Ranking the Playing Careers of the College Football Coaches at Their Alma Maters

One of the beauties of college football is the pairing of former players who were legends coaching for their respective alma maters. While some of those legends have now retired, there are still a handful of former stars that are still head coaches for their old teams.

There are obviously more than just a handful of former players coaching for their former programs, but only a few were actually considered star players during their playing days. For the athletic directors, these were relatively easy hires knowing that the fans would likely rally around a former star running the program.

Although a couple of these coaches are starting to lose some of their popularity with the fanbase, let's take a look at the coaches who played for their programs back in the day.

Some of these coaches didn't really do a whole lot as players, but we are ranking their success as players rather than their success as head coaches, focusing on team success and personal accolades more than just pure stats.

Paul Chryst, Wisconsin

As a player, Paul Chryst was both a quarterback and tight end for the Badgers. He only had nine career pass attempts at Wisconsin, but he also had both a rushing and receiving touchdown to go along with 18 career receptions.

Kalani Sitake, BYU

The BYU Cougars have a 27-25 record under head coach Kalani Sitake, winning bowl games in 2016 and 2018. As a player, Sitake didn't do a whole lot, however, putting up 752 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown as a running back over his four seasons.

Troy Calhoun, Air Force

Calhoun attended the Air Force Academy from 1985 to 1988 and was on the roster during the team's impressive 12-1 season as a freshman. However, Calhoun only logged playing time in 1986, playing 11 games at quarterback with 34 pass attempts, a rushing touchdown and two interceptions. 

Bryan Harsin, Boise State

Despite having to fill the shoes of a terrific head coach in Chris Petersen, Bryan Harsin has helped the Broncos achieve sustained success with a 71-22 record. As a player, Harsin played sparingly over his four seasons, logging just 39 pass attempts and completing only 11 of them.

Danny Gonzales, New Mexico

The newest coach on this list, Danny Gonzales took over the job at New Mexico in December. He played both defensive back and punter, recording four total punts over two seasons.

David Shaw, Stanford

Of the honorable mentions on this list, Shaw had arguably the most productive career of any of them. He had 58 receptions over his four years with Stanford as a wide receiver, putting up 685 yards and five touchdowns.

Ed Orgeron, LSU

At this point, Ed Orgeron probably doesn't care about his playing days at LSU now that he's a national champion as a head coach. As a defensive lineman, Orgeron was on the LSU roster as a player just one year in 1979 before transferring to finish his college career at Northwestern State.

Thomas Hammock has had an interesting coaching career that included a five-year stint with the Baltimore Ravens as their running backs coach from 2014 to 2018. However, Hammock was a pretty darn good running back in his playing days as well.

Hammock only saw significant action in his sophomore and junior seasons at Northern Illinois in 2000 and 2001. He ran for at least 1,000 yards in each, totaling 2,179 yards and 23 touchdowns in that span. 

Unfortunately, Hammock's playing career was cut short just one game into his senior season due to a heart condition. Instead of stepping away from football, Hammock got into coaching, starting as a graduate assistant at Wisconsin in 2003 before ultimately ending up back with the Huskies as the head coach in 2019.

It wasn't a terrible first season for Hammock, with his team going 5-7 and 4-4 in the conference. Hopefully that's just the start of something special for Hammock.

As a head coach, Oregon State's Jonathan Smith is still working on turning things around. As a quarterback, Smith saw significantly more success with the program.

Smith was originally a walk-on for the Beavers after playing high school football in Los Angeles. Halfway through this redshirt freshman season, Smith was able to secure the starting quarterback job and then never looked back.

In four seasons, Smith finished with 9,680 yards, 55 touchdowns and 29 interceptions. In 2000, the Beavers had their best season in program history, going 11-1 with a share of the Pac-10 title and a big win in the Fiesta Bowl over Notre Dame. Smith finished that game with 305 yards and three touchdowns, being named offensive MVP.

