The 2023 college football season begins for most teams this Labor Day weekend. It is expected those games will be more competitive than Notre Dame’s 42-3 lopsided victory over Navy in Ireland last Saturday.
NFL alumni continued to be appreciated, recruited, and signed as collegiate head coaches this past off-season. While Deion Sanders’ much publicized move from Jackson State to Colorado received national attention, it was not the only instance where an NFL alum moved from one head coaching job to another.
Former NFL quarterback Jeff Brohm, who had winning coaching records at Western Kentucky (from 2014-16) and Purdue (2017-22), was lured back to his alma mater Louisville last December. Brohm played for five NFL teams during a seven-year (1994-2000) career.
Troy Taylor is the new head coach at Stanford. The former Jets quarterback (1990-91) was a two-time Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year at Sacramento State (2019-22) in his first collegiate head coaching job. He was appointed last December to the Stanford post.
Those NFL alumni who were named earlier this year to their initial college head coaching assignments include former quarterback Trent Dilfer (University of Alabama-Birmingham), former safety Quintin Demps (Judson University) and former defensive back Howard Feggins (St. Augustine’s University).
The National Football Foundation’s annual survey shows there now are 772 four-year institutions that have football programs while there are 15 other colleges and universities that have announced plans to field teams soon. In the last 15 years, 89 schools have added football programs. There also are 123 two-year junior colleges that include football in their athletic departments.
We at NFL Alumni wish all our coaching members on all levels success this season. That includes our NFL brothers who are experienced collegiate coaches such as Jim Harbaugh (Michigan), Eddie George (Tennessee State), Bubba McDowell (Prairie View), Sam Shade (Miles College) and Eddie Robinson, Jr (Alabama State).
Let the season begin!
