You'd be an idiot to leave a kingdom!!!

Successful college football coaches frequently are tempted by offers from professional teams. Offers of large sums of money and dual roles as General Manager/Coach are so tempting that the King's of college football often move to the "greener" pastures of the NFL. Most of the time, the amounts of money are so large you cannot resist the temptation.

I, however, propose this statement.

"You'd be an idiot to leave a kingdom!!!"

The position of Head Football coach is often the most powerful position at a University and in some cases, the most powerful position in the state (see Mack Brown at University of Texas). These men often rule with an iron hand over an entity that is important to most fans in the state. If you are an extremely successful head coach you are treated better than any professional coach could hope for.

Take for example, USC's Pete Carroll:

Here is his record as an NFL Coach:

Year	Team	Record	Playoffs	Other Notes
1994	New York Jets	6-10	none	Lost final 6 games; Carroll was fired
1997	New England Patriots	10-6	1-1	Division champions
1998	New England Patriots	9-7	0-1
1999	New England Patriots	8-8	none	Carroll was fired

Now, here is is record since taking over USC:

Year	Record	Bowl	Final Ranking
2001	6-6	Lost Las Vegas Bowl to Utah	Unranked
2002	11-2	Won Orange Bowl against Iowa	#4 AP Poll, #4 BCS Poll
2003	12-1	Won Rose Bowl against Michigan	#1 AP Poll, #2 BCS Poll
2004	13-0	Won Orange Bowl (BCS Championship Game) against Oklahoma	#1 AP Poll, #1 BCS Poll
2005	12-1	Lost Rose Bowl (BCS Championship Game) to Texas	#2 AP Poll, #2 BCS Poll
2006	11-2	Won Rose Bowl against Michigan	#4 AP Poll, #5 BCS Poll

Pete Carroll went from a "so-so" professional coach, who in some opinions would have been a better professional coordinator, to a legend in Southern California. The dominance of the Trojans over the past few years has been like nothing seen in the past 30 years.

Carroll could have whatever he wants and USC would more than likely pay him any amount of money he would want. He can recruit just about any player from and location in the country, as evidence from this years class of freshman (only 15 players coming in...still the best recruiting class in the country.)

However, Carroll has consistently been in the running for a number of NFL coaching vacancies this off-season. Now he is connected to the vacancy in San Diego after the firing of Marty "I just can't seem to get it together for a serious playoff run" Schottenheimer. Schottenheimer was fired after a 14-2 season and again an early exit from the playoffs. Apparently he had a disagreement with General Manager, A.J. Smith, over some of the coaches he wanted to bring in after losing both Wade Phillips and Cam Cameron.

Fired after a 14-2 record and a disagreement?!?!? How is that possible? Why would anyone want to leave their perfect situation for the instability and the "win now" mentality of the NFL?

Ego. That can be the only answer. Simply, ego.

If you don't believe me...look at Rick Patino.

If I could give coaches advice, it would be the same advice I heard growing up:
"Stay in School!!!"