Is College Football's Great Coaching Exodus Finally Here?

When an industry evolves, it typically does so slowly.

Along the way, there are signs that something is on the horizon—morsels of moments that ultimately add up over time. These moments can be small when individualized. But in totality, they can change everything.

In business, these moments start small and grow big. Eventually they become a trend, and eventually that trend becomes the norm. Suddenly, the business that is college football finds itself in a series of trends, although no trend is more curious than the sudden abundance of coaches leaving for other opportunities.

Given the impact of the transfer portal and the way NIL has brought free agency to the sport in a matter of years, that statement might sound strange. But it's the coaches operating in this universe that know it best, and many of these coaches are choosing to leave when given an opportunity to do so.

Currently, the sport is operating without guidance. Rules are iffy (at best). Rosters are being built with checkbooks and booster backing, first and foremost. The landscape is unknown, and the work required to build winners is greater than it has ever been.

Make no mistake about it; being a head coach or valued assistant at a major program has never been more lucrative than it is right now. The desperation to win coupled with the surplus of resources brought on by television contracts and surging interest has blasted the coaching market into orbit.

The best coordinators in college football can now earn more than $2 million annually. The best coaches—or even those with leverage—can earn north of five times that amount.

Life is good, in many respects.

Despite all the incredible perks that come with this job, college football coaches are saying farewell. And while it would be unfair to make a blanket assumption that these decisions are directly tied to the state of the sport, the exodus paints a fascinating picture of the future to come.

Jim Harbaugh is off to the NFL and Nick Saban is off to the golf course. Did the best coaches in the sport leave because it has all become too much?

In fairness, Harbaugh has been looking to leave long before he had company. And Saban, who is 72, might have simply had enough. The timing is still, well, curious.

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If those were the only two changes, as meaningful as they are, the conversation might be different. This is ultimately not the case.

The head coach of a school in a Power Five conference recently left for a coordinator job in the NFL. That coach was Jeff Hafley, formerly of Boston College. After leading his program to a bowl game last season, Hafley will spend next fall as the defensive coordinator for the Green Bay Packers.

The architect of one of college football's greatest offenses will do the same. Ryan Grubb, who served as Washington's offensive coordinator this past season, followed former Huskies head coach Kalen DeBoer to Alabama when he was named the head coach.

That decision ultimately lasted a handful of weeks. Grubb was then named the offensive coordinator of the Seattle Seahawks, and his tenure with the Crimson Tide ended before it could ever truly begin.

Liam Coen and Kliff Kingsbury, two well respected offensive minds, followed a similar path. Both assistants exited for jobs in the NFL when they were presented.

These decisions make up an insignificant amount of the total number of jobs currently held at major schools. The reality of these decisions, however, paints a picture of some growing discontent within the profession.

The job has always demanded an unfathomable amount. The hours are intense, the time spent on the road is relentless and the pressure to win is constant. Recruiting, even before NIL, was a daunting assignment.

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Now?

It's gotten harder for coaches, particularly those without robust resources and the active collectives that are necessary to compete in this new world.

In short, it's a lot. Given the lack of guidance provided by the NCAA and the Wild West mentality the sport has seemingly adapted, it should come as no surprise that some have simply had enough.

Oh, it pays extraordinarily well, but so does coaching in the NFL. And at the next level, an assistant doesn't have to spend a huge chunk of their year on the road away from their family, asking how much a 4-star lineman is demanding to commit.

At the professional ranks, the guidelines are far clearer. Coaches have a better grasp on the demands.

In truth, the money can be extraordinary at either level. The pressure to win and perform will be, too.

With that in mind, the difference is quality of life. It is here, at least right now, that college football becomes a cluttered mess.

Do not mistake the word "mess" with popularity. Again, business is booming. Interest is up. For all of the sport's structural issues, it has never been more popular than it is right now.

The architects of said popularity, however, are telling us that the current path is likely unsustainable, and can you really blame them?

If a competitor of your employer offered you a job with slightly less pay but more stability, more structure and less travel, wouldn't you take it or at the very least consider it?

The new requirements demanded of coaches at the college level are both extreme and still relatively unknown. Those who have found work at other levels are telling us, without actually saying it out loud, that the current climate is reaching an unsustainable place.

At the moment, it's still a trend. But like all good trends, it seems positioned to become the norm before long.