Urban Meyer and other college-to-NFL coaches

[74_75_78_79_]

I'm a believer that Nick Saban did not have an unsuccessful NFL career! He was a key-assistant to Belichick in Cleveland. When I think of their '94 playoff campaign (toppling Tuna in the 1st Rd) - especially that Classic late road win vs Big D - I think of DC/assistant-HC, Nick!

And his time as HC with the Dolphins reeked of potential and plenty of 'what-if's! Head-to-head, he tied Belichick/Brady! Without declaring Billick or Jon Gruden "bad" HCs, if they could win-it-all with the, fair-or-not, respective consensus-unheralded QBs they had, then why not give Saban even-odds at such success no matter who his QB would be? For a seemingly confident guy, he should give himself more credit.

We all do what we want; what makes us comfortable. But if I am him, I am thinking of taking on another challenge. Staying at 'Bama where I won numerous NCs and am at least arguably amongst the best college HCs ever, get great recruits nationwide year after year...I'd, personally, be bored stiff! Try the NFL again before you hang it all up for good!

If Tomlin were to actually retire end of this season, I'd SO want Nick Saban as the next head football coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers (he and Lambert and Kent State)!

[sheajets]

I'm a believer that Nick Saban did not have an unsuccessful NFL career! He was a key-assistant to Belichick in Cleveland. When I think of their '94 playoff campaign (toppling Tuna in the 1st Rd) - especially that Classic late road win vs Big D - I think of DC/assistant-HC, Nick!

And his time as HC with the Dolphins reeked of potential and plenty of 'what-if's! Head-to-head, he tied Belichick/Brady! Without declaring Billick or Jon Gruden "bad" HCs, if they could win-it-all with the, fair-or-not, respective consensus-unheralded QBs they had, then why not give Saban even-odds at such success no matter who his QB would be? For a seemingly confident guy, he should give himself more credit.

We all do what we want; what makes us comfortable. But if I am him, I am thinking of taking on another challenge. Staying at 'Bama where I won numerous NCs and am at least arguably amongst the best college HCs ever, get great recruits nationwide year after year...I'd, personally, be bored stiff! Try the NFL again before you hang it all up for good!

If Tomlin were to actually retire end of this season, I'd SO want Nick Saban as the next head football coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers (he and Lambert and Kent State)!

I agree on Saban. Saying his NFL career was unsuccessful is inaccurate. I wouldn't call it a rousing success...he was 15-17 in Miami in 2 seasons. But if he stuck around there and was given the right support and the amount of control and final say on things that he needed...he would've turned them into a consistent winner. Not that they would be a serious threat to NE all the time...but that would've been a respected winning franchise once again over the long haul.

[Lee Elder]

I am a little surprised no one has yet mentioned Bill Walsh.
Walsh was the head coach at Stanford before he took the reins in San Francisco. He later returned to Stanford after his NFL career. In his first stint in Palo Alto he was 17-7 and won Bowl games both seasons.
In his second stint (post 49ers) he won the last Blockbuster Bowl coaching against... Joe Paterno.

Early in his career he was an assistant at Cal Berkley (under Marv Levy) and Stanford before going into the pro ranks.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Wals ... ing_career

That's a solid point. Walsh seems so obvious, I have no idea why I didn't mention him. Good call!

[sheajets]

Walsh was an NFL assistant for something like a decade before getting his first head coaching gig in college...so yes he was a college to pros head coach but I don't think he was ever viewed as one of those dyed in the wool college guy having to make a tough transition. Walsh was well acquainted with the NFL when he returned in 1979.

[JuggernautJ]

Walsh was an NFL assistant for something like a decade before getting his first head coaching gig in college...so yes he was a college to pros head coach but I don't think he was ever viewed as one of those dyed in the wool college guy having to make a tough transition. Walsh was well acquainted with the NFL when he returned in 1979.

That is certainly true.
But he was an assistant in college before he was an assistant in the NFL.
And he was a head coach in college before (and after) he was a head coach in the NFL.
So, I would say he was a bona fide college coach, too.

[74_75_78_79_]

In his second stint (post 49ers) he won the last Blockbuster Bowl coaching against... Joe Paterno.

Bill Walsh vs Joe Paterno...a very, very easily forgotten factoid by even above-casual sports-fans abroad!

[vikingsfan1963]

Surprised no one has mentioned Bill Petersen's one season plus 5 games with Houston. 1-18 record. Is that the worst winning percentage ever for a coach who made it through at least one season?

[sheajets]

Surprised no one has mentioned Bill Petersen's one season plus 5 games with Houston. 1-18 record. Is that the worst winning percentage ever for a coach who made it through at least one season?

Hue Jackson had that 1-32-1 stretch with the Browns. And if you extend that to his tenure with the 2011 Raiders it's 1-33-1 (he lost the last game of the season last year)

But Peterson, in terms of career winning % year that may be the worst.

Rich Kotite has a 1-19 stretch with the Jets between 1995 and 1996

[Bryan]

Walsh was an NFL assistant for something like a decade before getting his first head coaching gig in college...so yes he was a college to pros head coach but I don't think he was ever viewed as one of those dyed in the wool college guy having to make a tough transition. Walsh was well acquainted with the NFL when he returned in 1979.

That is my opinion as well. I don't view guys like Walsh and Dick Vermiel as being established 'name' college coaches making the jump to the NFL. One guy who I forgot to mention was Frank Kush. He coached forever at Arizona State, was notoriously abusive to his players, and was fired after investigation into numerous violations. I don't know how Kush got an NFL HC position, but not surprised that it was Bob Irsay that hired him. Kush lasted nearly 3 seasons, with his teams routinely finishing at the bottom of both offensive and defensive statistics, having a 'defeated' season in 1982, and having John Elway not signing because of not wanting to play for Kush.

[SixtiesFan]

Walsh was an NFL assistant for something like a decade before getting his first head coaching gig in college...so yes he was a college to pros head coach but I don't think he was ever viewed as one of those dyed in the wool college guy having to make a tough transition. Walsh was well acquainted with the NFL when he returned in 1979.

That is my opinion as well. I don't view guys like Walsh and Dick Vermiel as being established 'name' college coaches making the jump to the NFL. One guy who I forgot to mention was Frank Kush. He coached forever at Arizona State, was notoriously abusive to his players, and was fired after investigation into numerous violations. I don't know how Kush got an NFL HC position, but not surprised that it was Bob Irsay that hired him. Kush lasted nearly 3 seasons, with his teams routinely finishing at the bottom of both offensive and defensive statistics, having a 'defeated' season in 1982, and having John Elway not signing because of not wanting to play for Kush.

When Frank Kush was at Arizona State, Sport Magazine had a story on him saying Kush was another Vince Lombardi.