Why 'Hard Knocks'-Style TV Shows Are the Future of College Football

It's finally here. College football will get its own version of Hard Knocks during preseason camp. Fans looking for additional access will get it in the form of A Season With Notre Dame on Showtime this September.

The news became official Tuesday afternoon. In a release obtained by Paul Skrbina of the Chicago Tribune, Showtime Sports Executive Vice President and General Manager Stephen Espinoza said, "The passion of the players and head coach Brian Kelly will make for a compelling television series that will appeal beyond hardcore college football fans to all viewers who appreciate great storytelling."

Scott Roussel of Footballscoop.com first reported the possibility of Notre Dame joining teams with Showtime to create college football's version of the popular HBO show, which tells the preseason camp stories of an NFL team every year.

As Roussel notes, this kind of unique access is a good thing for Notre Dame's exposure:

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While providing an unquestioned financial boost to the university, certainly the potentially larger boost for Notre Dame is the national storytelling the series will provide and the expected bump in appeal for the program, the coaches and its players. Under Armour won't hate the exposure, either.

The series should provide excellent insight into how Brian Kelly coaches his team, how new offensive coordinator Mike Sanford Jr. leads the offense, and there is no doubt that a large part of the population will watch just to enjoy Brian VanGorder's exchanges with his players.

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Access in college football is tricky these days. Unlike the NFL, there's not a uniform way for local and national reporters to have access to practices, players and coaches. Many programs, in fact, have invested heavily in in-house access to provide stories and content.

As a result, what fans see is a limited version of what actually happens in practice, let alone how an entire program is operated.

A Hard Knocks-esque show for college football breaks the mold there. It won't be a complete peeling back of the proverbial curtain, but it will lift it enough to give outsiders a refreshing view on major college football: the position battles, the injuries, the decision-making, life as a student-athlete.

As it relates to Notre Dame specifically, Keith Arnold of Inside the Irish tweets that a Hard Knocks type of show could be good for the program's desire to increase its exposure to recruits:

That's not to say a prospect is going to commit to Notre Dame because of the show, but it does open up Notre Dame to someone who may not have the Irish on their radar.

If the show is successful—Footballscoop.com notes that "Florida State was very close to agreeing with a major cable production company to produce a similar series last season"—then don't be surprised if other big-name programs line up to do something similar.

Notre Dame is the test subject, but Alabama, Michigan, Ohio State or even Washington State could always be next. Why? All of those programs have compelling head coaches and/or star players that even fair-weather college football fans know.

Notre Dame is a good place to start because it's a storied, polarizing program that people will want to tune in to watch. But imagine watching this type of show with Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh or Ohio State coach Urban Meyer. The Buckeyes specifically are loaded with star power at the moment. Coming off a national championship, Ohio State would have been an excellent selection here too.

(Update: The Buckeyes will be the focal point of a Big Ten Network series called Scarlet and Gray Days, which will be similar in nature.)

Since money talks, today's coaches (or athletic departments) would be fine with opening up practices and meeting rooms for some extra change. Television, money and exposure are all things that drive the sport. 

In that way, college football is much like the NFL.

Ben Kercheval is a lead writer for college football. All quotes cited unless obtained firsthand.