We could have saved Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper $62 million and 38 games of misery by showing him one list.
When Tepper couldn't wait to get on a plane to give Matt Rhule a seven-year, $62 million contract to leave Baylor for the NFL, he was ignoring that college coaches don't work in the NFL. It was proven again Monday when Tepper fired Rhule after he put together an 11-27 record as Panthers head coach. He was owed more than $40 million when he was fired.
Miles Garrett from Fox 5 in Atlanta compiled the list of college coaches making the NFL leap for the first time since 2000, and it's not pretty:
1st time NFL head coaches hired directly from college coaching gigs since 2000
Matt Rhule
Urban Meyer
Nick Saban
Bobby Petrino
Kliff Kingsbury
Bill O Brien
Chip Kelly
Doug Marrone
Greg Schiano
Jim Harbaugh
Steve Spurrier
Butch Davis
Perhaps there’s a lesson here.