
Think about the best organizations in any industry. How did they get to the top? What’s the secret formula for success? Most people would say, “They hire the best people with the best backgrounds,” and sure, that makes sense. But what if the real answer is more complicated—and way more interesting—than that?
As Super Bowl LIX approaches, featuring a rematch between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, I am reminded of a little known fact about the educational backgrounds of the players and coaches for both of these teams: they don’t all hail from “elite” football programs.
Similar to reviews conducted for past Super Bowls, we found that the 214 players (active, IR, and practice) and coaches of both the Eagles and the Chiefs represent 121 different colleges and universities.
The most represented universities among the two teams’ rosters are:
Oklahoma (8)
Georgia (8)
Alabama (6)
Clemson (5)
Florida State (5)
But we also see these lesser known college football programs represented:
Toledo (3)
Samford (2)
South Dakota State (2)
Army (2)
Interestingly, the educational backgrounds of the coaching staffs of the Eagles and Chiefs display the greatest educational diversity. Chiefs head coach Andy Reid hails from BYU, while his Eagles counterpart, Nick Sirianni, attended Mount Union in Ohio. Of the 54 coaches on the combined coaching staffs of the Eagles and Chiefs, only 17 attended “Power 4” colleges and universities.
Our culture tells high school students that success means being admitted to a small handful of “elite” colleges. The belief is that if you can just get into that one school, everything will fall into place—and if you don’t, your future won’t be as bright.
But here’s the reality: when you look at the most successful people—whether they’re CEOs, astronauts, surgeons, Teacher of the Year winners, or even NFL players—you see a huge range of educational backgrounds. According to Dave Kang, a professor at the University of Southern California who has been tracking the educational backgrounds of CEOs of Fortune 500 companies for the past 20 years, only 11.8% of 2023 Fortune 100 CEOs attended an Ivy League college as undergrads and only 9.8% hold an Ivy League MBA. The top organizations don’t just look for talent in the most well-known places; they know that talent can come from anywhere, and they build their teams accordingly
This is great news for students. High school students should not attempt to stack accomplishments for college applications in an attempt to impress a select few schools. Instead, students should focus on the things that really matter—figuring out what excites them, learning how to push through failure, and discovering the environments where they grow best. Their work ethic and dedication don't diminish because they attend a particular school; rather, they will shine in any situation or school. Because at the end of the day, that’s what education is really about.
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