The End of The Career College Football Coach?

And to think that we were done with college football after Alabama raise the crystal ball.

There was once a time when college football coaches were the staple of the neighborhood.  They journeyed from school to school, from graduate assistant, to special teams coordinator, to offensive or defensive coordinator, to head coach in Division III, II, I-AA (FCS), and I-A, and the select few fortunate enough to make it to the pinnacle (head coach at a BCS school) stayed there for the remainder of their careers. 

Such it was with people like Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno, others like Nick Saban and Pete Carroll resurfaced in the college ranks after stints in the NFL.

Now, however, with the NFL being more popular and lucrative than ever in the American sports scene, the lure of being a head man in the league is a stronger pull than ever.  It summoned Pete Carroll away from a dream job and arrangement at USC, it almost pulled Jim Harbaugh away from Stanford (and may yet still), and few elite college coaches ever go through a season without rumors of a jump to the NFL.

As a result, coaches who spend their entire coaching careers in the college game are becoming a rare species.  As Bobby Bowden's career drew to a close and Joe Paterno's gets even closer, there are fewer and fewer coaches who are willing to settle down and spend the rest of their coaching careers in the college game, even at a major BCS school that pays the market rate or higher for coaches competitive on the national scene.

One other factor contributing may be the fact that in the NFL, the amount of parity in the league has allowed for traditionally uncompetitive teams to become playoff contenders relatively quickly.  As a result, the time a coach is given to make a team a contender is very short, and owners and fans that don't get the fast return they expect are not shy to fire coaches who aren't instantly effective.  Hence the high turnover rates and the drain of college coaches to the pro game.

Is it a good thing?  Is it a bad thing?  Well, the answer to both is yes.  The increased parity in the NFL is good for the league and sport as a whole (and, might I add, this website, since the debate over which team is the best is ongoing).  It's bad because some teams and schools can't stand the constant state of flux and change in the game (e.g. USC just lost its head coach with less than a couple of weeks before signing day and with most other candidates already recommitted to their current jobs or signed on to new ones).    

But then again, every generation of the game is characterized by change, and this one is no different.  In the end, it may just be best to salute the age that has just passed and look with curiosity to the one about to begin.

Remember, spring football is only a couple of months away!