re: Why have Offensive Minded Coaches Struggled So Much When Moving to Sought After Jobs

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Very good points. Makes it more head scratching that Lincoln Riley has not succeeded at USC because he was the QB whisperer. Kiffin has proven he can turn average QBs into good QBs, so he may transition better.

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There were/are commitment issues at USC when it comes to admin and boosters. Also add in to the fact that Riley was dumb for bringing Alex Grinch with him to USC when he was not good at OU.

Chris Peterson left Boise and took an abysmal Washington program whose only claim to fame was Jake Locker to the playoffs…. That’s a horrible example. Mullen also did better than any of the other bums lately at UF and Spurrier gave USCe some of their best seasons in their history when he went there after the skins. So the more I think about it, the more you are just completely wrong.

IMO, you would have to look at these on a case-by-case basis and you could add Napier to the OP. Some may have found lower-level success because of personnel or schedule or they road on the back of some great asst coaches

I don't think it's fair to lump Spurrier in this list, i.e., at USCe. He was more successful there than anyone in its football history.

It should be mentioned coaching is a zero-sum game - for every winner there is a corresponding loser. So you could compile a list of D-minded coaches that have failed too, e.g., Zook & Boom at UF, Archer at LSU, Strong at UTX.