20 head coaches who were successful both the NFL and college football

Brown, who founded both the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals, was not only a legendary NFL figure, but he also left his mark on the college football world. He only spent three seasons as head coach at Ohio State, but led the Buckeyes to the program's first national championship, in 1942. After turning his attention to the NFL, Brown coached Cleveland to three NFL championships -- 1950, '54, '55, before taking over the Bengals sideline in 1968. Brown also won four professional championships with Cleveland during the late 1940s in the old All-America Football Conference (AAFC).

A fine offensive assistant coach, Callahan spent just two seasons coaching in the NFL, but in his first with the Oakland Raiders in 2002, led them to a spot in Super Bowl XXXVII. However, several veterans on the Raiders roster disagreed with Callahan's coaching methods. Following a 4-12 season in 2003, tensions further rose and Callahan was out as coach. He resurfaced in the college ranks at Nebraska, where his pass-happy offense resulted in a 27-22 record and two bowl appearances over four seasons.

One of three head coaches to win a college football national championship and a Super Bowl. With help from Matt Leinart  and Reggie Bush, Carroll guided USC to the national titles for the 2003 and 2004 seasons -- as noted by The Associated Press . The Trojans' BCS 2004-05 title has since been vacated. Then, he paced the 2013 Seattle Seahawks to a victory in Super Bowl XLVIII. Carroll, now back in the NFL as the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders , owns a 170-120-1 coaching the New York Jets, New England and Seahawks. On the college level, Carroll went 97-19 in nine seasons with the Trojans.

To most casual football fans, Clark is not a known commodity. He coached during the 1920s, '30s and '40s. He posted a collegiate record of 40-45-7, he guided the 1923 Kansas Jayhawks to a share of the Missouri Valley Conference title. Clark, however, enjoyed more success on the pro level (64-42-12), where he led the 1932 Portsmouth Spartans to the first NFL playoff game, a loss to the Chicago Bears. But, three years later, Clark coached the Detroit Lions to the NFL Championship. Clark, who also coached college baseball, served as athletic director at both Butler (1927-'30) and Nebraska (1948-'53).

There's no doubt Coughlin will be remember for his sustained run of success as an NFL head coach. From 1995-2002, Coughlin went 68-60 as the first head coach -- and general manager -- of the Jacksonville Jaguars, leading them to four playoff appearances and two trips to the AFC Championship Game. Things were even better for Coughlin with the New York Giants, where from 2004-'15, he won 102 games, led them to the playoff five times and posted those victories in Super Bowl XLII and XLVI. But don't forget that Coughlin got his start in college. First with RIT in the early 1970s, and more notable during a three-year stay at Boston College (1991-'93), which went 21-13-1 and went to two bowl games under Coughlin.

Fairbanks never won the whole thing as a college or professional coach, but enjoyed plenty of success in the role on both levels. At Oklahoma, Fairbanks guided the Sooners to a 52-15-1 record from 1967-'72, won three Big Eight titles and twice won the Sugar Bowl and earned a Orange Bowl victory. From there, Fairbanks tried his luck in the NFL, spending six seasons in charge of the New England Patriots, where he went 46-39 from 1973-'78. He also led the squad to two playoff appearances (1976, '78), firsts for the franchise since the AFL-NFL merger. Fairbanks also coached three seasons at the University of Colorado. 

Harbaugh, currently amid his second stint as an NFL head coach, has come close to pulling off the national championship/Super Bowl victory double. He went 44-19-1 during four seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, highlighted by the 2013 squad reaching Super Bowl XLVII, but losing a thriller to Baltimore. Meanwhile, in college, Harbaugh won 114 games between jobs at San Diego, Stanford and Michigan. Of course, he finally got over the hump win the Wolverines were crowned national champs of the 2023 season.

Another on the list of coaches to win both a college Division I-A national championship and Super Bowl. Johnson made a name for himself at Miami, Fla., where he was often just as brash as his players. He went 52-9 in five seasons with the Hurricanes, and guided them to 1987 national title. In the NFL, Johnson's first team with Dallas went 1-15 in 1989, but three years later, he coached the first of back-to-back Super Bowl champion squads. Johnson returned to South Florida, this time coaching the Miami Dolphins (1996-'99), where he made three playoff appearances.

We'll make the argument that Kelly deserves a spot on this list. He certainly enjoyed success at Oregon, where he went 46-7 and won two Pac-112 titles, plus a Rose Bowl, from 2009-12. Then Kelly tried to parlay that success onto the NFL with Philadelphia, where the Eagles went 10-6 and won the NFC East in his first season of 2013. The Eagles went 10-6 the following year, but didn't make the playoffs. After a losing 2015, Kelly jumped ship to San Francisco, where his legacy took a hit with that 2-14 season of 2016. That led Kelly back to college at UCLA, where he went 35-34 and qualified for three bowl games from 2018-'23. 

A college coaching legend in every sense of the word. In 16 seasons at USC (1960-'75), McKay's Trojans went 127-40-8, won nine conference titles and five Rose Bowls. Oh yeah, he also guided USC to four national championships (1962, 1967, 1972,  1974). So, that opened the door for McKay to give the NFL a chance as the inaugural head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1976. The Bucs went 0-14 in their first season, and won seven games over the first three before going 10-6, winning the NFC Central and reaching the league championship game in 1979. McKay won another division title in 1981 and made two more playoff appearances before his NFL coaching tenure ended after the 1984 season.

