Greg Schiano: Tampa Bay hiring signals return of trend to NFL?

Sure didn’t see the Greg Schiano hiring coming. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers this week named Schiano their head coach. And it could be a sign that NFL management is again growing fond of hiring college head coaches to run NFL teams.

For the third straight year, a collegiate head coach has left his job to be an NFL head coach: Rutgers’ Schiano, Stanford’s Jim Harbaugh last season (49ers) andSouthern Cal’s Pete Carroll the year before that (Seahawks).

Between 2002 and 2010, only three coaches made a similar jump:Louisville’s Bobby Petrino to the Falcons in 2007, USC assistant coach Lane Kiffin to the Raiders in 2007 and LSU’s Nick Saban to the Dolphins in 2005. And of those three, two (Petrino and Saban) walked off the job after no more than one season, and the other (Kiffin) was fired four games into his second season.

But Carroll gotSeattleto the playoffs in 2010 and won a post-season game. Harbaugh got the 49ers to within a whisker of this Super Bowl. No Schiano gets the chance, though his NFL experience consists of just three years as a Chicago Bears assistant in the 1990s.

According to my research, Schiano becomes the 43rd college head coach hired to be an NFL head coach, with no football jobs in between.

Eight have been hired in this century. Schiano, Harbaugh, Carroll, Petrino, Kiffin, Saban, Steve Spurrier and ButchDavis.

Of those 10, only Harbaugh and possibly Carroll could be labeled successes. Saban went 9-7 his lone year inMiami, before bolting back to a campus,Alabama’s. Spurrier (Floridato the Redskins) andDavis(MiamiU.to the Browns) did not win.

Previous college coaches fared better in the NFL.

In the ‘90s, 10 made the jump. Steve Mariucci (Cal-Berkeley to the 49ers) went 60-43. Tom Coughlin (BostonCollegeto the Jaguars) was very good, 72-64 with an expansion team, including an AFC title game appearance in the franchise’s second season. Barry Switzer won a Super Bowl with the Cowboys. Bobby Ross (Georgia Tech to the Chargers) reached a Super Bowl. Dennis Green (Stanford to the Vikings) was outstanding inMinnesota, going 101-72. Jack Pardee (HoustonU.to the Oilers) was solid, going 44-35. That’s six success stories. That’s a very good rate. The only duds were Mike Riley (OregonStateto the Chargers), Rich Brooks (Oregonto the Rams) and Dick McPherson (Syracuseto the Patriots). Dennis Erickson (MiamiU.to the Seahawks) went 31-33 in four seasons.

Only six coaches made the jump in the ‘80s. One was Jimmy Johnson (MiamiU.to the Cowboys), who won two Super Bowls. Sam Wyche (Indianato the Bengals) reached a Super Bowl. John Robinson (Southern Calto the Rams) and Ron Meyer (SMU to the Patriots) were solid, finishing a little above .500. The only losers were Darryl Rogers (ArizonaStateto the Lions) and Ray Perkins (Alabamato the Buccaneers).