The Coaches Who Owned Saturdays and Sundays

Published on November 19th, 2025 6:14 pm EST
Written By: Dave Manuel


Only three head coaches in football history have won both a college national championship and a Super Bowl. It's one of the rarest achievements in the sport.

Jimmy Johnson was the first. He led the Miami Hurricanes to a national title in 1987, finishing 12-0. Six years later, he guided the Dallas Cowboys to a Super Bowl XXVII victory over Buffalo, then repeated the next season. Johnson set the standard for program and franchise turnarounds.

Barry Switzer followed. Switzer won three national titles at Oklahoma (1974, 1975, 1985), going 157-29-4 in college. He later took over the Cowboys after Johnson and won Super Bowl XXX in 1996. Dallas remains the only NFL team with back-to-back coaches who both achieved the college-NFL double.

Pete Carroll joined the group next. He won back-to-back national championships with USC in 2003 and 2004 (the 2004 title later vacated). Carroll then built the Seattle Seahawks into contenders, winning Super Bowl XLVIII in 2014 with a dominant 43-8 win over Denver.

No one else has done it. Nick Saban, Urban Meyer, and Steve Spurrier all tried the NFL without postseason success. Meanwhile, Bill Belichick, who won six Super Bowls with the New England Patriots, is now entering the college ranks for the first time, taking on a new challenge at that level after decades in the pros.

The double-title club stays small for a reason. Recruiting vs. drafting. Player development vs. roster control. Saturday vs. Sunday. Only Johnson, Switzer, and Carroll have mastered both sides of the sport - proof that winning everywhere takes more than a playbook.