It can be argued that what Mora is doing right now at Connecticut is among the highlights of his coaching career. One that began in the NFL, when he led to the Atlanta Falcons to a NFC South title and spot in the NFC Championship Game in his first season of 1994. However, Mora went 31-33 in four seasons guiding the Falcons and Seattle. He then resurfaced at UCLA, where he guided the Bruins to a bowl game in each of his first four seasons and went 46-30 over six years. In 2022, Mora took over a UConn program that won four games in the previous three seasons (it did not field a team during the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign). In his three seasons, UConn is 18-20, including a 9-4 mark with a bowl victory in 2024. 

One of the great NFL assistant coaches of all time with the New England Patriots, O'Brien has enjoyed various levels of success as a pro and college head coach. Although the sample sizes between the two are quite different. His head coaching career began at Penn State, with the unenviable position of following the legendary, but embattled, Joe Paterno. However, O'Brien was a solid 15-9 in two seasons coaching the Nittany Lions (2012-'13) in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal. He then got his shot in the NFL, with Houston, where the Texans won four AFC South titles, but just two playoff games, during a stint that ran from 2014 through the first four games of 2020. Back in the college ranks, O'Brien led Boston College to a 7-6 record and bowl bid in 2024.

The well-traveled Pardee has coached just about everywhere -- college, NFL, USFL, and CFL. His head coaching career began in 1975 with the Chicago Bears, who by 1977, where in the playoffs. That followed a three-year, mediocre stint in Washington. From 1987-'89, Pardee held his only college head coaching spot, guiding the University of Houston to a 22-11-1 record. That led him back to the NFL with the Houston Oilers, where the team went 43-31, won two AFC Central titles and went to the playoffs four consecutive seasons. 

One of the all-time greats, Robinson first earned fame as head coach at USC, where between two stints in the late 1970s-early '80s and again during a five-year stretch of the 1990s, won 104 games. During that first run with the Trojans, Robinson won three Rose Bowls in his first four seasons, highlighted by winning a share of the national championship in 1978. He won another Rose Bowl to cap the 1995 campaign. The latter stint came after he coached the Los Angeles Rams from 1983-'91. Robinson went 75-68 with the Rams, made the playoffs six times and reached the NFC Championship Game twice. Robinson returned to college coaching, guiding UNLV from 1999-2004.

A coaching lifer, Ross' first such true gig of the sort was at The Citadel in 1973. However, it was at Maryland (1982-'86), then Georgia Tech (1987-'91), where Ross was considered among the county's best coaches. He won 39 games with the Terrapins and his 1990 Yellow Jackets went 11-0-1 and won a share of the national championship. Ross then moved to the NFL, where he went 47-33 with San Diego, leading the Chargers to two AFC West titles and a berth in Super Bowl XXIX. He made two more playoff appearances while in charge of the Detroit Lions from 1997-2000.

After starring for the legendary Knute Rockne at Notre Dame, Shaw embarked on a highly successful head coaching career, himself. After stops at North Carolina State and Nevada in the 1920s, Shaw eventually made a name for himself at Santa Clara, where he guided the program to back-to-back Sugar Bowl victories in 1936 and '37. Shaw compiled a 72-49-1 record as a college coach. His coaching time in the pros began in San Francisco, then with the Philadelphia Eagles, with whom he guided to the 1960 NFL Championship. Shaw went 52-41-3 as an NFL coach.

Joining Pete Carroll and Jimmy Johnson as the trio of coaches to win both a college national championship and Super Bowl. Switzer is one of the great college coaches of all time, winning 157 games and three national titles (1974, '75, '85) during a legendary 16-year career at Oklahoma. Then, like Johnson, Switzer took his chances in the NFL with Dallas. In four seasons in charge of the Cowboys, Switzer went 40-24 and guided them to a victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XX X to cap the 1995 season.  

Vermeil's college coaching tenure lasted just two seasons -- 1974 and '75 at UCLA. However, he went 15-5-3 in the gig and defeated Woody Hayes' previously undefeated and top-ranked Ohio State squad in the 1976 Rose Bowl. That paved the way for Vermeil to succeed in the NFL, where he debuted with Philadelphia in 1976. Two seasons later, the lowly Eagles made began a run of four straight playoff appearances under Vermeil, and played in Super Bowl XV. After stepping away from the game, Vermeil resurfaced in 1997 to coach the St. Louis, where he and Kurt Warner won Super Bowl XXXIV. He guided his third franchise to the playoffs while coaching the Kansas City Chiefs from 2001-'05. Vermeil finished his NFL coaching career with a 120-109 record.

Even the most casual football fans of a certain age know Walsh is among the greatest NFL coaches of all time. From 1979-'88, Walsh turned the San Francisco 49ers into a dynasty, winning six NFC West titles and three Super Bowls (XVI, XIX, XXIII), while going 92-59-1 and recording 10 playoff victories. However, Walsh's coaching career truly began with a two-year stint (1977, '78) at Stanford, where he won 17 games and two bowls. He returned to coach the Cardinals in 1992, for three seasons and also earned a bowl victory.

Wannstedt enjoyed the ultimate success as an assistant coach, being part of the Miami, Fla. staff that won a national championship (1987) and the Dallas Cowboys (XXVII) -- both under the aforementioned Jimmy Johnson. And while his run as a head coach wasn't nearly as successful, Wannstedt had some good years. He led the Chicago Bears to the playoffs in his second season as coach (1994), and twice made the postseason with the Miami Dolphins (2000, '01). Wanny then returned to the college game, where he went 42-31, with a 2-1 bowl record, during six seasons as head coach at Pittsburgh.