How 11 NFL Coaches Who Headed Back To The College Level Fared After Pivoting

Plenty of people were skeptical Bill Belichick would actually agree to become the next football coach at the University of North Carolina after learning he was talking to the school, but the Tar Heels made waves on Wednesday when he was officially hired to replace Mack Brown to become the latest in a long line of NFL skippers who’ve headed back to college.

There’s no telling what the future holds for Bill Belichick and the football program at the University of North Carolina, as history has shown hiring a coach who was previously in charge of an NFL team can be a hit-or-miss move.

The former Patriots skipper is just the latest in a long line of people to make a similar move, and here’s a closer look at how some of the most notable names ended up doing after heading back to college.

Nick Saban

It’s only natural to kick off this list with the most obvious success story, as Nick Saban spent time at Toledo, Michigan State, and LSU (he won a title with the Tigers) before being hired by the Dolphins.

Saban only spent two years in Miami and went 15-17 before Alabama lured him away ahead of the 2007 season.

You don’t have to be a diehard college football fan to know how that ended up working out, as Saban racked up six national championships with the Crimson Tide while posting a 201–29 record during the 17 seasons he spent in Tuscaloosa.

Lane Kiffin

Lane Kiffin didn’t have any head coaching experience under his belt when the USC OC was hired to take the reins for the Raiders in 2007 at the age of 31. Unfortunately, he didn’t last very long, as he was fired four games into his second season in Oakland after going 5-15 during his time there.

Kiffin headed back to college in 2009 to spend a single season at Tennessee before reuniting with USC. He was infamously tarmacked five games into the 2013 season before linking up with Saban as Alabama’s OC and got another shot as a head coach at FAU in 2017.

He’s been in charge at Ole Miss since 2020 and currently sports a 103-52 record since leaving the Raiders.

Pete Carroll

Pete Carroll spent decades working his way up the ranks at the NCAA and NFL levels before getting his first shot as a head coach with a one-and-done season with the Jets in 1994 where he went 6-10.

The Patriots gave him another chance in 1996, but he was basically the definition of average after going 33–31 during the three seasons he spent in New England.

However, he turned things around in a big way after arriving at USC in 2001. He got off to a rocky start in his first year, but the Trojans quickly transformed into one of the best teams in the country and won two national championships during a nine-year run where he went 97–19.

Chip Kelly

Chip Kelly initially made a name for himself at Oregon while going 46-7 during the four years he spent there after being hired ahead of the 2009 season.

That performance led to him being scooped up by the Eagles, who went 10-6 in each of his first two seasons before he was fired after going 6-9 in his third. He got another shot with the 49ers, but it came to a swift end with the abysmal 2-14 showing in 2016.

UCLA was hoping he’d be able to recapture the magic of his stint with the Ducks when he was hired in 2018. It was a rocky beginning before things started trending in the right direction in the wake of the COVID-shortened season, but he decided to take the OC job at Ohio State in 2024 after going 35-34 in his six years with the Bruins.

Jim Harbaugh

Jim Harbaugh made his head coaching debut at the University of San Diego in 2004 and went 29-6 in the three seasons that preceded a four-year stint at Stanford capped off by a 12-1 campagin in 2010.

That led to him getting his first shot in the NFL with the 49ers the following year, and the team made the playoffs the first three years he was in San Francisco. However, he was fired after going 8-8 (finishing with an overall record of 44-19 in the regular season) and headed back to his alma mater when he replaced Brady Hoke ahead of the 2015 campaign.

It took him nine years to secure the national championship he won with the Wolverines to cap off the 2023 season, and he headed back to the NFL after going 86–25 during his time in Ann Arbor.

Bobby Petrino

Bobby Petrino got off to a hot start when he began his head coaching career at Louisville in 2003, as he went 41-9 during his four seasons with the Cardinals before making the leap to another avian-themed team in the NFL when the Falcons hired him in 2007.

However, Petrino didn’t even last a single season in Atlanta. He inherited a disastrous QB situation thanks in no small part to the dogfighting scandal that sidelined Michael Vick, and he resigned midway through the campaign to become the head coach at Arkansas while the Falcons were sitting at 3-10.

Petrino had the Razorbacks heading in the right direction when his tenure ended after four years due to a scandal of his own (he went 34–17 during that span).

The man who currently serves as the team’s OC subsequently spent a season at Western Kentucky, reunited with Louisville, and had a three-year stint at Missouri State and went 137-71 after returning from the NFL.

Steve Spurrier

Steve Spurrier got his start as a college head coach at Duke in 1987 (he previously spent three years in the USFL) but emerged as a force to be reckoned with after taking over at Florida in 1990 en route to winning a national championship and going 122-27-1 during the 12 years he oversaw things in The Swamp.

The team now known as the Washington Commanders hired Spurrier in 2002, but he went 12-20 before being fired after two seasons.

Spurrier ultimately mounted a comeback at the University of South Carolina in 2005 but was never really able to replicate what he’d achieved with the Gators. He was fired midway through his 11th season after getting off to a 2-4 start and going winless in conference play and finished with an 86–49 record.

Lou Holtz

This one is a bit of a throwback, and I think most people can be forgiven for forgetting Lou Holtz ever coached at the NFL level when you consider he went 3–10 with the Jets in 1976 and resigned before the final game of the year.

Holtz had previously spent time at William & Mary and NC State and made his grand return to the college level by kicking off a seven-year run at Arkansas in 1977.

He then spent a couple of years at Minnesota before taking the job he’s best remembered for by joining Notre Dame in 1986. He won a national championship (still the team’s most recent) a couple of years later and spent 11 years in South Bend before capping off his coaching career at South Carolina.

Holtz went 46-32-3 ahead of his ill-fated campaign with the Jets and 203-100-4 after heading back down to the level where he knew he belonged.

Herm Edwards

In hindsight, Herm Edwards lasted longer than he probably should have in the NFL. He spent five years with the Jets and led them to the playoffs three times, but he went 39-41 in New York before posting a 15-33 record during his three seasons with the Chiefs.

He got a second chance at the college level courtesy of Arizona State but officially went 18-20 (26-20 if you include the eight wins the NCAA forced the Sun Devils to vacate over recruiting violations under his watch) and was fired three games into his fifth season in 2022.

Jim Mora

NFL Nepo Baby Jim Mora got his first shot as a head coach with the Falcons in 2004 and was able to lead the team to the NFC Championship Game in his first year.

However, it was all downhill from there, and he was fired in the wake of his third season after going 26-22 overall. Mora got another opportunity with the Seahawks in 2011 but only lasted a year after going 5-11.

He was given a fresh start at UCLA in 2012 and came pretty hot out of the gate, but Chip Kelly was the man who replaced him when the Bruins opted to go in a new direction following a six-year run where he went 46-30.

Mora ultimately opted to take one of the least glamorous jobs in college football by taking over at UConn in 2022, and he’s helped the Huskies turn things around and made two bowl games since arriving in Storrs.

He’s currently 17-20 at UConn and sitting at 63-50 as a college coach.

Matt Rhule

Matt Rhule got his start at Temple in 2013 and helped the Owls stage a pretty dramatic turnaround during his four years in Philly before doing the same at Baylor during a three-year stretch that kicked off in 2017.

The Panthers were hoping he’d be able to replicate that success when he was hired in 2020, but that did not turn out to be the case for a man who went 11-27 and was fired just five games into his third season.

History has shown Rhule needs a couple of things to get his house in order at the college level before kicking things into high gear in his third season, and Nebraska is certainly hoping that will be the case again when you consider he’s gone 11-13 since taking over in Lincoln in 2023.