5 College football HCs who deserve a shot in the NFL ft. Luke Fickell

Many of the NFL's best coaches came from college football and had an insane amount of success in the pros.

Pete Carroll was USC's head coach before making the jump to the Seattle Seahawks in 2009, leading Seattle to their first Super Bowl victory. Tom Coughlin won two Super Bowl titles with the New York Giants and Eli Manning after serving as the head coach of Boston College.

The above examples prove that the college game has an abundance of coaching talent. Despite the unsuccessful Urban Meyer experiment by the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2021, NFL teams should look to the NCAA regarding coaching hires.

College football HCs who deserve a shot in the NFL

#5 - Luke Fickell, Wisconsin

Cincinnati v Temple

Despite Fickell recently moving jobs from the University of Cincinnati to join the Wisconsin Badgers, there's an argument that he could have made the step up to the NFL already.

Fickell was instrumental in Cincinnati's stunning run to the College Football Playoff in 2021, in a team that contained NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year front-runner Sauce Gardner.

Fickell was also rumored to have been in the running for the Detroit Lions job before it was given to current head coach Dan Campbell.

#4 - Jamey Chadwell, Liberty

Coastal Carolina v Marshall

Like Fickell, Jamey Chadwell recently took up another head coach role in college football but deserves a shot at the NFL level.

Chadwell was head coach of Coastal Carolina for three years until 2022 when he joined Liberty for 2023. However, many thought Chadwell was deserving of an NFL job after he won one Sun Belt title and two Sun Belt East titles during his tenure.

He also became just the third coach to win AP Coach of the Year despite not coaching a Power Five program.

College football HCs who deserve a shot in the NFL

#3 - Matt Campbell, Iowa State

Iowa State v TCU

Matt Campbell of Iowa State has also been touted to take the next step and move up into the pros.

Campbell has been head coach of Iowa State since 2016, where he has a record of 46-42. He's been named Big 12 Coach of the Year on three occasions, meaning he'll surely be on the radar for many NFL teams looking for their next head coach.

#2 - Chris Klieman, Kansas State

Kansas State v Baylor

A possible wildcard pick to get an NFL head coach job is Kansas State's Chris Klieman.

Klieman has been excellent for the Wildcats since taking over in 2019, winning the Big 12 championship in 2022.

He's got an overall coaching record of 102-32, and he's only recorded two losing seasons in his head coaching career. His winning mentality could come in very handy to a potential NFL employer.

#1 - Dabo Swinney, Clemson

ACC Championship - Clemson v North Carolina

Not that it's likely Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney will take the NFL head coach job after signing a 10-year, $115 million contract extension in 2022, but it would be intriguing to see.

Swinney has won 161 games as head coach of the Tigers, as well as leading the team to eight ACC titles and two national championship games in 2016 and 2018.

He has also helped nurture NFL talent such as Deshaun Watson, Trevor Lawrence, DeAndre Hopkins, and Tee Higgins while with Clemson, so it would be interesting to see what he can do at the next level.