It's still early in Smith's head coaching career, but the Beavers have gone just 7-17 in his first two seasons running the program. Smith is hoping he can bring some of his old magic to the program in 2020. 

The Ball State Cardinals aren't a massive program, but they have some success from time to time in the MAC, even when current head coach Mike Neu was playing for the program under center.

Neu saw playing time all four years of college with the Cardinals and progressively improved as the seasons went on. As a senior in 1993, Neu completed 65.7 percent of his passes for 2,148 yards, 17 touchdowns and only eight interceptions.

That kind of production helped Neu win the MAC Offensive Player of the Year award as a senior. Neu helped the Cardinals secure an 8-3-1 record that included a conference title.

It's still a work in progress for Neu as a head coach at Ball State, with the team going just 15-33 over his four seasons. However, a five-win season in 2019 shows that Neu might be turning the ship around.

Tim Lester was a pretty strong replacement for P.J. Fleck at Western Michigan considering his ties to the Broncos program.

Prior to coaching or playing in the XFL and Arena Football League, Lester was the starting quarterback for the Broncos for four years. His career was one of the most impressive for a quarterback in program history, passing for 11,299 yards, 87 touchdowns and 49 interceptions.

With a number of program records and a trip to the MAC Championship Game his senior season, Lester's resume helped get him into the WMU Athletic Hall of Fame. 

Although the Broncos have gone just 20-18 in three seasons under Lester, they have gone to back-to-back bowl games, and they're hoping that they can return to being as formidable of a program as they were when Fleck was in charge.

Shawn Clark has only been the head coach of Appalachian State for one game, but he had already done plenty for the Mountaineers before he ever took over for the program.

Clark was an offensive lineman for the Mountaineers from 1994 to 1998. During that time, the team went 45-16 with three playoff berths in the FCS. He was highly decorated as a lineman, earning All-American honors in 1996 and 1998 along with three all-conference honors in 1995, 1996 and 1998.

After offensive line coaching stints with Eastern Kentucky, Purdue and Kent State, Clark returned to Appalachian State to run the same unit for the Mountaineers in 2016. Clark took over for the Mountaineers' final game of the season after Eliah Drinkwitz stepped down to take the Missouri gig.

Clark is now 1-0 with a New Orleans Bowl win under his belt. If that's any indication of what's to come, the future is still very bright for Appalachian State's prestigious program.

Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart was one of the more impressive defensive backs in the SEC back in his day.

Smart grew up in Bainbridge, Georgia, before committing to play for the Bulldogs in college. He played with the team from 1995 to 1998 and was paired with the future Hall of Fame cornerback Champ Bailey in his final three seasons in the defensive backfield.

In four seasons, Smart played in 44 games and had 11 interceptions in his final two years. As a senior, Smart tied for the SEC lead in interceptions with five, earning first-team All-SEC honors in the process.

Did having Bailey playing alongside him help Smart get more opportunities to make plays? Probably, but that doesn't diminish his legacy in Athens considering how much he's done for the program.

While the Bulldogs still have yet to win a national championship under Smart, they have become a consistent contender thanks to him.

Casual college football fans know Mike Gundy mostly as the head coach of Oklahoma State with the flawless hair. Before he was the head football coach for the Cowboys, however, Gundy was a pretty good quarterback at Oklahoma State.

After being named the 1986 Oklahoma Player of the Year in high school, Gundy decided to play for the Cowboys rather than the Sooners. Although he was aided by legendary running backs Thurman Thomas and Barry Sanders during his college career, Gundy was still a formidable player under center.

Gundy started all four years in college and played in 42 total games. He finished his career with 7,997 passing yards and 63 total touchdowns. The Cowboys went 30-16 while Gundy was with the team, including a two-season stretch in which they went 20-4 with two bowl wins.

Arguably the biggest accomplishment of Gundy's college career was holding the record for pass attempts to start a college career without an interception with 138 passes, a record that stood until Robert Griffin III broke it in 2008 against Gundy's Cowboys.

