Oboy
Premium Member
A lot of college coaches have been successful in the pros. HOWEVER, it is RARE (not impossible) for a college coach to come in and win in his first HC job in the nfl. MOST fail in the first job. Go back to college or be an assitant some where for a while and then come back and do well. Even Bellichek did not do well in his first job with Cleveland.KB21 said:Yes.
Let's start with some from the past:
Sid Gillman
Don Coryell
Chuck Fairbanks
Bill Walsh
Dick Vermeil
Some that are more recent
Jimmy Johnson
Dennis Green
Bobby Ross
Tom Coughlin
Steve Marriuci
Barry Switzer wasn't exactly a failure either. He did take over a team with the talent Jimmy acquired, but he still won a Superbowl and had winning records. Even though Switzer was a stooge for Jerry Jones, I believe even he grew tired of Jones's act.
When you look at the college coaches that failed, outside of Butch Davis, all of them were career college coaches that had no NFL experience. Guys like Lou Holtz, Dennis Erickson, and Mike Riley. I think people should consider the situation Butch went into as well. He took over a team that was lacking talent pretty much everywhere, and the biggest mistake he made was that he hired his Miami buddy Pete Garcia to run the front office instead of getting a qualified NFL guy. Nick Saban won't make that mistake.
Looking at the college to NFL head coaches that were hired in the 90s (counting Jimmy, who was hired in '89)
Johnson has two Superbowl Championships. Green took his Vikings team to the NFC Championship. Bobby Ross took the Chargers to the Superbowl. Switzer has a Superbowl Championship. Marriuci took the 49ers to the playoffs in all but 2 of his seasons there. Coughlin took the Jaguars to the AFC Championship. There is a lot of success between those 6 coaches, and I'll bet that if you looked at the statistics of the coordinators/assistants that were promoted, you will find that their success rate is not 60% like the college to NFL head coach's.
More recent college coaches to mention are Butch Davis, Spurrier, Dennis Erickson. NONE of those guys were successful. I like Saban, just don't think he will help the Phins. The next job he has he will be fine.
I hope I am wrong, but I still would rather have a good OC to come in. Here's hoping that I am wrong. GO PHINS.