Ohio State coach Urban Meyer
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College football and the NFL are becoming more and more similar by the day. NCAA programs are beginning to mirror the professional model as the sport’s landscape continues to change.
Players are now paid. Many have a say in recruiting outlook. The transfer portal has become an outlet of unrestricted free agency.
As a result, many college coaches are beginning to make the jump to the NFL. There is a more defined structure at the professional level. Rules are in place to navigate the difficulties of roster management.
College, meanwhile, has become the Wild West with no true guidelines.
College coaches that failed in the NFL
With all of that being said, the two are still not equal. Talent levels are different. Management styles, while growing more comparable, still differ.
A number of successful NCAA leaders have taken their swings in the NFL. Many have failed, even those considered the greatest of all time in terms of college production.
Here, we’ll take a look back at nine notable failed stints from college coaches making the jump to the pros. We’ll start with one of the most recent.
Urban Meyer
Urban Meyer FOX Big Noon Kickoff
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Meyer won two national titles with the Florida Gators in 2006 and 2008. He then left the program before accepting the head coaching job at Ohio State.
With the Buckeyes, he added another championship to his resume. He then gave it a brief run in the NFL.
Meyer coached the Jacksonville Jaguars for one season. He was fired before it ended after posting a 2-11 overall record.
Controversy surrounded his stay in Duval County. His lack of success represented a stark contrast to his college tenure. Over 17 seasons at Utah, Florida, and Ohio State, Meyer owned a 187-32 mark.
He won 15% of his pro games, making him a perfect candidate for this list of failures.
Steve Spurrier
Steve Spurrier, Florida Gators
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Another Florida Gators coaching legend comes in next on the list. Steve Spurrier led the Gators to a national championship in 1997. He then took an open NFL job with Washington.
Spurrier lasted just two seasons with the franchise, posting a 12-20 overall record. The team went 7-9 in Year 1 before falling to 5-11 the next campaign. He later quipped that there are “no Vanderbilts in the NFL.”
Spurrier eventually returned to college to coach at South Carolina where he led the Gamecocks to their first SEC Championship Game appearance. Over 26 seasons at Duke, Florida, and South Carolina, he posted a 228-89-2 mark.
He is the all-time winningest coach at two SEC programs. He couldn’t cut it in the NFL.
Lou Holtz
Lou Holtz, Notre Dame Fighting Irish
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Lou Holtz played a role in getting Spurrier to South Carolina following the failed stint in Washington. Spurrier might’ve appreciated some advice on the difficulty of transitioning to the NFL.
Holtz coached at William and Mary before moving onto North Carolina State in the 1970s. Following a successful stint in Raleigh, he made the jump to the New York Jets.
That marriage lasted just one season. The team went 3-10 and Holtz resigned after just 13 games.
He then returned to the college ranks where he’d lead Notre Dame to a national championship. Across 33 years of coaching at the NCAA level, he posted a 249-132-7 record. He could not replicate success as a pro.
Bobby Petrino
Bobby Petrino, Arkansas Razorbacks
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Petrino was an offensive mastermind at Louisville where he led the Cardinals to 41 wins in four seasons. He attempted to make his scheme work in the NFL. It did not.
The head coach took over for the Atlanta Falcons in 2007. He lasted just 13 games, posting a 3-10 overall mark. He resigned midseason and later returned to college.
Petrino became the head coach at Arkansas, leading the 34 wins in four years. He spent a season at Western Kentucky following a controversial exit from Fayetteville before coming back to Louisville from 2014-2018.
The second partnership didn’t work out as well as the first, and he was fired after a 2-10 campaign. Still, his overall college record is 119-56, good for a winning percentage of 68%. It’s much better than his 23% success rate in Atlanta.
Nick Saban
Nick Saban, Alabama Crimson Tide
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Saban coached at Toledo, Michigan State, and LSU before testing his luck in the NFL. He won a national title with the Tigers, but professional success proved elusive.
He took over for the Miami Dolphins in 2005. He was gone after the 2006 campaign. Across two years, he posted a 15-17 record, though he’s one of the few coaches on this list to have led a winning season. In his debut, the Dolphins went 9-7.
Saban eventually returned to the SEC where he became a legend at Alabama. The Crimson Tide won six national championships under his tutelage and a number of SEC titles.
He is the program’s winningest coach in terms of percentages, emerging victorious in 88% of his games. Saban is considered the gold standard in college football. He was largely mediocre in the NFL.
Chip Kelly
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Kelly might have the most NFL success on this list. It didn’t keep him from being fired twice in four seasons.
The offensive guru made a name for himself at Oregon by posting a 46-7 record across four years. He led the Ducks to a national championship appearance in 2010, ultimately falling on a last second field goal to Auburn.
Kelly left Eugene after the 2012 campaign. He accepted a role with the Philadelphia Eagles.
His first two professional teams each went 10-6. He was then fired in Week 16 of the 2015 season after going 6-9 through 15 matchups.
A year later, he was fired by the 49ers after going 2-14. He eventually landed back in the PAC 12 at UCLA.
With the Bruins, Kelly was unable to reattain the success seen at Oregon. Still, he owns an 81-41 college record compared to a middling 28-35 output in the NFL.
Matt Rhule
Matt Rhule, Nebraska Cornhuskers
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Rhule blossomed into a star at Temple, and later Baylor in the 2010s. After posting back-to-back 10-win campaigns with the Owls, he took over for the Bears.
At Baylor, success continued. He won 11 games in 2019 just two years after a one-win season. He leveraged the quick turnaround into an opportunity with the Carolina Panthers.
Unfortunately, his style didn’t translate to the NFL. The Panthers went just 11-27 over three years under his leadership. He was fired after a 1-4 start to the 2022 season, which followed two straight five-win outputs.
Ultimately, he returned to college where he now leads the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Rhule is now trying to lead his third college program to double digit wins. He barely eclipsed that threshold as a pro coach.
Greg Schiano
Greg Schiano, Rutgers Scarlet Knights
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Schiano completed an unexpected turnaround during a decade-long stint at Rutgers in the early 2000s. He took over a three-win program that had just one winning season in Big Ten play.
In Year 6, he posted an 11-win campaign which still ties for the most wins in a Scarlet Knights season. Between 2006-2011, Rutgers won at least eight games all but one time.
Schiano buoyed the success into an NFL gig. The coach took over for the Tampa Bay Bucs in 2012. The team went 7-9 in Year 1 before notching a 4-12 output in his second season.
He was fired after two seasons at the helm. He later returned to college where he’s landed back on the Rutgers sidelines. Schiano took over in his second Scarlet Knights stint in 2020. He’s posted back-to-back seven-win seasons and will look for another bowl appearance in 2025.
Dennis Erickson
Dennis Erickson, San Francisco 49ers
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Erickson won two national championships with the University of Miami in 1989 and 1991. That came after short stints at Wyoming and Washington State.
The head coach tried his luck in the NFL in 1995 with the Seattle Seahawks. His time in Washington was largely middling.
All four of Erickson’s Seahawks teams finished .500 or worse. He was fired after an 8-8 campaign in 1998.
Erickson returned to college for four seasons with Oregon State before giving the NFL another go. Unfortunately, it went much like the first time around.
He took over for the 49ers in 2003 but went 9-23 across two seasons. He was again fired, and again, returned to the NCAA.
Erickson spent one year at Idaho before wrapping up his head coaching career at Arizona State. He won 10 games in his first season with the Sun Devils.
Over 19 college seasons, he posted a 147-81-1 record. In the NFL, he was just 40-56.