Not one NCAA coach is good enough for the NFL.

Nick Douglas

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If you don't know already, I am not a big college football fan. I follow USC fairly closely and watch all of their games but otherwise I am at most a casual fan. With USC getting close to a National Championship shot, I have been watching a few games the last several weeks. In watching these games, it has just become staggering to me how large the gap is between an NFL head coach and a college head coach.

I believe Pete Carroll is the best coach in college football. Perhaps Bob Stoops could be put side by side with Carroll but after that there is a significant drop off. Pete Carroll, as much as I love the guy, has already shown that he can't compete with NFL head coaches. I suspect that Stoops would suffer the same fate were he to try his hand on Sundays. Stoops is a dedicated family man and I just can't imagine him making the sacrifice in taking the time away from his family it would take to be a great NFL coach.

Other than Stoops and Carroll, NCAA football coaches are by and large poor. Many don't understand simple principles of going for two, playing conservative in high percentage defensive situations and controlling the ball on offense. It is amazing for me to watch this stuff the last several weeks after having watched almost exclusively NFL and USC games the last few years. I know that a lot of what I see is the cause of coaching 20 and 21 year olds rather than 23 to 33 year olds. But still, just in terms of general strategy the gap between NFL and NCAA coaches is amazing.

Obviously recent results of NCAA coaches jumping to the NFL support this. Butch Davis had a nice run to a 9-7 record and a playoff appearance last season but I think nobody would put his name among the top 20 NFL head coaches. Steve Spurrier has been an outright failure. He was handed a pretty darned good team that Marty Schottenheimer miraculously led to an 8-8 record and they have regressed ever since Spurrier took over. Dennis Erickson has similarly shown the ability to dominate the college ranks while looking like a rank amateur as a pro coach.

I am sure that most NFL owners and general managers are aware of how poor NCAA coaches are compared to NFL coaches, but as sure as the sun shines in beautiful Los Angeles, you can be sure that somebody will offer a college coach a job in the NFL some time in the next several years. That coach will probably generate strong initial interest, he may even have some middling success at some point, but in the end he will most likely be proven to be incompetent, just like all NCAA football head coaches.
 
S

S-Love

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what about Jimmy Johnson and Dennis Green?

I can also say that some NFL head coaches have made for some shitty collegiate coaches- John Mackovic being a most recent example.
 

Lester Diamond

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Bottom Line is there are some shitty pro coaches too. Anyone who saw Monday night football saw some assanine coaching.
Bill callahan is terrible
Erickson is bad
Martz makes terrible game decisions
Just to name a few.

There are a handful of pro coaches that are any good.
And a handful of College coaches.

Stoops is amazing.
Nick Sabin is another great.
Look out for John L williams at Mich state.

Interesting thread
 

Scott4USC

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I agree with you, Pete Carroll is an excellent coach and maybe tops in the nation along with Stoops. But you also have to give credit to the USC staff (which i know is tops in the nation). Norm Chow as OC, and all the other outstanding assistant coaches. At USC practices, Pete Carroll lets each assistant coach do their own thing, and Carroll sort of goes from station to station. There is a lot of trust between the coaches and I think that is why USC is so successfull. All the coaches love to recruit and spend time with the players. Very important in college football. I also think Carroll got a raw deal as a heach coach in NFL. When Carroll was DC in NFL, his defenses were tops in the league.

FIGHT ON!!!!!!!!!!
 

Mr Hockey

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Scott this is one thing I will agree with you on. Pete got a raw deal when he coached the Jets. I live in NY & always thought he got the shitend of the deal. I mean you only gave the man one year, how many coaches accomplish much in their very first year as a pro head coach!
 

loudog

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mr. hockey you forget that pete carol was with the head coach for the patriots from 1997-2000. He came on the year after they lost the super bowl.
 

Mr Hockey

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loudog said:
mr. hockey you forget that pete carol was with the head coach for the patriots from 1997-2000. He came on the year after they lost the super bowl.

I was referring to his one year as the Jets head man. I thought he got a raw deal.
 

Nick Douglas

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I agree that on the surface it was unfair how quickly Carroll was dismissed. I have to imagine there was more than we know going on behind the scenes.

Jimmy Johnson & Dennis Green made smooth transitions to the NFL.... *over a decade ago*. The game has changed, gentlemen. I used to be a very big fan of college football all the way up until five or so years ago but I really think as the NFL has gotten more refined, the gap between the level of NCAA coaching and NFL coaching has risen dramatically.
 

SixFive

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Ben, what are the main reasons you prefer the NFL over the college game?

As far as coaching goes, I don't understand how you think NFL coaches are so superior.

Looks like USC might get jumped over for a national title shot.
 

Nick Douglas

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I think somebody hasn't researched their BCS. Naughty, naughty. The only way USC loses that shot is if they lose vs. OSU. Check the math.

You just have to watch the games, SixFive. It is fundamental stuff. The offenses they run, the plays they call in certain situations. College coaches just don't understand the game the way pro coaches do. Obviously some of that can be placed on the shoulders of the inferior talent level on the field, but I think the talent level on the sidelines has become even more inferior.

As far as the reason *I* prefer the NFL, it is just the level of play. I demand excellence in the sports I watch. Same reason I watch pro wrestling.
 

loudog

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agree with you on football, but I would take a good ncaa game over an nba game any day of the week. I don't know why though...
 

Nick Douglas

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You know, one thing I should add to this is that certainly NCAA games, whether basketball or football, generally have a better atmosphere. In many cases the games are also just as exciting, if not more. I just like the higher quality of play. I mean, I am a skinny, slow guy who can't jump very high and I could probably stay with most NCAA basketball players. And I know SixFive could dominate ;). Most college players just don't understand basketball.
 

StevieD

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I like college baskets over the pro game. The game has just seemed to go downhill the past few years. Maybe it's me but I find the pro game to be a bore for the most part. I do like to watch a few teams play but most teams play a very boring style.
As far as NFL coaches go I am constantly shocked week after week as it seems one coach after another is losing games for his teams because of bonehead coaching decisions. I don't get to see that many college games but I find it hard to think that most college coaches as as inept as NFL coaches in general.
 

SixFive

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SixFive said:

Looks like USC might get jumped over for a national title shot.

Tough luck for your alma, Nick! I thought they were going to be in the title game for sure with the Ok loss. I guess they scheduled too many patsies and the Pac 10 was too weak this year.
 

maverick2112

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I think somebody hasn't researched their BCS. Naughty, naughty. The only way USC loses that shot is if they lose vs. OSU. Check the math

Looks like the BCS people were using a different mathbook than the rest of us..................:confused:
 

dawgball

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I love to hear people talk about a good coach as a "genius". Are you serious? They appear to be a genius because most of their counter-parts are morons.

As far as NFL coaches being better than college, I just think it is a completely different game demanding different talents. I think, in general, NFL coaches are probably slightly better because they can pay more to intice the best college coaches to come. I think that it is also partially due to the fact that there are just over 30 NFL coaches and close to 120 college coaches. You're going to get a lot of fat on that size of steak!

There are plenty of terrible NFL coaches (Martz, Cower, anyone that Mike Brown hired pre-Marvin Lewis, etc.). The parody in the NFL keeps most games decently close, though.
 
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