Why Do Most College Coaches Fail In the NFL? They're College Coaches
Neville E. Guard-USA TODAY Sports
So, Chip Kelly was fired from San Francisco, as he stayed just as long as head coach as Jim Tomsula. Yeah. I get it. Kelly didn't have a lot to work what he had as right now San Francisco is a disaster area. However, he didn't make second half adjustments ever and the 49ers would always play 2 quarters of semi-decent football, and then collapse.
Oh wait, adjustments.....something that Kelly never truly did in his NFL time, whether in Philadelphia or San Francisco.
Nor did other college head coaches in the NFL.
I'm going to look at why a lot of the college coaches in the NFL have failed big time and even the ones who have done well why they have done well. And really, how those coaches are diamonds in the rough.
Why do College Coaches Fail in the NFL?
Spurrier believed his ways in Washington would run roughshod over the rest of the NFL.
1. COLLEGE COACHES HAVE BIG EGOS: If you go to places like Alabama, Florida when Spurrier resided, Ohio State, Tennessee, Florida State, Penn State, Michigan, etc. They all have (or had) coaches who are legends. And if they are alive, they always have the red carpet out for them. Whatever they say, goes and most of the time, they are right. Nobody questions it. I don't mean this in a bad way because you need a lot of confidence and swag to have success on the college level. But when you hit the pros and you think your way will work over how the establishment works in the NFL, you are in for a rude awakening. Steve Spurrier thought his style of play and his mentality of "trash talking" about rival teams would pan out in the NFL. It didn't and the Redskins floundered. More on the style of play later.
Bobby Petrino had a very difficult time relating to his players in his very short stint in Atlanta.
2. COACHES HAVE A DIFFICULTY CONNECTING WITH PROFESSIONAL PLAYERS: Every year we hear about Nick Saban being linked to a coaching job in the NFL. And every year he shoots down the rumors. People say "oh it is the money" and Bama fans say "he is loyal to OUR school." I say it is because he gave it a whirl in Miami and failed. Remember, he split the Dolphins for Alabama, not the Dolphins fired him. And I think the issue resided was that if Saban did not like what was going on with certain players, he would give them the much needed "a** chewings" like we saw with him and Lane Kiffin the last couple of years. He tried that in Miami and while it made Manuel Wright cry. Of course that was a rare story in its own right, but when you butt heads with certain players in the NFL, notably certain ones who make millions of dollars and are a face of the franchise, well, you are the one coming out on the losing end. To add on top of it, players will see that and go "he really doesn't have a discipline system that works," so I can do what I need to do.....for me. In college that isn't the case. You get chewed out and don't listen, there's the door. Hence, why I think Saban is quite comfortable in Alabama because he doesn't have to deal with that. You also saw those same issues with Bobby Petrino in Atlanta as no Falcons player wanted any part of him even before he jettisoned to Arkansas and Chip Kelly in Philadelphia. His mentality was his way or the high way, and the minute Kelly couldn't get rid of these guys due to financial issues, the Eagles began to sputter. In essence, trying to tell a player in his late 20's/early 30's who has more NFL experience than you on what to do is a far different animal than telling a college player in his late teens/early 20's what to do. And some cannot relate to that.
Kelly's quick-strike, no huddle spread offense was not overly successful.
3. COACHES THINK THEIR PLAYING STYLE WILL RE-INVENT THE WHEEL IN THE NFL: This mostly goes towards Kelly & Spurrier. Spurrier's fun & gun mentality he had at Florida thought it would work like a gem in Washington. However, we saw with Florida QB's under him, while they had great successes in college and one of them won the Heisman, had nowhere close to the same level of success in the NFL. Spurrier tried it in his first season in Washington and once teams figured out to counter Spurrier's offense using different style blitzes and having secondaries that were far better than the ones he encountered at Florida, it was an epic crash. But it goes back to egos as he thought he could do it with his style and mentality and failed. As for Kelly, a similar strategy. He loved using the no-huddle, quick-strike offenses that netted him great teams in Oregon, and that's what he wanted to do in the NFL. It started off okay and compared to Spurrier he was far more successful, but what it did in the process though was wear out players on BOTH sides of the football. The Eagles offense weren't accustomed to the extra snaps in games and the defense was out there too long in games while the offense was out there very little. By the third season, the Kelly experiment, while adding him to be the GM (which was another epic disaster) was over. He tried doing a similar thing in San Francisco, but it failed as well. The problem is, and we are seeing it with players from these gimmicky offenses such as Oregon and the Spurrier-led Florida days and now with the Air Raid offenses we see in the PAC-12 (California) and Big 12, these players haven't made the adjustment. Just look at Jared Goff.
