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re: Has a coach from the NFL ranks ever been successful at a big time power 5 school?
Posted on 9/2/25 at 9:18 am to VolsOut4Harambe
Posted on 9/2/25 at 9:18 am to VolsOut4Harambe
John Robinson is an interesting case - was on Madden's Raiders staff for a season before taking over at Southern Cal after McKay -
Robinson then coached the LA Rams for 9 seasons - with 2 NFC title game apperances - (vs 85 Bease & 89 SF) - then returned to Southern Cal in the 90s and won 3 bowl games including another Rose Bowl as well as a Cotton bowl -
Robinson then coached the LA Rams for 9 seasons - with 2 NFC title game apperances - (vs 85 Bease & 89 SF) - then returned to Southern Cal in the 90s and won 3 bowl games including another Rose Bowl as well as a Cotton bowl -
This post was edited on 9/2/25 at 9:19 am
1
Posted on 9/2/25 at 9:57 am to Globetrotter747
I thought Pete Carroll coached the Patriots(or Jets…can’t remember) before getting fired and going to USC.
Posted on 9/2/25 at 10:27 am to VolsOut4Harambe
Bill Walsh
Posted on 9/2/25 at 10:43 am to LSUTigKyl
quote:
I thought Pete Carroll coached the Patriots(or Jets…can’t remember) before getting fired and going to USC.
I think it all depends on how you define "from the NFL ranks." Carroll was an assistant in college (not including GA stints) for 6 years before going to the NFL. He was then in the NFL for 16 years (including 3 years as HC of New England) before going to USC.
So yeah, I would call Carroll a NFL guy who was successful in college. Compare to a guy like Harbaugh who was only in the NFL (as a coach) for 3 years before going to college.
Posted on 9/2/25 at 10:57 am to Globetrotter747
quote:
Jimmy Johnson, Barry Switzer,
Were college coaches first that had success in the pros. He’s asking how many went toe other direction pros first and had successful college coaching stints.
Posted on 9/2/25 at 11:09 am to VolsOut4Harambe
Saban?
Posted on 9/2/25 at 11:12 am to 1801
quote:
Robinson then coached the LA Rams for 9 seasons - with 2 NFC title game apperances - (vs 85 Bease & 89 SF) - t
If you had asked me individually who the ‘85 Bears and ‘89 49ers played in the NFCCG I could have told you, but I had never thought about it from the perspective of the Rams.
That’s two very tough draws with beatable Super Bowl opponents on the other side.
Posted on 9/2/25 at 11:12 am to VolsOut4Harambe
Dan Devine from Packers to championship at Notre Dame
Posted on 9/2/25 at 11:21 am to VolsOut4Harambe
Gene Stallings
Posted on 9/2/25 at 11:24 am to Wayne Campbell
quote:
So yeah, I would call Carroll a NFL guy who was successful in college.
He was definitely considered an "NFL retread guy" with average success coming to USC as basically the 4th choice in the hiring process.
For Pete’s Sake, USC, Why Did You Do It?
By BILL PLASCHKE
quote:
You can’t be mad at a guy who had the misfortune of working in New York and replacing Bill Parcells in the same lifetime.
You can’t be mad at someone who is so excited about coming to your town, he was nearly screaming over the cell phone Friday night, clacking like those bugs in the banyan trees, leaving you breathless in some deserted parking lot along a Louisiana bayou.
I’m not mad at Pete Carroll.
I’m mad at USC for hiring him.
quote:
I’m mad that, during its most important times, the most enduring football institution in this city sometimes acts as though it discovered the game only last week.
We should give Carroll a chance. He deserves at least the 20 minutes--OK, OK, it was more like 10--that we gave Paul Hackett.
Carroll made the playoffs two of three years as a head coach in New England. Hackett never was an NFL head coach.
quote:
I’m not mad at Pete Carroll.
But as for USC, well, I’m just, well, you know what I said when I heard they were hiring Carroll?
Maybe you said the same thing.
“Oh, no.”
Oh, no, the Trojans did it again.
Oh, no, they hired somebody non-traditional to lead a tradition.
Oh, no, they ignored the idea that their new coach might only be as good as the coaching staff he can bring with him.
Oh, no, they again forgot that this was college football.
quote:
Carroll is considered one of football’s nicest men and hardest workers.
But because he has been out of football for a year, and college football for 17 years--the stat of the day--what is he going to do about a coaching staff?
Look at your best college teams. Most of them have coaching staffs that have been together longer than any of their players have been in college.
With today’s college head coaches serving as little more than bullhorn-toting CEOs, stable coaching staffs win championships. Does Carroll have the time and connections to put one together?
Staff: Pete Carroll, Norm Chow, Ed O, Kiffin, Sark, Ken Norton Jr.
Posted on 9/2/25 at 11:35 am to VolsOut4Harambe
North Carolina football is "big time power 5"?
Posted on 9/2/25 at 11:57 am to VolsOut4Harambe
Dan Devine....Packers then Notre Dame ( NC)
Posted on 9/2/25 at 12:02 pm to VolsOut4Harambe
Didn't Lou Holtze coach the Jets for some time?
Posted on 9/2/25 at 12:06 pm to MikeyFL
T
what a great movie arc. The Ballad of Joey Freshwater
quote:
I was thinking about that too. Nepotism and his USC connections basically got him the raiders job.
From there, he was chased out of Knoxville with pitchforks, fired at the tarmac by USC, entered the Saban rehab program for wayward coaches, looked like he was in witness protection at FAU, and then finally became reasonably successful at Ole Miss.
what a great movie arc. The Ballad of Joey Freshwater
Posted on 9/2/25 at 1:15 pm to Tigershine
quote:
Saban?
Went from Browns DC to Michigan St but had quite a few college gigs before his days in Cleveland. Would probably consider him more of a college coach even before MSU.
Posted on 9/2/25 at 3:27 pm to Globetrotter747
quote:
Jimmy Johnson, Barry Switzer, and Pete Carroll are the three who have won championships at both levels. But they all went from college to pro instead of the other way around.
And all 3 either played or coached at Arkansas.
Posted on 9/2/25 at 3:33 pm to VolsOut4Harambe
Spurrier's first HC job was in professional football with Tampa Bay(USFL), before he went to Duke.
Posted on 9/2/25 at 3:33 pm to mattz1122
quote:
Gene Stallings
Yep....probably the best example of an NFL coach going to a college team.
Posted on 9/2/25 at 3:44 pm to Globetrotter747
quote:
Jimmy Johnson, Barry Switzer, and Pete Carroll are the three who have won championships at both levels.
Paul Brown won multiple AAFC titles, 3 NFL titles (lost 5 more), and in 1942 Ohio State's first National Championship
Posted on 9/3/25 at 6:46 am to VolsOut4Harambe
quote:
Pete Carroll is the only example I can think of.
Related to that poor coaches have won college football championships and the Super Bowl.
Jimmy Johnson 1 CFB and 2 NFL
Pete Carroll - 2 CFB and 1 NFL
Barry Switzer - 3 CFB 1 NFL
Jim Harbaugh- 1 and 1
This post was edited on 9/3/25 at 10:30 am
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