Several weeks ago, the University of Texas wish list reportedly consisted of multiple current NFL coaches. Now, not.
Multiple reports indicate that Louisville coach Charlie Strong will be taking the job, but there’s just enough wiggle room in those multiple reports to allow for the Papa John’s guy to block the move wit a lifetime supply of pizza. And money.
Regardless, the talk of Texas taking a current coach from an NFL team has died down considerably. At one point, names like 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, Saints coach Sean Payton, Packers coach Mike McCarthy, Eagles coach Chip Kelly, and Seahawks coach Pete Carroll had been linked to the school -- even if the interest was unrequited.
Harbaugh seemed to be the most interested, or more accurately the least uninterested. He never ruled out the possibility completely and unequivocally (then again, Nick Saban has ruined forever the “I’m not going to be the [insert program name] coach” approach). And the 49ers wouldn’t have gotten in Harbaugh’s way, if he’d decided to bolt for the burnt orange.
Thus, the rarely-used pipeline from pro football to college football won’t be flowing this year (unless of course the Papa John’s guy persuades Broncos offensive coordinator Adam Gase Peyton Manning to take over at Louisville). Since Saban left the Dolphins for Alabama in early 2006 and Bobby Petrino abandoned Atlanta for Arkansas in late 2007, no sitting NFL coach has quit his job to go work for a college team.