# Has Anyone Had Success As A College Coach And A Pro Coach In Football Or Basketball? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 26, 2003, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-had-success-as-a-college-coach-and-a-pro-coach-in-football-or-basketball/177649 "2003-05-26T22:32:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-had-success-as-a-college-coach-and-a-pro-coach-in-football-or-basketball/177649/1 "2003-05-26T22:32:11Z")
This has two parts: 1. Have any football coaches won a college bowl game and either the Super Bowl or the NFL Championship Game? 2. Have any basketball coaches won both an NBA title and the NIT? ---
**Author:** ![eponymous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e0b2c6/32.png) [@eponymous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eponymous)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-had-success-as-a-college-coach-and-a-pro-coach-in-football-or-basketball/177649/2 "2003-05-26T23:26:20Z")
\*Originally posted by Governor Quinn \* > [@](#): > > 1. Have any football coaches won a college bowl game and either the Super Bowl or the NFL Championship Game? Jimmy Johnson - won an NCAA National Championship with Miami U.and two Super Bowls with Dallas Cowboys. > [@](#): > > 1. Have any basketball coaches won both an NBA title and the NIT? \*\* None that I know of… ---
**Author:** ![GraceTX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c4cdca/32.png) [@GraceTX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GraceTX)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-had-success-as-a-college-coach-and-a-pro-coach-in-football-or-basketball/177649/3 "2003-05-26T23:36:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Governor Quinn \* > \*\*1) Have any football coaches won a college bowl game and either the Super Bowl or the NFL Championship Game? > \*\* **eponymous** already mentioned Jimmy Johnson, but the Cowboys also won a Super Bowl Championship under former collegiate coach, Barry Switzer. Barry had three national championships with OU. Whether his win was his own or on the tail of the former coach, Johnson, I guess that’s up to you to decide. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-had-success-as-a-college-coach-and-a-pro-coach-in-football-or-basketball/177649/4 "2003-05-27T00:36:43Z")
IIRC, Dick Vermeil won the Rose Bowl, and had success at the HS and JuCo levels to boot. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-had-success-as-a-college-coach-and-a-pro-coach-in-football-or-basketball/177649/5 "2003-05-27T00:46:34Z")
> [@](#): > > 1. Have any basketball coaches won both an NBA title and the NIT? What about the NCAA’s? LOL! ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-had-success-as-a-college-coach-and-a-pro-coach-in-football-or-basketball/177649/6 "2003-05-27T00:50:19Z")
[Dr. Jack Ramsay](http://www.allamericanspeakers.com/speakerbio/Jack_Ramsay.php) led the Portland Trailblazers to the NBA title in 1977, and St. Josheph’s University to 7 Big 5 Championships (Philadelhia area schools make up the Big 5. SJU, LaSalle, Penn, Villanova, and Temple, I believe) ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-had-success-as-a-college-coach-and-a-pro-coach-in-football-or-basketball/177649/7 "2003-05-27T01:24:12Z")
After more Googling, I found this: [Players to win HS, NCAA, and NBA Championships](http://cbs.sportsline.com/u/madness/2002/history/TripleCrown.html) Not an answer to the OP, but pretty good bar trivia, nonetheless. It appears Larry Brown has come the closest to answering the OP, as far as basketball. He won the 1988 NCAA title with Kansas, and lost in the NBA Finals in 2001. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-had-success-as-a-college-coach-and-a-pro-coach-in-football-or-basketball/177649/8 "2003-05-27T04:00:01Z")
Just to note that John Mckay won the National Championship at USC three times, won five Rose Bowls, and took the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to the playoffs 3 time in 6 or 7 years (I forget which) after they started out as arguably the worst expansion team in NFL history. But the farthest they got was the NFC Championship game, which they lost to the Los Angeles Rams, who now play their games in St. Louis. ---
**Author:** ![doctordoowop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecc23a/32.png) [@doctordoowop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doctordoowop)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-had-success-as-a-college-coach-and-a-pro-coach-in-football-or-basketball/177649/9 "2003-05-27T05:14:57Z")
The NIT? That was rendered zero when the NCAA gradually went from 16 to 64 (5) over the past 20 years or so. Agree that Mr. Brown ,who is looking for a job again ,came closest. BTW, I went to Penn , a Big 5 school, & there is no “official” champion. In fact, for $$ reasons, some of the better teams, Temple,Villanova & Penn, now don’t even want to play LaSalle or St Jos. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-had-success-as-a-college-coach-and-a-pro-coach-in-football-or-basketball/177649/10 "2003-05-27T12:26:08Z")
Larry Brown won an NCAA championship with Kansas and led Denver to the ABA finals and Philadelphia to the NBA finals. He was named Coach of the Year three times. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-had-success-as-a-college-coach-and-a-pro-coach-in-football-or-basketball/177649/11 "2003-05-27T12:38:27Z")
Someone else people are forgetting: the most important, innovative football coach ever, one Paul Brown by name. He won the NCAA football championship as coach of Ohio State, and later won several NFL titles as coach of the Cleveland Browns. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-had-success-as-a-college-coach-and-a-pro-coach-in-football-or-basketball/177649/12 "2003-05-27T12:53:15Z")
I think that Paul Brown also won several high school state titles in Ohio, at Massillon, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-had-success-as-a-college-coach-and-a-pro-coach-in-football-or-basketball/177649/13 "2003-05-27T14:01:57Z")
Other coaches who’ve won NFL championships AND college bowl games: 1. Bill Walsh coached the 49ers to victory in 3 Super Bowls. He also won the Sun Bowl and the Bluebonnet Bowl as coach at Stanford. 2. Dick Vermeil won the Rose Bowl as coach at UCLA and the Super Bowl as coach of the St. Louis Rams. ---
**Author:** ![AmbulanceChaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4af34b/32.png) [@AmbulanceChaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AmbulanceChaser)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-had-success-as-a-college-coach-and-a-pro-coach-in-football-or-basketball/177649/14 "2003-05-27T15:39:38Z")
Bobby Ross came close, winning a split national championship at Georgia Tech and reaching the Super Bowl with the San Diego Chargers. (The 49ers whacked the Chargers, 49-26, so maybe “close” isn’t quite the right word. . .) Ross spoke at the funeral of one of his college coaches, who was a friend of my family, a couple weeks ago. Hell of a nice guy and very well-spoken for a “tough-guy football coach.” ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-had-success-as-a-college-coach-and-a-pro-coach-in-football-or-basketball/177649/15 "2003-05-27T22:47:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ISiddiqui \* > \*\*What about the NCAA’s? LOL! \*\* I already had the list of NCAA champion coaches, and none of the NCAA winners ever won NBA championships. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-had-success-as-a-college-coach-and-a-pro-coach-in-football-or-basketball/177649/16 "2003-05-27T23:36:49Z")
Trivia from Casey’s link:Buckner, Johnson, and maybe Lucas, all also won gold medals.