CONTENT WARNING: Includes mentions of domestic violence, animal cruelty, and other sensitive topics.
Welcome back to another episode of Run It Back! At long last, this column is up and running again for the fall semester. To start things off, I thought it would be interesting to look at some head coaches that have failed at the NFL level both before and after successful coaching stints in the NCAA. Please note that this is not a comprehensive list, but rather a few examples that I found to be particularly interesting.
Bill Belichick is a rare case, going from coaching in the NFL for his entire career to coaching at the collegiate level at the age of 73. A six-time Super Bowl champion as the head coach of the New England Patriots, Belichick went into his first college gig with the University of North Carolina looking to bring a winning mentality to a program that had not won more than 10 games in a season since 2015. To say that he has not lived up to expectations at UNC has been an understatement—the Tar Heels currently sport a point differential of -39 while managing only 18.3 points per game on offense, which has translated to just two wins over the first seven games of the year. Instead of building a culture of success, Belichick has spent much of this season fending off rumors about his future in Chapel Hill after only a handful of games.
These types of transitions between the collegiate and professional levels of football are not rare, although the same cannot be said for the rate of success that coaches experience across both levels. Not everyone can be Jimmy Johnson, Barry Switzer, and Pete Carroll, all of whom have won both the college national championship and the Super Bowl. Without further ado, let’s look back on some coaches who have been unsuccessful in the jump from college football to the NFL.
Dennis Erickson
Just two years after being crowned as national champions with the aforementioned Johnson in 1987, the University of Miami (FL) climbed back to the top with Dennis Erickson in 1989. Miami went 11-1 in Erickson’s first year as head coach, defeating Alabama in the Sugar Bowl to cement the third national championship in program history. The wins kept on coming in 1991, as Erickson and the Hurricanes shut out Nebraska in the Orange Bowl to claim a share of the national championship alongside the University of Washington. Nebraska entered the game at 9-1-1, losing once to Washington and tying with Colorado, one of the defending co-champions from 1990.
After winning at least nine games with Miami in each of the next three seasons, Erickson accepted his first NFL coaching job, being named head coach of the Seattle Seahawks. The 1995 Seahawks started off rough, opening the year at 2-6, but won six of their next seven games to insert themselves into the playoff conversation. Ultimately, Seattle did not reach the postseason, losing 26-3 against the Kansas City Chiefs in the season’s final week to fall out of playoff contention.
This is about as good as it would get during Erickson’s time with the Seahawks, as Seattle finished 7-9 in 1996 and 8-8 in both 1997 and ‘98. Erickson went 31-33 in his first NFL head coaching gig, returning to the college ranks with Oregon State in 1999. In Erickson’s second year in Corvallis, Oregon State went 11-1, securing its first 10-win season in program history. The Beavers capped off the 2000 season with a blowout win over Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl, winning 41-9 to secure their first bowl victory since 1962.
In 2003, Erickson left Corvallis to become the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, succeeding the fired Steve Mariucci after a four-week search by the organization. Between a lack of time for Erickson to properly assemble a coaching staff and the Niners’ emphasis on defensive coaches during their search prior to hiring the offensive-minded Erickson, San Francisco’s decision to hire the former Oregon State head coach was a head-scratcher.
The 49ers went 9-23 over two seasons under Erickson, including a paltry 2-14 in 2004. During the nightmarish 2004 campaign, San Francisco’s offense ranked 30th in points scored (16.2 points per game), while the defense was dead last in points allowed (28.3 points/game), a far cry from when the team last won the NFC West division title under Mariucci just two years earlier. Erickson was fired at season’s end, eventually landing with Arizona State after a 4-8 finish with the University of Idaho in 2006.
Lou Holtz
Unlike Erickson, Lou Holtz spent less than one season in the NFL before deciding it wasn’t a great fit for him.
A self-described “turnaround” coach, Holtz began his head coaching career with the College of William & Mary in 1969 before joining NC State in 1972. While with NC State, Holtz guided the Wolfpack to a pair of bowl victories in his first two seasons, the second and third bowl wins in program history. After four years in Raleigh, Holtz accepted his first NFL head coaching job with the New York Jets ahead of the 1976 campaign.
Eight years removed from winning Super Bowl III, the Jets were in the midst of a dry spell, having failed to post a record above .500 since 1969. Unfortunately, Holtz’s arrival did not help much, as New York began the 1976 season at 1-6 before winning two of the next three games.
