ESPN: Why did Steve Spurrier fail in NFL?

[irish]

Originally Posted by REDSKINS4ever

I remember Joe Theismann ten years ago saying that Spurrier didn't have the luxury of ever being an offensive coordinator in the NFL before he was a head coach. Maybe a better question should be, why did Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer SUCCEED in the NFL?

Switzer just rode in on JJ's coat tails and had a great team that was already set up to win so he just had to keep from messing things up.

JJ was successful because he recognized that the talent levels in the NFL are essentially the same so he paid attention to details on both sides of the ball and knew how to adjust as the game went on. Plus I think he ran a more "pro style" on both sides of the ball in college so he didnt have too much to do by way of adapting to the pro game.