Dennis Erickson, Butch Davis and Steve Spurrier -- each of whom ran national championship-caliber programs as college coaches -- have been busts in the NFL. Meantime, Pete Carroll -- a relative washout in NFL ranks -- is on the verge of coaching USC to back-to-back national titles.
Which begs a question, or two:
| _____ Monday Morning_____
A look back at the weekend and a look ahead at the coming week's action with a fresh new edge.
• Norman Chad's Couch Slouch
• Starting Lineup
• The Chat: Home improvement star of "New Yankee Workshop" Norm Abram
• Two-Minute Drill
• 7 Days
_____ The Quote _____
"When our players go up into the stands, it's to sign autographs, not to whack somebody."
-- Mike Ditka, minority owner of the Chicago Rush, on the Arena Football Leagues' mandatory autograph policy. _____ The Monday Morning Poll _____
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Is coaching in the NFL a lot harder than coaching in college? Or is Pete Carroll just the luckiest man this side of Jeff Probst?
Alas, I am unqualified to address either question, so, frankly, it was a bit foolish for me to bring them up.
(Actually, I have a bad habit of posing questions at inopportune times, leading to often bewildering or detrimental answers. Example: Jan. 16, 1984, right after finishing dinner at IHOP -- "Uh, Jodi, will you marry me?")
(Then again, I remember that a number of years ago, I was working on an oil rig -- I guess this would've been the late '70s -- and one of my crew members asked me, "Do you think Bear Bryant would be successful coaching in the NFL?" And I said, "If it involves a pigskin and a paycheck, Bear could turn a group of boll weevils into Heisman hopefuls. Now, get back to work!" Man, those guys were always goldbricking.)
Now, there is a related question here that I can and will tackle, gladly:
Is pro football or college football a better place to be if you are a coach?
Traditionally, colleges held one big advantage -- job security. While not quite as safe and sheltered as being a tenured professor -- or a close friend of the Kennedys, for that matter -- coaching on campus in the vicinity of those hallowed halls of higher learning offered a professional comfort zone not found in the harsh, outside-world reality of East Rutherford, N.J., or Foxboro, Mass.
But this past season, more than a dozen college coaches were fired or resigned. Plus, Lou Holtz and John Robinson, far removed from their glory days, were gently pushed into retirement.
Even Notre Dame -- which had never dismissed a coach before his contract was up -- released Ty Willingham, telling him he was darn good at what he did Sunday to Friday but not nearly good enough on Saturdays.
(Personal Note: The same argument was used as grounds for divorce in my second or third marriage, as best I recollect.)
In addition, recruiting -- which has always been an endless, travel-laden carousel of going into strangers' homes, lying to players' parents and eating homemade lemon meringue pie -- has been made worse by the newly tiresome ritual of increased airport security.
(Personal Note II: If I have to strip down any further the next time I'm at Los Angeles International Airport, they'll be able to charge a $10 cover and two-drink minimum.)
