It turns out that the flow of coaches between college and the NFL goes both ways.
While the Big Ten lost its most high-profile coach, Jim Harbaugh, who moved to the NFL to lead the Los Angeles Chargers after guiding Michigan to a national title, the conference has welcomed four new coaches with Super Bowl experience who were NFL coordinators last season.
These new additions include Steve Belichick, the defensive coordinator at Washington, Eric Bieniemy, the offensive coordinator at UCLA, and Wink Martindale, the defensive coordinator at Michigan.
Belichick is starting his first college coaching job after being with the New England Patriots, where he worked from 2012-23 under his father Bill Belichick.
Bieniemy, who was formerly with the Kansas City Chiefs and Washington Commanders, hasn’t coached in college since his time at Colorado from 2011-12.
Martindale had spent nearly 20 years in the NFL before his role at Michigan, with his previous college experience being at Western Kentucky from 2000-03.
They are confident in their ability to adjust.
“I think you just need to teach and coach,” Bieniemy said after getting the job. “Teaching and coaching does not change, you still have to do a great job of overcommunicating clarity.
You’ve got to make sure that you’re reaching your guys in the room. It’s never easy regardless of whether it’s the pro, it’s college or high school because everybody accepts or retains information differently.”
Additionally, Jack Del Rio, another former NFL coordinator, joined the Big Ten just before the season began. Wisconsin hired Del Rio as a senior adviser to coach Luke Fickell.
Del Rio was the defensive coordinator for the Commanders from 2020-23 and has had a long career in the NFL, including head coaching roles with the Jacksonville Jaguars (2003-11) and the Oakland Raiders (2015-17).
