Why College Football Is Better Than The NFL

In the real world everybody has their own preference.  They like their burgers from one specific place.  They like shopping at one specific store.  They also like filling up their gas tank at one specific gas station.  The fact of the matter is in all three cases, more or less everything is the same except for price and service. 

Football between college and the NFL is the same way.  For the most part, they are the same.  The differences are what make college football better than the NFL.  I will give my own personal rundown, in no particular order as to why I think college ball is better than the NFL.

1.  College football has many different types of offenses while in the NFL, teams for the most part run the same.  What is the big game changer as of late; the Wildcat offense.  Guess what, once Miami started having success everybody turned copycat and have their own takes on it. 

In college football, things are different depending on the culture and team make-up.  You have teams like Syracuse running everything from the old I-formation option to some pro-style. 

Paul Johnson has taken his triple option from Navy to Georgia Tech and Southeastern football hasn't been the same. 

Nebraska, the team I grew up loving, which has run the option most of my life, switched to the  West Coast Offense and now is running some spread/read option with some power football mixed in. 

On any given Saturday, depending on who you are playing, defensively you have to change things up (and have mercy on any team that faces G-Tech over the next year or so).

2.  Rivalry games have more meaning.  In the NFL what are the rivalries?Washington/Dallas, Cleveland/Cincy, and Green Bay/Chicago.  Fact of the matter is when I have watched NFL games on television or listened to them on the radio, I haven't seen the crowds get very excited. 

In college ball the fans are rabid and even more so when it comes to rivalry games.  The fun part is running down the list of rivalry games that every college football fan hates to miss:  Army/Navy, Auburn/Alabama, UCLA/USC (especially back in the day when both teams wore their home jerseys), Nebraska/Oklahoma, and Ohio St/Michigan to name a few.  Just watching these young men competing and playing for their schools makes the blood flow freely.

3.  In college ball, I think coaches are more respected because they are really teachers.  The Pelinis, Stoops, Johnsons, and Urban Meyers of the world are just picking up status as the older coaches start walking off into the sunset.  The fun part is when you look at the older guys, you still refer to them as Coach. 

Bowden, Osborne, Switzer, the late Bear Bryant, Spurrier, and the late Bo Schembechler deserve and get the proper respect of their title being Coach even though in the case of a few of them, they are no longer coaching.  In my heart and mind, that is a true sign of respect because you are saying the coach is a teacher and not just somebody calling the shots.

4.  Listen to a radio broadcast of any college football game, the announcers are so personable and they seem to have a bit more insight than the crews in the NFL. 

I grew up listening to Kent Pavelka calling Nebraska games.  I had so much respect for that gentleman that when he stopped calling Nebraska football, it felt like a part of me just vanished forever.  He knew the game, he knew when he was calling big games, and he knew and respected the fans that invited him into their homes to call Husker games. 

Many a time I muted the television to listen to Kent's call.  I believe that is more often done in the college realm than in the NFL.

5.  Finally, the overall feeling is more human.  Maybe it's due to the fact the NFL guys are all paid tens of millions of dollars and claim it is just a business.  College ball feels more geared towards the fans. 

When I was going to college, I had classes with football and basketball players.  They knew me by name and we would talk about the games in between classes.  I knew I wasn't on the same level as they were, but they made a point to recognize that I loved the sports and was showing up at the games. 

Do you think NFL players would do that?  Do you think they actually care about the fans?  I think not.  If they cared about any fans, it would be the ones buying the expensive sky boxes to pay their huge salaries.

That's my rundown.  I am sure there are NFL fans that will disagree left and right, but that is the beauty of an opinion piece, we have the right to disagree.  And to NFL guys, I will still like pro ball and still watch it, but you can have your any given Sunday.  As for as I'm concerned, give me a Saturday afternoon anywhere in America with a college game on and I will be content.

Thank you for reading my article and hope to hear some comments and maybe even some question.  God bless.