This past week’s entrance of Bill Belichick and exit of Gus Malzhan among college head football coaches both say something about the professionalization of what used to be an amateur sport.
Belichick’s surprise entrance understandably drew the most attention.
The future Hall of Fame coach had been thought to be waiting around for a call from another NFL franchise. A year had passed since his departure from the New England Patriots without any offers. At 72, Belichick may have decided he did not have a lot more time to wait and was ready to listen when the University of North Carolina came calling.
Some doubt whether Belichick, for all of his unprecedented success in the NFL, will be able to turn UNC into a football power. He’s never had to recruit or baby-sit teenagers, plus his final four years in New England suggested that he had lost not just all-world quarterback Tom Brady but a couple of steps.
Brady was able to get one more Super Bowl at Tampa Bay to add to the six he won with Belichick in New England, while Belichick never coached another playoff winner and had the type of record — 29-39 — that gets most NFL coaches fired, as it eventually did him.
Historically, college head coaches haven’t fared too well in the NFL, and vice versa.
Nick Saban, one of the most successful college colleges in history, is the best example. In between a national championship at LSU and six at Alabama, he was a bust during two seasons with the NFL’s Miami Dolphins.
There have been at least two head coaches who during back-and-forth careers between the pro and college ranks won national championships in college — Pete Carroll at USC and Jim Harbaugh at Michigan. Both also were embroiled in cheating scandals while at their college posts.
A lot of what used to be considered cheating in college sports, though, is now condoned and expected. Between name, image and likeness deals, the transfer portal and soon-to-be revenue sharing, the only distinctions between the professional athletes who play in college and those who play in the NFL are the magnitude of their compensation packages and their level of maturity.
Thus, the transition for Belichick may be easier now than it would have been a decade ago. Still there will be adjustments to make. He won’t be able to lock in his star players with long-term contracts, and he’ll have to persuade them to show their faces in class every now and then.
With a salary of at least $10 million a year, though, Belichick should be able to live with a few headaches.
Meanwhile, Gus Malzhan has decided to go in the other direction. He gave up his head coaching position at the University of Central Florida to become the offensive coordinator at Florida State, taking a 70% pay cut in the process.
Malzhan said he wanted to get back to doing what he liked about his profession — actually coaching the athletes. Head coaches are now doing less of that, delegating many of their coaching responsibilities while acting more like general managers — negotiating with players’ agents, kissing up to the boosters and engaging in an arms race to see who can field the best team money can buy.
One big difference still between the NFL and the NCAA is the latter doesn’t fret about parity. There are no salary caps in college sports and no drafting of players in a way that gives an advantage to the teams that did poorly the previous season. The NCAA is still OK with the rich getting richer. The only difference is the wealth in the past was based mostly on winning tradition, recruiting budgets and athletic facilities; now it’s heavily weighted to the net worth of those who graduated from the school or have connections to it.
Although these changes may be financially rewarding for the college athletes, they’ve made the sport less appealing. With players going where they can get the largest payday and changing teams as often as they change wardrobes, there’s little if any school loyalty. They’ve become hired hands, and if you want to watch hired hands, the NFL puts on a better show.
- Contact Tim Kalich at 662-581-7243 or tkalich@gwcommonwealth.com.
