The transition from college to the pros is not easy.

Coaches rarely excel at either level because each division requires a different skill set. Sure, technically both jobs are just “head coach” of a football team. But in college, you have to recruit and coach dozens of young student-athletes. In the NFL, the focus is more on game plans and schedules.

Jim Harbaugh will be the last person trying to figure that out as he begins his second stint as an NFL coach with the Los Angeles Chargers. He’s fresh off a national championship with Michigan and reached a Super Bowl with the San Francisco 49ers during the 2012 season.

Earlier this offseason, ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio and Chris Simms each tapped their top three coaches to make the jump from college to the NFL. Here’s how it went down:

Simms: Jimmy Johnson

The first choice was an obvious one for Simms. Johnson went 29-25-3 in five seasons at Oklahoma State before transferring to Miami in 1984. In five seasons with the Hurricanes, he went 52-9, with two Orange Bowl victories and a national title.

Johnson moved to the NFL in 1989 with the Dallas Cowboys. Although his first season was a struggle at 1-15, he quickly turned the team into a perennial contender. Dallas made the playoffs in his third year before winning two straight Super Bowls in his fourth and fifth seasons and then calling it quits. Johnson later coached the Miami Dolphins for four seasons, making three playoff appearances.

Florio: Pete Carroll

With the second pick, Florio turned his attention to the recently fired Pete Carroll. He began his career as a head coach in 1994 with the New York Jets, but lasted only one season. He then spent three seasons with the New England Patriots, where he went 27-21 before being replaced by Bill Belichick.

That led Carroll back to the NCAA, where he had been an assistant earlier in his career. Carroll took over at USC in 2001 and compiled a 97-19 record in nine seasons, including four Rose Bowl victories, two Orange Bowl victories and two AP National Championships.

Carroll returned to the NFL again in 2010 with the Seattle Seahawks. His second NFL stint was an instant success. Seattle won the Super Bowl in 2013 and Carroll stayed in the city for 14 years, never winning fewer than seven games in a season.

Simms: Tom Coughlin

Coughlin spent years as an assistant in the NFL, including serving as the New York Giants’ wide receivers coach when Simms’ father Phil was their starting quarterback from 1988 to 1990. He then left the team to become head coach at Boston College. In three seasons with the Eagles, Coughlin posted a 21-13-1 record and won the Carquest Bowl in his final game.

His return to the NFL began in Jacksonville with an expansion franchise. Coughlin was the Jaguars’ first head coach and immediately turned them into a contender. The Jags made the postseason in four of their first five seasons, including two AFC title game appearances. Coughlin spent eight seasons in Jacksonville, compiling a 68-60 record.

However, Coughlin is best known for his time as head coach of the Giants. He took over Big Blue in 2004 and stayed for 12 seasons, winning two Super Bowls against Belichick and the Patriots. In 20 NFL seasons, Coughlin posted a 170-150 record and 12 postseason victories.

Florio: Paul Brown

Brown is best known for his NFL resume, but his career as a head coach actually began at the amateur level. As head coach of Ohio State from 1941 to 1943, Brown posted an 18-8-1 record and won the school’s first national championship in 1942. He then coached the Great Lakes Navy Bluejackets for two seasons before moving to the pros.

Brown then became head coach, GM and part owner of the Cleveland Browns in 1946, where he built the team into a real power. Cleveland achieved a 111-44-5 record in 17 seasons under Brown, winning three NFL championships and four All-America Football Conference championships.

After leaving Cleveland, Brown helped found the Cincinnati Bengals, where he again served in the triple role of coach, president and owner. In eight seasons with the Bengals, he achieved a 48-36 record, and the franchise is still owned by his son, Mike.

Simms: Jim Harbaugh

After Harbaugh retired from the NFL in 2001, he immediately turned to coaching. In 2004, he became head coach in San Diego. The Toreros went 7-4 in his first season and 11-1 in each of the next two. In 2007, Harbaugh transferred to Stanford, taking over a team that had gone 1-11 the year before. In 2010, the Cardinals went 12-1 and won the Orange Bowl.

Harbaugh then tried his hand at the NFL, joining the 49ers in 2011 and beyond. Although that run lasted only four seasons, Harbaugh posted a 44-19-1 record during that span, with one Super Bowl loss and two more NFC title game appearances.

The Michigan graduate returned to his alma mater in 2015 and stayed for nine seasons. The Wolverines made the College Football Playoff in his final three years, culminating in a national championship in 2023, finishing his tenure 86-25. Harbaugh will return to the NFL sidelines this season with the Chargers, a franchise he played for from 1999-2000. If he can win a ring with LA, he would join Johnson, Carroll and Barry Switzer as the only coaches to win a national title and a Super Bowl.

Florio: Bill Walsh

Two stints at Stanford capped off Walsh’s historic NFL career with the 49ers. In two seasons with the Cardinals, he went 9-3 and 8-4 before moving to the NFL. In the pros, he won three Super Bowls in 10 seasons with San Francisco and achieved a record of 92-59-1.

Walsh left the 49ers after his third Super Bowl victory and seemed to be done with coaching. But after a four-year hiatus, he finally returned to Stanford. Walsh lasted three seasons, reaching a 10-3 record in 1992 before finishing two seasons under .500.