Things got so bad that when the Jets fell to 3-10, Holtz decided to resign from his position after less than a full season. To close out his time in the Big Apple, Holtz provided this gem of a quote during his resignation speech: “God did not put Lou Holtz on this Earth to coach pro football” (via The New York Times). That’s certainly one way to admit that you’re not meant for something.
Under Holtz, New York’s offense ranked 26th out of 28 teams in points per game (12.8), just as the defense ranked third-to-last in points allowed/game (26.2). Mike Holovak served as interim coach for the Jets’ season finale, a 42-3 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. This would be former Super Bowl MVP Joe Namath’s final season in New York, as he signed with the Los Angeles Rams for 1977 before retiring at the age of 34.
Holtz rebounded quickly upon returning to the collegiate level, taking the University of Arkansas to an Orange Bowl victory in the 1977 season. In 1986, Holtz became the head coach at the University of Notre Dame, and within three seasons, Holtz led the Fighting Irish to the 11th national title in program history. Notre Dame went a perfect 12-0 in 1988, knocking off several top 10 teams en route to a win in the Fiesta Bowl over No. 3 West Virginia.
Between 1988 and 1993, Notre Dame won at least 10 games nearly every year, claiming five bowl victories along the way. Holtz retired after the 1996 season, finishing his 11-year stint at Notre Dame with a record of 100-30-2. He did not stay retired for long, though, coaching for the University of South Carolina from 1999 to 2004.
Urban Meyer
Back in the early 2000s, Urban Meyer first rose to prominence in the college football sphere following his stints with Bowling Green and Utah. Bowling Green went 17-6 under Meyer, where he spent two seasons before going to the University of Utah for the 2003 season.
Utah went 10-2 in Meyer’s first year, the program’s best finish since 1994. The Utes were even better in 2004, capping off a perfect 12-0 season with a win over Pittsburgh in the Fiesta Bowl. Meyer would not remain with Utah for much longer, however, as he accepted an offer from the University of Florida to become their head coach for 2005.
Success had been following Meyer wherever he went, and that extended to his tenure in Gainesville. Florida won a pair of Bowl Championship Series (BCS) national championships with Meyer in 2006 and 2008, going 13-1 in both seasons for the two most fruitful campaigns in program history.
After a brief retirement in 2011, Meyer was named the head coach for Ohio State in 2012. From 2012 to 2017, the Buckeyes won at least 11 games every year, claiming the inaugural College Football Playoff (CFP) national championship at the close of the 2014 season. That being said, life was not all smooth sailing for Meyer away from the gridiron.
In 2018, Meyer was suspended for the first three games of the season after he failed to report allegations of domestic violence against a former assistant on his staff. The controversies do not stop there, though.
Meyer returned to the spotlight in 2021 as the head coach of the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars, his first coaching position at the professional level. Amidst a dismal 0-4 start to the season, Meyer was caught on video getting a little too close with a woman who was not his wife while at his Columbus restaurant. Following a 24-21 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 4, Meyer did not fly back with the rest of his team, opting to visit his grandchildren instead. Let’s just say that he got a bit carried away while he was home.
Oh, you thought this was everything? Think again.
That December, former Jaguars kicker Josh Lambo accused Meyer of kicking him in the leg during warmups ahead of the team’s preseason finale, alleging that Meyer told Lambo that he could kick him “whenever the f— I want” since he was the head coach (via CBS Sports). Jacksonville fired Meyer the day after these accusations came to light, with offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell finishing out the season as interim coach.
Going 2-11 in 13 games with the Jaguars, Meyer’s .154 win percentage with Jacksonville was the worst by a non-interim head coach since Cam Cameron finished with a .063 win percentage with the Miami Dolphins in 2007. Under Meyer, Jacksonville’s offense ranked last in points scored, managing just 13.8 points per game.
This really didn’t work, not even a little bit.
Bobby Petrino
Following 20 years as an assistant coach, Bobby Petrino got his first head coaching position with the University of Louisville in 2003. Petrino went 77-35 with Louisville over four seasons, guiding the program to an 11-1 record in 2004 and a 12-1 finish two years later. In 2006, Petrino and the Cardinals closed out the greatest season in program history with a victory over Wake Forest in the Orange Bowl.
In early 2007, Petrino agreed to a five-year contract with the Atlanta Falcons, despite having signed a 10-year deal with Louisville less than a year prior. Among the Falcons’ motivations for hiring Petrino was for some additional help with the development of star quarterback Michael Vick, who had never thrown for 3,000 yards in a season despite an exceptional rushing ability.
