College or NFL: Which is a better job?

The coaching profession seems to be out of control, especially when you?re talking about college football and NFL coaches. Over the weekend another college coach has jumped ship with big dreams of making it in the NFL.

Bobby Pertrino announced over the weekend he will take over as the Falcons? head coach, replacing Jim Mora. Pertrino joins the list of college coaches who have tried to make the move from college to the professional field such as Steve Spurrier, Butch Davis, Pete Carroll and Nick Saban.

College coaches making the move to the NFL don?t seem to have too long of a lifespan in the professional ranks. I believe there?s several reasons high profile college coaches fail at the professional level.

For college coaches, winning breeds success. You start winning with a program and top-notch recruits are waiting at your door. This allows a coach to be successful over a long period of time.

In the NFL, it?s harder to maintain success. If you win you get a lower draft pick, which means it?s harder to rebuild in a short period of time. A good team has more players asking for more money. And with today?s salary cap, good players asking for more means trouble for the team?s finances.

College coaches have more control over their players. For the most part a college player will take whatever a coach dishes out. Professional players are adults and they realize they don?t have to take anything they don?t like.

I?m not sure why you would want a NFL coaching job. It can?t be the money. Sure, NFL coaches make several million a year, but with today?s college market so do college coaches.

Seattle?s Mike Holmgren made $7 million in 2006 and will make $8 million in 2007. Mike Shanahan of Denver, ex-Miami coach Saban and several other coaches make around $5 million a year, as some of the top paid coaches in the NFL. The average is around $2.8 million.

Now let?s look at a few salaries for college coaches. Saban is now the highest paid coach in the college ranks at $4 million. Oklahoma?s Bob Stoops is second with $3.4 million, Charlie Weis at Notre Dame makes $3.3, Pete Carroll $3 million and Tennessee?s Phillip Fulmer comes in at No.10 at just a little over $2 million.

There are 43 college coaches that make over $1 million per year. The lowest paid Division I coach I found was Louisiana Monroe?s Charlie Weatherbie at $130,000 per year.

Making the jump to the NFL has to be about ego, it?s sure not about job security. I?m sure some do it just to see if they can be successful at the next level. But is the job worth having to put up with players like Terrell Owens who only has respect himself?

At one time coaching in the pros put you at the top of your profession. But with the success of college football and the big money spent ? not just on coaches, but the entire program itself, Coaching at the college level, especially for a successful program, has to be one of the most gratifying accomplishments in a coach?s career.

With that said, I?m sure we?ll continue to see college coaches make the jump, but there will be more fail than succeed.