Commentary

A Bob Stoops-Will Muschamp tie

Think first-time head coaches can't win? Incorrect. Look to Norman and other sites

Originally Published: December 12, 2010

By KC Joyner | ESPN Insider

In 1968, the Oakland Raiders had a surprise head-coaching opening when John Rauch left their employ to take a job with the Buffalo Bills.

Al Davis could have had his pick of many coaches to take over as the silver-and-black's on-the-field leader, but he chose John Madden in part because of what Madden said during the interview process.

This was an unexpected turn of events not only because Madden was not a name on the NFL radar but also because he had not served as a head coach at the professional level.

That certainly would seem to be a factor that would be hard to overcome, but according to his book, "Hey, Wait A Minute (I Wrote A Book!)", Madden handled it by telling Davis, "I don't have any head-coaching experience in the NFL, but if I don't get this job, I'm not going to have any head-coaching experience three years from now or five years from now."

Madden was obviously a success story despite having a seemingly limited background, but the lack-of-job-experience quandary that he ran into is one that coaches still run into today.

A great example of this can be found in the Florida Gators' hiring of former Texas Longhorns defensive coordinator Will Muschamp to take over for the recently retired Urban Meyer.

For all the question marks surrounding Muschamp, the most common seems to be whether someone with no previous head-coaching experience can succeed.

For KC Joyner's full argument, you need to be an ESPN Insider.