Just one small issue—Vick was arrested over the summer for his involvement in the Bad Newz Kennels dogfighting ring, leaving Atlanta to scramble for other options under center. With backup Matt Schaub having been shipped out the door during the off-season, Petrino was left with a tandem of three different QBs, splitting snaps between Joey Harrington, Chris Redman, and Byron Leftwich.
Predictably, the Falcons’ overcrowded quarterback room did not lead to much success; Harrington started the bulk of Atlanta’s season, going 3-7 across his 10 starts. Petrino, feeling as though he was not responsible for sharing personnel decisions with his players, was quite detached from his locker room. Harrington learned through the media that he was being benched in favor of Leftwich, even though the team had won the previous two games with Harrington as the starter.
Even still, Petrino preached that he had no plans to leave the Falcons despite a rocky first year in the NFL. Just two weeks prior to his departure, Petrino downplayed rumors that he was leaving Atlanta. “I haven’t given it one bit of thought,” Petrino said (via FOX Sports). “I certainly don’t want to get into any speculation and rumors and having to deal with that. I’m focused on our football team here.” Surely he’s sticking around, right?
Wrong. After a 34-14 loss to the division rival New Orleans Saints, Petrino informed the team of his resignation through a 78-word note that he laminated to each player’s locker, leaving the Falcons to become the head coach at Arkansas. What was that part about not giving any thought to resigning?
Petrino lasted four years in Fayetteville before being fired when his involvement in a motorcycle accident exposed an affair with another member of the school’s football staff. Yikes, this just keeps getting worse.
Matt Rhule
In 2013, Matt Rhule was hired to be the head coach at Temple University, getting the program to consecutive 10-win seasons in 2015 and 2016 after just two wins in year one. Rhule engineered a similar turnaround with Baylor immediately afterwards, going from 1-11 in 2017 to 11-3 in 2019. Following a loss to Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, Rhule was hired to be the next head coach of the Carolina Panthers, signing a seven-year, $62 million contract with the organization.
Rhule was viewed by team owner David Tepper as a “program builder,” who presented quite an optimistic view of his new head coach. “I think Matt Rhule can come in here and build an organization for the next 30 or 40 years,” Tepper said (via Panthers.com). “He can build it.” Tepper is not known for his prowess in sports ownership, having already gone through two head coaches from the time he took over in Carolina in 2018 to Rhule’s hiring in 2020. Between his affinity for firing coaches and his various tantrums at games (among other things), Tepper is regarded as one of the worst owners in the NFL.
The 2020 Panthers began 0-2, but soon won three in a row to get above .500. This high would not last long, though, as Rhule’s squad suffered a five-game losing streak from Weeks 6 through 10, putting them at 3-7 on the year. Carolina finished 5-11, failing to reach the playoffs for the third consecutive season. Needless to say, year one under Rhule was not promising.
Early on, Rhule’s second season with the Panthers was shaping up to be an improvement over whatever happened the year before. With new quarterback Sam Darnold, Carolina started out hot in 2021, going 3-0 to open the season. A fresh start, this is just what everyone needs!
However, the Panthers’ hopes for a playoff spot quickly went downhill, as the team did not win again for over a month. Carolina climbed back to .500 after going 2-1 from Weeks 8 through 10, but lost the last seven games to finish the season at a measly 5-12. The cherry on top of this disaster of a sundae was the Panthers’ putrid offense, which finished 29th in the league in scoring with only 17.9 points per game.
Carolina did not even try to feed their fans a serving of false hope in 2022, starting out just 1-4 through the first five weeks of the season. The Panthers fired Rhule after a blowout loss to the 49ers in Week 5, buying out his contract with over four years remaining. So much for hiring a guy to build a program.
Over two-plus seasons, Rhule started five different quarterbacks under center, only two of whom started more than five games. Teddy Bridgewater went 4-11 as a starter in 2020, and the aforementioned Darnold ended 2021 with a record of 4-7. Clearly, the QB position was not the main issue here.
Rhule landed on his feet shortly thereafter, agreeing to an eight-year deal with the University of Nebraska that began in 2023. At the time of this writing, Rhule is 18-15 with Nebraska thus far, opening 2025 at 6-2.
Nick Saban
Given all of Nick Saban’s success as a college head coach, it may be surprising to see his name appear on a list like this. Like with all of the other coaches that have been mentioned previously, there is more to the story than meets the eye.
