5 college coaches who could get NFL head coaching jobs

As the coaching carousel gets ready to spin, these five college coaches could leave for an NFL job.

As the NFL and college football seasons wind down, coaches are moving toward being fired. For others, there’ll be opportunities to fill as teams and programs make a change. To fill those voids, coaches will have to consider leaving their current jobs for the idea of greener pastures.

In particular, as the influence of college offenses has infiltrated the NFL, any stigma or doubt about college coaches being able to make the jump successfully has been diminished. This year, there are again some candidates who will have the opportunity to make that jump. Any NFL team with a job opening can’t have a fully fleshed head coaching search without considering how a college coach might fit.

Either my their own motivation as they consider all options, or being presented with an offer that can’t be refused, these five college coaches could get an NFL job for 2021.

5 college coaches who could get an NFL job

5. Steve Sarkisian, Alabama Offensive Coordinator

Sarkisian is closely associated with the college game. He had a long run at USC, as everything from quarterbacks coach (2001-2003) to head coach (2014-2015), with a stint as head coach at Washington in between (2009-2013). Most recently he has been at Alabama, first as an offensive analyst in 2016 and then the last two seasons as offensive coordinator for Nick Saban.

But Sarkisian does have experience as an assistant in the NFL. He was quarterbacks coach for the Oakland Raiders for one season in 2004, then he was offensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons for two seasons (2017 and 2018). In 2018, Atlanta had the 10th-best scoring offense in the league.

Sarkisian may get another shot as a college head coach in 2021, depending on what openings there are. But a move back to the NFL, as a coordinator or even a head coach, is not out of the realm of possibility.