Can you think of big time successful coach that never got offers from the NBA or NFL? Off hand, I can only think of 2: Wooden and Bobby Bowden.

Has Mark Few ever been offered an NBA gig? AFAIK, he has not.

Can you really be sure if someone "never" received an offer to coach in the pros? Off the top of my head...

Woody Hayes
Paul "Bear" Bryant
Tom Osborne
Jim Boeheim
Jim Calhoun
Lute Olson
Denny Crum

The Dolphins offered Bryant the job before ultimately hiring Shula.

Ara Parseghian

(04-12-2020 05:50 PM)UCGrad1992 Wrote:  Can you really be sure if someone "never" received an offer to coach in the pros? Off the top of my head...

Woody Hayes
Paul "Bear" Bryant
Tom Osborne
Jim Boeheim
Jim Calhoun
Lute Olson
Denny Crum

This is a great list. I would add Bobby Knight, Adolf Rupp, Pat Summit and Gene Keady to that list.

The common thread with all these coaches is they are all teachers. By the time athletes make it to the next level they don’t need these coaches; they already know everything (lol)

The most successful coaches in the pros are the managers. They surround themselves with talented assistants to coach, work to create a winning culture. I think Phil Jackson...

I've never heard of Dabo Swinney being offered although under the table he might have.

How about Urban Meyer? Bob Stoops? Same, we may not have heard of offers.

(04-12-2020 09:03 PM)CardinalJim Wrote:  

(04-12-2020 05:50 PM)UCGrad1992 Wrote:  Can you really be sure if someone "never" received an offer to coach in the pros? Off the top of my head...

Woody Hayes
Paul "Bear" Bryant
Tom Osborne
Jim Boeheim
Jim Calhoun
Lute Olson
Denny Crum

This is a great list. I would add Bobby Knight, Adolf Rupp, Pat Summit and Gene Keady to that list.

The common thread with all these coaches is they are all teachers. By the time athletes make it to the next level they don’t need these coaches; they already know everything (lol)

The most successful coaches in the pros are the managers. They surround themselves with talented assistants to coach, work to create a winning culture. I think Phil Jackson...

OT: but speaking of Phil Jackson, I wonder how his philosophy would have worked in the college game. A Zen approach with 18-23 year olds would have been interesting.

I would be shocked if any top college coach hasn't received offers. Dabo, Stoops, Urban, etc. they all got feelers from the NFL whether we know about it or not.

But as Bobby Bowden once said, "if you say No often enough, eventually they stop calling", or words to that effect.

(04-12-2020 09:49 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  I would be shocked if any top college coach hasn't received offers. Dabo, Stoops, Urban, etc. they all got feelers from the NFL whether we know about it or not.

But as Bobby Bowden once said, "if you say No often enough, eventually the stop calling", or words to that effect.

I agree that they all had to have received offers at one point in time, mainly because NFL GMs are morons.
There's no way any of those 3 (4 if you include Bowden) would have any success in the NFL. They saved the NFL teams from themselves.

(04-12-2020 09:24 PM)schmolik Wrote:  I've never heard of Dabo Swinney being offered although under the table he might have.

How about Urban Meyer? Bob Stoops? Same, we may not have heard of offers.

Bob Stoops coached in one of the spring PRO FOOTBALL leagues.

(04-12-2020 09:46 PM)jdgaucho Wrote:  

(04-12-2020 09:03 PM)CardinalJim Wrote:  

(04-12-2020 05:50 PM)UCGrad1992 Wrote:  Can you really be sure if someone "never" received an offer to coach in the pros? Off the top of my head...

Woody Hayes
Paul "Bear" Bryant
Tom Osborne
Jim Boeheim
Jim Calhoun
Lute Olson
Denny Crum

This is a great list. I would add Bobby Knight, Adolf Rupp, Pat Summit and Gene Keady to that list.

The common thread with all these coaches is they are all teachers. By the time athletes make it to the next level they don’t need these coaches; they already know everything (lol)

The most successful coaches in the pros are the managers. They surround themselves with talented assistants to coach, work to create a winning culture. I think Phil Jackson...

OT: but speaking of Phil Jackson, I wonder how his philosophy would have worked in the college game. A Zen approach with 18-23 year olds would have been interesting.

That’s an interesting thought. I always liked Buzz Williams because of his more than basketball approach with his teams. I follow him on Twitter for the motivational messages.

(04-12-2020 03:48 PM)Erictelevision Wrote:  Can you think of big time successful coach that never got offers from the NBA or NFL? Off hand, I can only think of 2: Wooden and Bobby Bowden.

Paul Johnson as a Coach (consultant for Ravens yes)