Falcons Coach Petrino Quits; Signs with Arkansas

[freddyg12]

Originally Posted by FRPLG

I think more importantly is the fact that in college you are coaching kids and in the NFL you are coaching men. It takes a whole different management style and it seems a lot of these coaches lack exactly that. The ability to manage their team from a personell standpoint. Rarely do they looked overmatched football-wise but they almost always seem to have troubles getting guys to play for them.

Even the successful ones like Jimmy Johnson basically was coaching a college team for the first few years. That team was insanely young and he was able to slowly mature his coaching style as they aged. Those types of teams don't exist anymore. Who was the last successful college coach?

It would seem you're right, Spurrier found out quickly that his mgmt. style didn't work in the nfl.

In college, coaches have both the NCAA & the university to back them up. Players are students first (I know, but in theory they are) & players 2nd. This gives coaches a lot of disciplinary discretion if they choose to use it. Add to that, players lose eligibility when they transfer in Div. 1, so there is a dis incentive to leave.

In the NFL, the players have a union & free agency. There are penalties the league can enforce on players, but coaches really have the burden of enforcing basic rules & sticking to them, and even then the players union is a strong legal advocate for players that can challenge coaching decisions.