David Shaw is proving to be one of the top coaches in college football. (Kelley L Cox-US PRESSWIRE)
The success of former college head football coaches in the NFL is a reverse trend from not too long ago when Nick Saban, Bobby Petrino, Steve Spurrier and Butch Davis could not cut it at the highest level.
Jim Harbaugh, Pete Carroll and Greg Schiano are proving a college coach can jump to NFL head coach without falling on his face.
Harbaugh, the former Stanford coach, is 21-5-1 in less than two seasons as the San Francisco head coach. Carroll (USC to Seattle) and Schiano (Rutgers to Tampa Bay) are each 6-5 this season. Carroll coached Seattle to the playoffs last year. The Buccaneers were on a four-game winning streak until a one-point loss to 10-1 Atlanta on Sunday.
Now that Harbaugh, Carroll and Schiano are winning after Saban, Petrino, Spurrier and Davis did not, NFL owners and front-office brass will not hesitate to take a look at who is coaching successful BCS programs.
They will look even deeper into those who have NFL coaching experience. Harbaugh, Carroll and Schiano all had previous coaching experience in the NFL. (Of course, NFL types will also be intrigued by those successful college coaches without NFL experience, such as Oregon’s Chip Kelly, bound to be a hot name again after nearly completing a deal with Tampa Bay last winter.)
Harbaugh (Oakland, 2002-03) and Schiano (Chicago, 1996-98) were assistants. Carroll had head coaching experience with the New York Jets and New England, and served as an assistant with Buffalo, Minnesota and San Francisco.
Nine college coaches of teams ranked this week in the BCS Top 25 have coaching experience in the NFL, including Saban with No. 2 Alabama and Spurrier with No. 10 South Carolina.
Although reports recently surfaced that Cleveland might pursue the 61-year-old Saban, he can cement his legacy by continuing the Alabama dynasty. Spurrier, 67, is simply too old to make another attempt in the NFL.
Oregon State’s Mike Riley (NFL experience with San Diego as head coach and New Orleans as an assistant) and LSU’s Les Miles (former tight ends coach with Dallas) are each 59 and more suited for success at the college level. Riley is a player’s coach who can be perceived as too soft for the NFL, while Miles — the “Mad Hatter” — loves to run his own act at LSU.
The other five coaches have potential to reach the NFL after experiencing it before. Here is a look at the five, ranked by who has the best chance to advance within the next three or four years:
1. David Shaw, Stanford — It is only a matter of time until an NFL general manager hires Shaw, who has coached the Cardinal to similar success as Harbaugh. Shaw is also working his magic without Andrew Luck at quarterback. Shaw, 40, has nine years of coaching experience in the NFL as an assistant with Philadelphia, Oakland and Baltimore. His departure to the NFL would prompt Stanford to look at former Harbaugh assistant Willie Taggart of Western Kentucky. Taggart’s Hilltoppers started 5-1, then lost some close games en route to a 7-5 regular season.
2. Bo Pelini, Nebraska — In his fifth season as head coach at Nebraska, Pelini, 44, is averaging almost 10 wins a season after the Cornhuskers averaged less than seven in four years under Bill Callahan (a coach with NFL experience who couldn’t win in college). Pelini has nine years of experience as an NFL assistant. Rumors have him being a candidate for multiple college vacancies that have popped up at the end of the season, but maybe Pelini would make the jump to the next level before trying to restore another college program.
3. Will Muschamp, Florida — An assistant head coach and defensive coordinator with the Miami Dolphins in 2005, he led a unit that ranked No. 15 in the league by allowing only 19.8 points and 317.4 total yards a game. Muschamp, 41, later enjoyed success at Auburn and Texas as the defensive coordinator. As head coach at Florida, the Gators improved from 7-6 in his first year to 11-1 this season. The Gators rank in the top 10 in four defensive categories, including No. 5 in total defense (only 282 yards allowed per game).
4. Jim Mora, UCLA — He has already restored the Bruins to a respected program, supplanting USC as the top team in Los Angeles. After having coached in the NFL for 23 years, including head coaching stints with Atlanta and Seattle, Mora, 51, must believe he can be successful at that level. If he coaches the Bruins to the Rose Bowl, his pride will tell him that a Super Bowl is achievable. His short-lived tenures as head coach with Atlanta (2004-06) and Seattle (2009) could be a hindrance. Then again, Carroll (1994 with the Jets and 1997-99 with the Patriots) had the same history.
5. Mike MacIntyre, San Jose State — He has done absolute wonders with the Spartans, guiding them to a 10-2 regular-season record. This is a program that was near the chopping block several years ago before Dick Tomey stepped in and got SJSU headed in the right direction. MacIntyre, 47, is in his third season at San Jose State after spending two seasons as the defensive coordinator at Duke. He has a good NFL pedigree, having spent five seasons in the league coaching defensive backs, including four under Bill Parcells (2003-06) in Dallas.
