 2011-14), John McKay (Buccaneers, 1976-84) and Barry Switzer (Cowboys, 1994-97), all of whom coached at least four years in the league and had at least 40 wins. Switzer even won a Super Bowl in his second season, though many claim the Cowboys won in spite of him, not because of his coaching.
Here are the top five coaches with the most wins after jumping from college to the NFL:
| Coach | College team(s) | NFL team(s) | NFL record | Playoff record | Super Bowls won |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Coughlin | Boston College (1991-93) | Jaguars (1995-2002) Giants (2004-15) |
170-150 | 12-7 | 2 (2008, 2012) |
| Pete Carroll | USC (2001-09) | Jets (1994) Patriots (1997-99) Seahawks (2010-) |
154-107-1 | 11-10 | 1 (2014) |
| Jimmy Johnson | Oklahoma State (1979-83) Miami (1984-88) |
Cowboys (1989-93) Dolphins (1996-99) |
80-64 | 9-4 | 2 (1993-94) |
| John Robinson | USC (1976-82) UNLV (1999-2004) |
Rams (1983-91) | 75-68 | 4-6 | N/A |
| Bobby Ross | The Citadel (1973-77) Maryland (1982-86) Georgia Tech (1987-91) Army (2004-06) |
Chargers (1992-96) Lions (1997-2000) |
74-63 | 3-5 | N/A |
MORE: Urban Meyer’s stint with Jaguars ranks worst among college coaches jumping to NFL
Worst college coaches in NFL
On the other side of the spectrum are the worst college coaches to jump to the NFL.
In that arena, one coach stands above — or sinks below — all others: Urban Meyer. The former national championship-winning coach at Florida and Ohio State lasted less than a season in Jacksonville in 2021, going 2-11, deriding players, and creating an all-around dysfunctional atmosphere.
Another similarly disastrous coach was Bobby Petrino, who turned a successful tenure at Louisville into a shot with the Falcons. He won one more game than Meyer did, but left the team of his own accord before the season ended to go coach Arkansas.
Matt Rhule became the latest college coaching failure when the Panthers fired him five games into the 2022 season with a career mark of 11-27. (That’s tied for former Bucs coach Greg Schiano for fewest wins, but with a worse winning percentage).
Though he’s not among the worst coaches to jump from college to the NFL, Alabama coach Nick Saban also merits special mention. He went 15-17 in two seasons with the Dolphins while somehow splitting four games with Bill Belichick and Tom Brady.
Like Petrino, he left of his own accord after his second season in Miami (and after adamantly denying he was interested in the Crimson Tide job, something for which Dolphins fans still hold a grudge). Former Dolphins players Daunte Culpepper and Zach Thomas also disliked him so much that they nearly came to blows with him.
With that, here are the former college coaches with the fewest wins in their NFL stints:
| Coach | College team(s) | NFL team(s) | NFL record |
|---|---|---|---|
| Urban Meyer | Bowling Green (2001-02) Utah (2003-04) Florida (2005-10) Ohio State (2012-18) |
Jaguars (2021) | 2-11 |
| Bobby Petrino |
Louisville (2003-06, 2014-18) |
Falcons (2007) | 3-10 |
| Matt Rhule | Temple (2013-16) Baylor (2017-19) |
Panthers (2020-22) | 11-27 |
| Greg Schiano | Rutgers (2001-11, 2020-) | Buccaneers (2012-13) | 11-21 |
| Steve Spurrier | Duke (1987-89) Florida (1990-2001) South Carolina (2005-15) |
Redskins (2002-03) | 12-20 |
MORE: Jaguars’ Josh Allen sideswipes Urban Meyer in praise of Doug Pederson: ‘It’s a professional setting’
Why do college coaches fail in the NFL?
Myriad reasons exist as to why college coaches fail at the NFL. Chief among them: Coaches attempt to treat NFL players like college kids.
Those ultimately were the biggest failures of coaches such as Meyer and Saban, who attempted to motivate paid professionals as if their futures in the league were dependent on their success. Clearly, they were not.
Other issues include lack of control. Other than Belichick and Andy Reid, no other coach in the NFL has such control over their respective franchises. That can be an issue for college coaches whose egos aren’t used to not having full control of their program.
Former Penn State and Texans coach Bill O’Brien is a notable example of someone who tried the Belichick method and failed spectacularly. Saban, a notoriously detail-oriented coach, is another example.
He wanted former Purdue quarterback Drew Brees as his quarterback with the Dolphins, but had his choice overridden by team doctors. Would it have made a difference? Perhaps not, but it bothered Saban enough for him to mention it on several occasions following his career in Miami.
Another issue: parity. Whereas a college coach can stockpile talent through recruiting and simply beat lesser teams into submission, the NFL has the draft, salary cap and free agency to effectively maintain parity. Meyer was a particularly notable example of this, especially when he infamously didn’t know who Rams defensive lineman Aaron Donald was.
Former NFL coaches in college football
Some coaches have made jumps back to the college game, where they originally got success, to varying degrees. Here’s a list of head coaches back in the college game, as of the 2022 season, following their stints in the NFL:
- Nick Saban (Alabama)
- Jim Harbaugh (Michigan)
- Bobby Petrino (Missouri State)
- Greg Schiano (Rutgers)
- Chip Kelly (UCLA)
- Jim Mora (UConn)