The NFL Coaching Exodus

I decided to take a brief break from writing my 2007 ND position reviews to comment on the recent trend of NFL coaches leaving to go back to college. Last year, the big name was Nick Saban. This year it is Bobby Petrino. Aside from the classless manner in which they left their NFL employers, these two men also had other things in common -- losing NFL teams, disastrous QB situations with their NFL franchise, and ugly salary cap situations. However, to believe that these are the only reasons for the current trend towards college coaching is short sighted. Everyone is pointing at Petrino right now(and rightfully so) but there are others who would do the same thing if given the chance. For example, there are a ton of rumblings right now that a guy like Lane Kiffen would crawl from Oakland to an SEC school. I believe that there are 4 primary reasons for this exodus to the college game:

1. Ego: Let's face it. Just about every successful coach has a very healthy ego. They are all the hero of their own war stories. To be honest, I am not sure I would want it any other way. A guy like Charlie Weis is often accused of having a large ego. Guess what? He does, just like everyone else in the profession. The difference is that guys like Charlie can rein it in when they need to and use it to their advantage when they want to. High profile coaches want to be "the man." They want to be the face and voice of the organization. However, that is not the way it is in the NFL. The NFL is correctly often characterized as a players league, while college is a coaches league, with obvious exceptions. To illustrate this point, think about this: When I think of USC, the first person I think of (with equal parts respect for accomplishments and nausea) is Pete Carroll. When I think of Texas and Oklahoma, I think Mack Brown and Bob Stoops. Ohio State and Jim Tressel. Now, think about the NFL. When I think of the Dallas Cowboys, the first images are Terrell Owens and Tony Romo. When I think of Green Bay, I think Brett Favre, not Mike McCarthy. I will say it again -- high profile coaches yearn to be "the man" -- the face and voice of the operation. Closely tied to this is wins and losses. When a coach gets used to winning 75% of his games in college, it is a pretty big blow to the ego to start winning 25% of your games in the NFL. Not good for the old ego. Let's see.... I can win 75% of the time and be adored and told how wonderful I am, or I can win 25% of the time and be vilified and told I am the worst coach in football. Not a tough choice.

2. Control: Another characteristic most coaches share is the desire to control their football operation. This is a heck of a lot easier to do in college than in the pros. In college, the coach has free reign to pick his team and can turn over almost a quarter of his team every season with graduation and recruiting. In the NFL, the coach typically must answer to a GM and team owner and even if he does have player personnel authority, he is constrained by external factors such as the salary cap, minimal draft picks, and free agency. In college, a coach can dictate the message. Coaches can close practice if they see fit, they can choose not to make certain classes or groups of players available to the media, they can. In the NFL, this is not an option. Wade Philips can't decide one day that Terrell Owens or Tony Romo, or all rookies on the team, can't talk to the media. Coaches in the NFL often have to react to what the story has become rather than shaping it themselves. This is uncomfortable for people who are used to and want to exert control. Take a look at Bobby Petrino for example. At Louisville, he was known for getting in players' faces after they screwed up or took a bad penalty etc. He would go crazy on the sidelines because he knew he could. That was his show. In Atlanta, CB Deangelo Hall did everything but slap Bobby Petrino in the face on the sidelines and what did Petrino do??? NOTHING. He stood there. He took it. Quite an adjustment for a guy so accustomed to dishing out the tongue lashings.

3. Money: It used to be that coaches left college because they wanted to get paid. This is not the case anymore. Currently, top college coaching salaries are somewhere in the neighborhood of $2.5-3 million per season. While this is not equal to the top NFL salaries, it is a heck of a lot closer than it used to be and close enough to make it a viable career decision.

4. Quality of Life: The life of an NFL head coach is grueling. It is a 365 day a year full time, 100 hour a week job. There is always something to do for an NFL coach. Many NFL coaches have lamented the role their job played in causing marriages to fail, difficulties with children, etc. In college, while recruiting can be tiring, there are fewer games, there are only a set number of hours in which you can practice during the season, and there are designated times where you are not allowed to recruit.

There are certainly other factors at work, but I believe these to be the primary factors. Your thoughts???