Although Oklahoma State didn't win a conference title with Gundy as a quarterback, the Cowboys won one with him as a head coach in 2011, and they've been a competitive team during his tenure with the program, going to 14 straight bowl games.

Few coaches show as much emotion on the sidelines as Michigan's Jim Harbaugh, which is a big reason he's been viewed as a leader both as a head coach and a former quarterback.

Prior to a career in the NFL and various coaching stints with pro and college teams, Harbaugh was the big man on campus in Ann Arbor. His college career got off to a rocky start with the Wolverines, as he saw limited playing time in his first two seasons and then suffered a broken arm that forced him to miss the rest of the season in 1984.

However, Harbaugh was able to recover from the broken arm and finish his college career with some solid accolades. He led Michigan to a 10-1-1 record in 1985 that included a 27-23 victory over Nebraska in the Fiesta Bowl. The following season, the Wolverines went 11-2 but fell to the Arizona State Sun Devils in the Rose Bowl.

Harbaugh finished his career as Michigan's all-time record holder with 5,449 passing yards and also led the NCAA in pass efficiency in the 1985 season. He finished his final two seasons with an impressive 21-3-1 record and even finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting for the 1986 season. He went on to be a first-round pick in the NFL draft and played in the NFL from 1987 until 2001. 

Although he has faced lots of criticism as a head coach, Harbaugh has done a lot for the Michigan program, both as a player and a head coach. If he wants to stay the head coach in Ann Arbor, however, he's going to need to win some big games, especially one against Ohio State.

Scott Frost's head coaching stint with his alma mater has gotten off to a rocky start, but the former Nebraska Cornhuskers quarterback is still widely considered as a legend by the fans.

Despite growing up and playing high school football in Nebraska, Frost actually began his college career with the Stanford Cardinal. He spent two seasons with the program before ultimately transferring back home to play with the Cornhuskers.

After sitting out with a redshirt in 1995, Frost took over as the starter the next season and helped lead the Cornhuskers to a 11-2 season that ended with an Orange Bowl win over Virginia Tech.

The following season, Frost and Nebraska compiled a perfect 13-0 record that included a national championship and a blowout Orange Bowl win over Peyton Manning and the Tennessee Volunteers. Frost helped the Cornhuskers lead the nation in scoring that year, and he became one of the only players in college football history to finish a season with over 1,000 yards rushing and passing.

Frost's legend has only grown since his playing days. As the head coach of Central Florida, he turned a middling program into a dominant force in 2017, coaching the team to a perfect 13-0 record and a 34-27 win over the Auburn Tigers in the Peach Bowl.

Although he hasn't had the same success since returning to Lincoln to coach his old team, Frost seems determined to right the ship and help the Cornhuskers compete in the hyper-competitive Big Ten. 

While Northwestern may not have the most prestigious football program, Wildcats fans will never forget how legendary of a player Pat Fitzgerald was.

A two-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year winner, Fitzgerald was the heart and soul of the Wildcats defense for three seasons between 1994 and 1996. His junior year in 1995, Fitzgerald helped lead Northwestern to a 10-2 record and one of their only two Rose Bowl appearances in program history.

The Wildcats went on to win back-to-back Big Ten conference titles in his final two seasons. Fitzgerald was named a two-time consensus All-American during the time, while also winning both the Bronko Nagurski Trophy and Chuck Bednarik Award after both 1995 and 1996. 

As the most decorated player in Northwestern history, Fitzgerald took over as the head coach for the Wildcats in 2006. A 3-9 record was a major disappointment last season, but the Wildcats had gone to four straight bowl games prior to 2019, winning the last three as well.

Northwestern has very rarely been a powerhouse in the college football world, but as both a player and a head coach, Fitzgerald has changed the culture of the program, and that's what makes him such a legendary figure in Wildcats history.