NFL is different, not better

Sporting News, The, Jan 12, 2004 by Matt Hayes

OK, I'm Bob Stoops, and I've got a decision to make. I make $2.5 million a year coaching the Oklahoma Sooners, and life is very good. Norman is a nice college town; it's not Malibu, but it's not Starkville, either. I'm so popular in the state of Oklahoma, I could run for governor and get 80 percent of the votes without campaigning.

Now, here comes New York Giants owner Wellington Mara. A nice man with good intentions, he desperately needs a coach and is willing to pay just about anything to pry me from my personal paradise. I'm going to give it all up--job security, three months' down time, a machine that recruits itself--to stroke my ego and prove I can coach in the NFL.

Yep, I'm going to trade it all for 18-hour workdays, pampered, pompous athletes playing for the next payday, no vacation, no down time, and, by the way, no margin for error. And they'll throw me a couple extra million a year for my troubles.

Are you nuts?

"It's not just a different game," Stoops says. "It's a different world."

And there you have it. Why would any college coach in his right mind want to coach in the NFL? Once you've hit the $1 million-a-year salary mark, money ceases to be a motivation. At some point, quality of life has to enter the evaluation. Steve Spurrier's two-year NFL flirtation should seal it for any college coach with an itch to scratch: The grass isn't always greener on the pros' FieldTurf.

Spurrier said he wanted a new challenge, that things were stale and expectations unreasonable at Florida. Great--go coach Central Florida. A move to the NFL just isn't worth it. In college football, coaches are CEOs with complete control and, in some cases, are bigger than their universities. In the NFL, coaches are caretakers on a short leash, and players tug the line. NFL coaches are baby sitters and therapists; college coaches are patriarchs of a program.

Bill Callahan led the Raiders to the Super Bowl in his first season as head coach. A year later, the Raiders finished 4-12 and are looking for a new coach because players publicly claimed it just wasn't working. If a player complains in college, he's either at the end of the bench of on his way to another school.

Imagine a 27-year-old employee with his cap turned sideways strutting into the offices at Microsoft, demanding change because the stock is slipping, then stating in front of a television camera that employees no longer have faith in the corporate leadership. Say good night, Mr. Gates. The NFL is a corporation run unlike any other, where employees hold press conferences to announce they want a new boss.

It also is a business based on replaceable parts: teams, cities, history. College football is an enclave unto itself: cities within cities, chosen specifically by players because of a school's coach and tradition. No one player in college is bigger than the university (see: Maurice Clarett).

Kids grow up singing "Hail to Victors," not "Hall to the Redskins." There is an undeniable, understood respect and reverence in the college game. There is a clear definition of who leads and who follows. Keyshawn Johnson became "Meshawn" Johnson when he signed his first NFL contract. Think Oklahoma wide receiver Mark Clayton yells at Stoops on the sideline, demanding Jason White throw him the damn ball?

This is what Spurrier decided to take a shot at for an extra couple million a year. This is why Spurrier is now holed up in his beach house on the Florida coast, having left $15 million on the table and walked away from baby-sitting self-important, nouveau riche millionaires.

It's a different world, all right.

(S) The 2003 season is complete, but fall 2004 will be here soon enough. Keep up with all the offseason news and notes at www.foxsports.com, keyword: college football.

SPEED READ

* Attention, university presidents and athletic directors: Let me direct you to Central Michigan, where trendsetting folks are making ground-breaking decisions. CMU hired Brian Kelly to coach its floundering program--the Brian Kelly who was 41-2 the last three seasons at Grand Valley State and won two straight Division II national titles. He's no coaching retread, no member of "the family." At some point, big schools will learn: It doesn't matter where you've coached; it's how you coach.

INSIDE DISH

UCLA coach Karl Dorrell admits he "didn't anticipate it being this bad" in his first season in Westwood. Things hit rock bottom after last week's Silicon Valley Classic loss to Fresno State, with players bickering and melting down in the locker room. A lack of talent contributed to a 6-7 record, but a lack of discipline was the foundation for a season-ending five-game losing streak. Where does the blame fall for selfish play, poor practice habits and shaky game execution? Some can be attributed to former coach Bob Toledo and his hands-off style that still is ingrained in players. But Dorrell, despite suspending six players during the season for off-field transgressions, should shoulder a majority of the blame for letting the issues fester.... For the second straight year, Virginia Tech's defense was exposed in the last month of the season, giving up an average of 35 points and 459 yards in the last five games. Coordinator Bud Foster says he will evaluate the scheme, coaching and players to stop the problem. The source could be Tech's linebackers, who underachieved most of the season. Foster is excited about the potential of freshman Aaron Rouse, who played well in an Insight Bowl loss to California.... The ACC office privately believed that Florida's complaining about the officiating after its loss last month to Florida State were evidence of a team looking for an excuse. But now that ACC referee Jack Childress and back judge Doug Foley were involved in a key missed fumble call in the Auburn-Wisconsin Music City Bowl, commissioner John Swofford must evaluate those officials more carefully. Look for Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany to ask Swofford to review the game tape.--M.H.