Saban wasn't necessarily loved by the Miami media......or really the city.
4. OUTSIDE PRESSURE (MEDIA & FANS) IS FAR HIGHER IN THE NFL THAN COLLEGE: Let's hypothetically say Nick Saban wins his 5th national championship at Alabama against Clemson. In Tuscaloosa, and really the state, he is pretty much seated at the right hand of the father, which in Alabama is Bear Bryant. What Saban says, goes and everybody is fine with it. Spurrier had the similar bit in Florida and I'm betting Chip Kelly didn't have many issues in Oregon. However, when you go to franchises like Miami or Philadelphia where the fans and media alike are starving for a Super Bowl and you aren't winning games, the fans and media will ride you to no end of why aren't you winning more. People will harp on you far more if you lose a game as opposed to if Saban loses a rare game or two in Alabama, it is "we'll get them next week!" from the fans and the media will go "well, it is a rare occurrence, so whatever." But if you lose to the Browns in the NFL, fans want you GONE. I get it that even college places like Georgia has that if you have a young coach who isn't winning, but once these coaches are established, all is well. Heck, Mark Dantonio went 3-9 at Michigan State this year and not a lot of barking has happened for his exit from the program. Even if you're "established" in the NFL, you are still a 5-11 or 4-12 away from being canned. So I think that is where one issue resides is that these coaches are shocked after a game that fans and the media alike will jump at you and they are nowhere accustomed to that.
So we discussed why the likes of Kelly, Saban, Petrino, and Spurrier collapsed in the pros, but there have been coaches who succeeded. The two ones who did well for themselves were obviously Pete Carroll and Jimmy Johnson.
Carroll's formula in Seattle has worked like a charm.
Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Carroll is an outlier in my eyes given he coached in the NFL from 1997-1999 with the Patriots and in 1994 when he coached the Jets. So he knew when he returned to the NFL from USC what to do. However, he understood something. He treated the players like professionals. He hasn't yelled or screamed at the players when they screw up. He is empathetic towards them and players love playing for him. He will be their biggest fan when they make a huge play and will give them a pat on the back if they mess up. So even when he makes a decision that costs the team a Super Bowl, nobody ever doubted him while they probably have wished he made a different play. Could you imagine Saban or Petrino doing that given their NFL tenures? Players would have thrown them under the bus. But also, Carroll has made the necessary adjustments to become a great NFL head coach.
Jimmy Johnson had a great run in Dallas with players who loved him, but there were certain people in Dallas and Miami that probably ended his NFL coaching career.
As for Jimmy Johnson, he was similar in supporting his players and while he was probably more strict than Carroll is, Johnson had the support of his guys who believed him. Of course, he was able to build a team the way he wanted and the players understood what he was trying to do. His issue was he had an egomaniac owner on top of him, and while you can't fault Johnson for leaving Dallas, if you can't get along with the higher ups, you're in trouble (see Jim Harbaugh's tenure with the 49ers).
When Johnson went to Miami, he had a similar thing going on and was overall "successful," but Johnson and Dan Marino didn't see eye to eye on the team's philosophy, which kind of brings back to egos and issues of relating to players. Johnson and Marino were at odds, and by the end of the 1999 season, Miami crashed in the playoffs, losing 62-7 where the team practically quit on Johnson. So really, what brought down Johnson on his NFL career was ticking off the wrong people in the organizations.
So if you really look at it, the two head coaches who have succeeded on both levels even have asterisks by them. Carroll to his credit, showed he was willing and able to make the necessary decisions to be a better NFL head coach after leaving USC. And it worked. Johnson, whether he was right or not in Dallas (in my eyes,he was right), irked the wrong person. And when that happens, you have issues.
If you are an NFL team, you need to steer clear of college head coaches, including the likes of Saban & Meyer. Some say Harbaugh succeeded in San Francisco, but I think he falls under Johnson of ticking off the wrong people in the organization, which explains his exodus to Michigan. Get people who are accustomed and are empathetic to professional players and understand the pressures from fans, media, and their bosses.
So to the fans in Denver, San Francisco, Jacksonville, and Buffalo, jump for the assistants and former coaches. They're a better shot in terms of bringing your teams back to the forefront.
-Fan in the Obstructed Seat