Saban’s first major coaching position was with Michigan State, serving as the Spartans’ defensive coordinator from 1983 to 1987. A few years later, Saban got his first head coaching job, guiding the University of Toledo to a 9-2 record in 1990. Despite a strong opening season, Saban left Toledo after only one year, traveling 116 miles east to be the Cleveland Browns’ defensive coordinator for 1991.
Saban rejoined the college ranks in 1995, returning to Michigan State as the program’s head coach. The Spartans hovered around .500 for much of Saban’s time in East Lansing, finishing with no more than seven wins in each of his first four seasons there. 1999 would be Saban’s best year with the program, as Michigan State went 9-2 before Saban suddenly resigned to inquire about LSU’s head coaching vacancy.
Over five seasons with LSU, Saban led the Tigers to at least eight wins every year, culminating in a BCS national championship in 2003. In late 2004, Saban got a shot at the pros, becoming the sixth head coach in Miami Dolphins history. More than a decade after being Bill Belichick’s defensive coordinator in Cleveland, Saban found himself coaching against his old boss in the AFC East.
The Dolphins began 2005 with a win over the Denver Broncos, but soon faded in the standings, falling to 3-7 in November. Miami was regularly playing from behind, often struggling to score first as the season progressed. Although the Dolphins won their last six games to end at 9-7, it would not be enough to clinch a playoff berth, finishing just one game back of Belichick’s Patriots for the division crown.
Heading into the 2006 season, Miami was expected to take the next step under Saban. The team was set on signing former San Diego Chargers quarterback Drew Brees, who had just entered free agency following a contract dispute. The 27-year-old had injured his throwing shoulder the prior season, placing his future in the NFL in jeopardy.
When the Dolphins’ team doctors had dissuaded the organization from signing Brees, Saban did not see himself staying in South Florida for much longer. He wanted Brees under center, but Miami said no, allowing the QB to sign with the New Orleans Saints. Brees ultimately recovered from his injury, becoming one of the most decorated players in the game over the next 15 years. Then again, hindsight is 20/20, so it is fair to understand why Miami’s medical staff was apprehensive about signing Brees.
Ultimately, the Dolphins went with Daunte Culpepper, who was looking to have a bounce-back season after suffering a knee injury a year earlier. Culpepper struggled in Miami, throwing three interceptions in consecutive losses to open the year. After losing to the Houston Texans in Week 4 to drop to 1-3, Saban benched Culpepper, whose knee had not fully healed.
Joey Harrington started in most of the Dolphins’ remaining games in 2006, helping the team turn things around after starting 1-6. With four straight wins in the month of November, Miami got back to 5-6, attempting to push towards a possible wild-card berth. However, the Dolphins lost four of their last five games, being eliminated from playoff contention with a loss to the division rival Buffalo Bills in Week 15. Saban went 15-17 as Miami’s head coach, ultimately failing to get the team back to the postseason despite boasting a top-five defense in both points allowed per game (17.7) and yards against/game (289.1) in 2006.
Shortly after the Dolphins’ regular season finale, Saban met with officials at the University of Alabama to discuss becoming their head coach for 2007. The move was made official in early January, with Saban set to take his fifth head coaching position. Alabama won six national championships under Saban between 2009 and 2020, going 206-29 during his 17-year run in Tuscaloosa. Saban is one of just two head coaches to win 200 games with the Crimson Tide, along with the legendary Bear Bryant.
Greg Schiano
In 2001, Rutgers University hired Greg Schiano as their next head coach, who was tasked with getting the program back to a bowl game for the first time since 1978. Rutgers was not known for having success in football, having won nine games in a season just four times prior to Schiano’s arrival.
Following a string of losing seasons, Rutgers improved to seven wins in 2005, reaching the Insight Bowl at the end of the year. Schiano’s Scarlet Knights won 11 games in 2006, winning a bowl game for the first time ever with a 37-10 victory over Kansas State in the Texas Bowl. This would be the first of four consecutive bowl victories for Rutgers, with Schiano’s program winning at least eight games every year between 2006 and 2009.
After another nine-win campaign in 2011, Schiano left Rutgers to pursue his first head coaching opportunity in the NFL, signing on with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for 2012. In just his second game with the Buccaneers, Schiano was already causing controversy by having his players dive towards the opponents’ legs when they entered victory formation.
As Tampa Bay lost to the New York Giants in Week 2, the Buccaneers’ defense was instructed by Schiano to plow through the Giants’ offensive line in a last-ditch attempt to regain possession of the ball. Schiano’s decision was criticized by New York head coach Tom Coughlin, who lambasted Schiano after the game. This would be the first of three consecutive losses for Tampa Bay, en route to a 7-9 finish in year one under Schiano.
