Enter in Boston College who takes the proactive, strong, ballsy approach by threatening to fire the coach if he interviews with the courting NFL team. That takes gusto rarely displayed in the modern day of college football. It also re-establishes the role of the institution. For too long, the coaches have held the power position in the athletic department. Some of that is justifiable. College football programs bring in the bulk of the revenue to fund an athletic department. However, as big a business college football may be, it is still “amateur” athletics. Therefore, the institution must take a bigger role and assert its power when it comes to hiring and recruitment of its coaches.
People (and you know who you are) will say people only want to hire the coach who is a winner and if a school employs a winner, the school can expect to see the coach hired away in the future. While some of that is true, to major-conference, Division I-A (FBS) schools should live in fear of the coach bolting at the end of every season. It is one thing for head coaches to move up from the lower divisions or from a non-BCS conference to a BCS conference (even that is a little shady in my opinion). It is an entirely different thing for the head coach to flirt with other jobs in college football or the NFL.
While I am there, let me address this whole thing about the college coaches jumping to the NFL. There is very little evidence in the last 25 years of that being a good move for either side. Jimmy Johnson is a notable exception. Barry Switzer just tried to manage the talent and most know that Troy Aikman was as much of a coach during his Super Bowl run as Switzer was. Butch Davis, Steve Spurrier, Nick Saban all either failed miserably at the HC position in the NFL or bailed because it was not the best fit for what they like to do. In college, it is about recruiting and developing young men. In the NFL, it is about scheme and management and plugging in the pieces. It is a very different game altogether. People say the NFL draft is just like recruiting. Not even close. In college recruiting, coaches must convince a player to come to the school based on a number of factors. In the draft, talent is chosen (sometimes poorly – the Lions for the last several years) and often the head coach does not have final (or any) say in the draft. It is just a different skill set. Look at Pete Carroll. He was a mediocre NFL head coach. At Southern California, he is a juggernaut and considered a genius. It is just a different skill set.
Article comments
1 - bclurker
Don't be so sure to think this is a proactive move by BC. Jags has been a problem hire from the beginning and this is a finely orchestrated attempt to get rid of Jags without the AD losing face. Force a conflict and get rid of him, move on, no questions.
You don't publicly threaten personel unless you want them gone.
2 - Matthew T. Sussman
Also a former BC coach: the guy coaching the other New York team.
I first assumed there was some clause in Jagodzinski's contract that he'd violate were he to interview, but I've heard nothing of the sort. And the college-coach-in-NFL debate has a lot to do with NFL coaching experience, of which Jag has eight years.
3 - Jay Skipworth
"And the college-coach-in-NFL debate has a lot to do with NFL coaching experience, of which Jag has eight years."
Position coaches generally translate well between college and NFL. Not so much on the coordinator and head coaching levels.
Thanks for reading.
4 - El Bicho
woo-hoo, a Cracker reference.