11 former NFL stars coaching college football, from Michael Vick to Marshall Faulk
originally appeared on The Sporting News
College football isn’t short of superstars. Just look to the sidelines.
The college game is teeming with headlining names, and many of them starred on Sundays. NFL greatness isn’t a prerequisite for coaching prowess in the college game – as neither Ryan Day, Steve Sarkisian, Dabo Swinney, nor Brian Kelly made it to the big leagues.
But it’s not a bad tool to wield, either. Deion Sanders has used his knowledge of the modern NFL to entice prospects to join his burgeoning project at Colorado, while Jim Harbaugh led Michigan to a national title in 2023.
With that, here’s a look at some former NFL standouts who have since transitioned to coaching in the college game.
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11 former NFL stars now coaching college football
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Deion Sanders, Colorado Buffaloes
Sanders headlines the list of former NFL superstars to sport collegiate coaching headsets. Colorado’s boss picked up six first-team All-Pro appearances, a Defensive Player of the Year award, and two Super Bowl rings during his Hall of Fame playing career. Sanders leapt into coaching in 2012 as the head coach at Prime Prep Academy. By 2017, he was leading the offense at Trinity Christian School – the same place his sons, Shedeur and Shilo, attended.
Sanders parlayed his high school coaching success and name recognition into a head coaching gig with Jackson State. Shedeur and Shilo joined him in 2021, while Travis Hunter committed to the program in 2022. Within three seasons, the Tigers cemented themselves as a rising power in the college football landscape.
In Dec. 2022, Colorado hired the then-55-year-old as its head coach. Shedeur, Shilo, and Hunter swapped blue-and-white for black-and-gold shortly thereafter. The Buffaloes haven’t quite become a superpower across Sanders’ tenure. But they’re getting there, pulling a top-50 recruiting class in 2025.
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Michael Vick, Norfolk State Spartans
Vick wasn’t the NFL’s first dual-threat quarterback, but he might be its most iconic. The former Falcons and Eagles sidewinder was a force in his heyday, landing four Pro Bowl appearances and a Comeback Player of the Year award in 2010. Vick’s prime was halted by a prison sentence and suspension. But his legacy lingers on in the professional and collegiate game, marked by the increasing number of multifaceted talents that have found a home under center.
Vick gravitated towards the sidelines in his post-playing career. In 2017, he joined the Chiefs staff as an intern, and in December of 2024, he was hired as the head coach at Norfolk State.
Marshall Faulk, Colorado Buffaloes
Sanders has brought in a host of former NFL stars to lend their expertise to his pupils, including Warren Sapp and Byron Leftwich. One of his most high-profile hires is Marshall Faulk, who Sanders enlisted to lead his RB group in 2025.
Faulk, too, was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He captured three Offensive Player of the Year awards (1999-2001) and an MVP (2000). Faulk ranks 10th all-time in rushing TDs (100) and 12th all-time in rush yards (12,279). He featured prominently in the Rams’ “Greatest Show on Turf” offense, earning plaudits for his rushing and pass-catching exploits.
Jason Taylor, Miami Hurricanes
Pro Football Hall of Famers have taken to the college game with increasing regularity in recent years, and Jason Taylor is no exception. The former Dolphins standout returned to his old stomping grounds in 2022, landing a defensive analyst gig with Miami (Fla.) after a five-year stint at high school powerhouse St. Thomas Aquinas (Fla.).
Within a year of his arrival on the Hurricanes’ sideline, he was promoted to defensive ends coach.
With 139.5 sacks across his 15-year career, Taylor ranks 11th all-time in sacks. Miami head coach Mario Cristobal is hoping he can impart some wisdom — and those fearsome pass-rushing chops — on a new generation of EDGEs. With 36 sacks in 13 games in 2024, early returns for the Hurricanes appear promising.
DeMarco Murray, Oklahoma Sooners
Murray’s prime wasn’t long, but it was memorable. The Oklahoma alum and former Cowboys tailback earned Offensive Player of the Year honors in 2014 after tallying 1,845 rushing yards and 13 rushing touchdowns.
Murray was selected to the Pro Bowl in 2013, 2014, and 2016, but he wasn’t able to maintain his performances in his final few seasons. Nonetheless, Murray remains a formative figure to NFL fans from a certain generation.
He hasn’t strayed too far from the gridiron post-retirement. In 2019, he was appointed as the RB coach for Arizona. One year later, he returned to Norman, landing the same job with Oklahoma.
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Hines Ward, Arizona State Sun Devils
Ward spent his entire 14-year career in Pittsburgh, collecting 1,000 receptions, 12,083 yards, and 85 touchdowns with the Steelers. The two-time Super Bowl champion and one-time Super Bowl MVP was a steady presence in Pittsburgh’s locker room.
He cuts a similar figure on the sidelines. Ward started his coaching career in the pros, working as an offensive intern with the Steelers and as an offensive assistant with the Jets. In 2021, he joined Florida Atlantic’s staff as a special assistant to the head coach. Ward tried his luck at head coaching in 2022, helming the XFL’s San Antonio Brahmas. He resigned in 2023, but within months secured another job, this time as a wide receivers coach with Arizona State.
James Laurinaitis, Ohio State Buckeyes
Laurinaitis was a dogged defender as a linebacker with the St. Louis Rams, leading the NFL in solo tackles in 2012. The Ohio State product enjoyed a successful eight-year career before retiring in 2017 at the age of 30.
Laurinaitis returned to the sport in 2022, joining former Buckeyes teammate Marcus Freeman’s staff at Notre Dame as an assistant linebackers coach and graduate assistant. In 2023, he joined Ohio State in the same role. He was promoted to linebackers coach in 2024.
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C.J. Spiller, Clemson Tigers
A College Football Hall of Famer, Spiller may have been predestined to return to the collegiate game. The Clemson product spent eight years slaloming around NFL defenses.
Spiller broke out in 2012 for the Bills, tallying 1,244 yards on 207 carries. He averaged 6.0 yards per carry and was summarily named to his lone Pro Bowl team. Injuries and poor performance limited his effectiveness as his career wore on, but he is still remembered fondly by Bills fans.
Eddie George, Bowling Green
George reached the pinnacle of college football success during his four-year spell at Ohio State, winning the closest Heisman vote in history at the time after rushing for 1,927 yards and 24 touchdowns.
Selected in the first round of the 1996 NFL Draft by the then-Oilers (now Titans), George earned four Pro Bowl appearances and a first-team All-Pro during his nine-year career. He’s one of 32 players to record at least 10,000 rushing yards in his career.
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George was appointed Tennessee State’s head coach in 2021. He led the Tigers to a 9-4 record and FCS postseason berth in 2024. Bowling Green took notice, handing him the reins to the team after Scot Loeffler left the post to become the Eagles’ quarterbacks coach in 2025.
DeSean Jackson, Delaware State
Jackson made his mark during a 15-year NFL career, tallying 11,263 yards and 58 touchdowns with the Eagles, Commanders, Buccaneers, Raiders, and Rams. A three-time Pro Bowler and one-time Super Bowl champion, Jackson enjoyed plenty of notable moments in the league, none more memorable than the Miracle at the New Meadowlands — his buzzer-beating punt return TD to down the Giants.
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In 2024, Delaware State hired Jackson to be its head coach. He had only just started in the profession, having spent a few months working as an offensive coordinator at Long Beach’s Woodrow Wilson High School.