Schiano’s presence became even more polarizing within the Buccaneers locker room by 2013; over his first two seasons in Tampa Bay, Schiano allegedly manipulated a vote for team captains, got heated with special teams coach Bob Ligashesky for walking on the wrong side of the practice field (going so far as threatening to fire Ligashesky), and had a terrible relationship with quarterback Josh Freeman. On top of all of this, the Buccaneers dealt with an outbreak of MRSA in the 2013 preseason, with kicker Lawrence Tynes missing the entire season thanks in part due to being infected.
Schiano was fired by Tampa Bay after the 2013 campaign, going 11-21 in two seasons as the Buccaneers’ head coach. In 2016, Schiano was hired by the aforementioned Urban Meyer to be Ohio State’s defensive coordinator, serving in the role for three seasons before returning to Rutgers for a second stint as the program’s head coach. Since Schiano’s return in 2020, Rutgers has gone 30-38, winning no more than seven games in a season.
Steve Spurrier
In the mid-1980s, Steve Spurrier rose to prominence as the head coach of the Tampa Bay Bandits of the United States Football League (USFL). The Bandits had at least 10 wins in each of the league’s three 18-game seasons, reaching the playoffs in 1984 and 1985. Upon the league’s dissolution, Spurrier spent 1986 out of football before eventually being hired by Duke University for 1987.
Despite a 5-6 season in ‘87, Spurrier led the Blue Devils to consecutive winning seasons in 1988 and 1989, winning the ACC Coach of the Year Award both times. Spurrier left Durham for Gainesville in 1990, being named as the head coach for his alma mater, the University of Florida. A former quarterback, Spurrier was also the offensive coordinator for both the Bandits and for Duke, serving in this role with Florida as well.
Over 12 seasons with Florida, Spurrier’s teams never finished with less than nine wins, claiming six SEC championships along the way. In 1996, the Gators won their first national title in program history, defeating Florida State 52-20 in the Sugar Bowl. Following 12 years in Gainesville, Spurrier resigned after the 2001 season, feeling that he had spent enough time as an SEC head coach. Spurrier remains the winningest head coach in the program’s history, amassing a record of 122-27-1 from 1990 to 2001.
In 2002, Spurrier was named the head coach of the then-named Washington Redskins, succeeding the fired Marty Schottenheimer. The team’s Week 1 victory over the Arizona Cardinals would be their only time over .500 all season, going 7-9 after a 4-4 start to the year. Washington’s offense was quite weak in 2002, finishing 25th in scoring (19.2 points per game) and 20th in yards (321.4 yards/game). The team’s defense finished fifth in yards allowed (299.2 yards per game), but it was not enough to make up for their shortcomings on offense.
Spurrier did not do much better in 2003, ending his second year in D.C. with a 5-11 record. Washington began the season 2-0, getting to 3-1 before losing 10 of its last 12 games. Much like in 2002, Spurrier’s units ranked close to the bottom of the league in nearly every metric, finishing with a point differential of -85 and a yardage differential of -753. Washington was outscored 85-31 over the final three games of the season, which included a 27-0 shutout at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys in Week 15.
Over his short stint in the U.S. capital, Spurrier clashed with team owner Dan Snyder, who objected to Spurrier’s wishes to hire his assistants at Florida and bring on former Florida quarterback Danny Wuerffel. These continued disagreements with ownership and the front office led Spurrier to resign altogether, exiting with a record of 12-20 over two seasons as an NFL head coach. Nevertheless, Spurrier rebounded with the University of South Carolina, helping the Gamecocks to an 86-49 record between 2005 and 2015.
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Evidently, success as a college head coach does not always translate to the professional level. The faster pace and higher skill level on the field combined with the working relationship with team personnel off of it can cause bumps in the road for coaches who are looking to make the jump to the NFL, with many flaming out as a result. Plays that may have been successful in college will not always work in the pros, and if you are unable to adapt quickly, you will not last long.
Between egos that can not be appeased, repeated disagreements with team management, and playbooks that do not work in the NFL, there are many reasons why a college coach may not fit in when they attempt to join the professional level. There are often a mix of reasons why these experiments have not worked out, and it is rare that we will ever get the full story. It sure is fun to think about it, though.
Winning a national championship is tough, and winning the Super Bowl is no easy task either. Trying to win both is almost unheard of, although many have attempted to do so. Perhaps one day we will see someone else do it, but it may be a long time before that happens.
