The Coaching Hire and the NIL Problem

Welcome to the board, Prowler!

 

Some of them actually take the opportunity seriously and graduate with degrees in something useful

I believe only about 50% of NFL players graduated

 

I was talking to the AstroTurf rep and he said in Texas they were tearing down a 30k seat stadium to put up a 40k seat stadium with private suites all paid for by alumni

 

But also the majority of players dont make millions in NIL money. The NIL money doesnt take away from the guy who is a scholarship guy who will never get to NFL.

 

If you don't mind, I'm trying to keep my location a secret due to safety concerns. On this one board a certain member had a beef with me and showed up in my hometown snooping around my family asking questions. My username on that forum was stolen after this incident. Lucky for me, I'm in a totally new area and not in the same state. I'd like to keep it this way, thanks.

As for your accomplishments as a coach, I'm happy that you got to feel the joy of helping young men become amazing adults and champions in real life. No other feeling like it when you're serving for the greater good.

 

Your assumption isn't quite right. Their moral compass doesn't necessarily have to align with me. My post above was about the challenges for the new coach in leading these young men. There has to be a rigid team structure implemented by McCarthy where he is a mentor but he is also tough enough to follow a zero tolerance policy.

 

I think you summed up the reality of the business in the football powerhouse states for sure. Look forward to having more conversations with you as well Joel.

 

Its the NFL, there isnt zero tolerance policy because the players have contracts and different roles and a labor union. Coaches are not hired to be mentors, they are hired to manage a team and win games. You cant run an NFL locker room like a High School locker room, because the organization has investments in players that may be far more significant than the investment they have in you as a coach. The Job of Head coach in the NFL is to make sure the players have the tools and preperation to be successful against their next opponent, it is not to worry about being a mentor or worrying about someones moral compass. Name me one successful coach in the NFL that has a strict rigid zero tolerance policy.

 

Well some of our diva players acted worse than high school kids. Tomlin himself used to say so and so is not varsity enough. The NFL can and will fine players.
In that aspect it is a bit like high school

 

The team itself can fine players they dont need the NFL but that isnt the point. I gaurantee you that Andy Reid would treat Pat Mahomes different for being late for meeting versus some 3rd stringer on the punt team, as well he should.

 

As long as the action does not greatly detract from the team , star players get extra leeway as long as they are key for victory. To quote Jimmy Johnson, each man is treated differently.

 

This is old school get off my lawn thinking. These players are rightfully paid millions because the sport is generating BILLIONS!!!

If college games were $5 and they played at a local park and all proceeds went back into the school I would agree but this is big business and you can’t be okay with everyone but the product in the field making money.

 

A 4 year degree isn’t worth nearly as much these days.

A player can get paid, still get the degree and have a nice cushion. Remember, before players couldn’t work while ok scholarship.

Also, no one talks about all these college players who don’t make the league but suffer from CTE and get no help from the schools.

 

Cool reply, but this isn't the way it works in reality. 100% of all contracts have clauses inside of them which addresses bad behavior. Teams and specifically coaches can fine players for detrimental conduct. Further to that point when DK Metcalf decided to assault a fan the team could have easily decided to enforce a zero tolerance policy and cut him. I have a feeling if Tomlin and company had of done this years ago with all the trouble makers it would have sent the strongest message possible to behave. That was part of Tomlin's downfall.

I hate to break it you but all HC's are mentors. Some are better than others. Ask any NFL player I'm sure they'll tell you the same thing. How do I know this? Because I know many NFL players and I have had those conversations with them.

Ultimately it is the job of the OC and DC to get the players into the position to succeed by creating a winning gameplan. A HC will mingle somewhat on both sides of the ball but his main job is to mentor, teach, and make sure the players and coaches follow the rigid structure and zero tolerance policy. Head Coaches who don't do this will fail. That is why the moral compass could shine brightly or burn out. Great coaches know this, and that is why having a rigid structure and zero tolerance policy is crucial for winning football.

 

No it’s not. These kids put their bodies through abuse on the field while coaches get paid millions, break promises to kids, leave when someone offers more money, and cuts them loose if they get hurt.
If NIL allows them to have shorter careers in the NFL that is a good thing for their long term health.

Does NIL need adjustments, yes. However these colleges and coaches are making millions on the backs of young men, kids.

 

I standby my original comments. NIL will be a big problem for NFL teams because not getting professional mentorship at a young age and becoming millionaires is creating horrible human beings. It's not teaching them respect or loyalty. I have a lot of contacts in college football and this is a fact that needs to addressed. You have no idea the massive problems this will create in the NFL in the next few years. Believe what you want, I know better.

 

That just isnt true, whether or not players have clauses in their contract is irrelevant to how they are treated in the locker room. This isnt an opinion it is an objective fact. Also head coaches our football menotrs, they are not all life mentors, nor are they expected to be. In the NFL there are alot factors to discilpling players, for instance cutting a guy like Metcalf before the playoffs, that hurts the teams chances and there is an entire team, organization, and city that are counting on him to put the best team on the field to win. Hurting the team to try and teach life lessons is not an NFL coaches job. Not to mention Mike Tomlin cant just cut guys when ever feels like it, there are contracts and labor unions.

 

You are wrong. Coaches are mentors. Some better than others. Tomlin himself wasn't a good mentor. That is why you'd see a lot of his players out of control, lacking discipline and not putting forth effort on the field. If Tomlin had of started a zero tolerance policy back say in the days of Antonio Brown imagine how better off the team would have been over the last several years. Can you tell me how many playoff games the team won after Brown started playing meaningful time in his 2nd season in the league? The time to set an example would have been back in those days but you have no coaching background like I do. My teams were successful with a rigid structure and zero tolerance policy.

You could have cut every single troublemaker on the Steelers roster from the Antonio Brown era onward including DK Metcalf and it wouldn't have mattered or hurt the team. We still can't get out of the first round of the playoffs. By the way, I wouldn't call putting out of control troublemakers who quit on the team as putting the best team on the field. would you? If you do then your more concerned about vanity and virtue signaling than excellence and winning championships.

All teams in the league can cut any player they want at any time they choose. There is no rule against it. Not sure why you think that. Heck KC could cut Mahomes if they really wanted to. You're using this lazy excuse for justifying DK Metcalf's assault on a fan. That is what it amounts to in my opinion. After all the difference maker Metcalf you love so much had a grand total of 2 catches in the wildcard game, wow what an amazing performance!

 

FWIW, I think this was probably Tomlin's biggest strength.

There's no chance a guy like Noll (who is among the greatest NFL coaches in history) could run a team now like he did then.

When players are more important than coaches, you can't play the my way or the highway route.

Coaches today can't be disciplinarians (like they were in the 70s). They have to manage relationships.

And (with respect), I don't think we can equate coaching at the HS level to the NFL (just like we can't equate playing at the HS level to the NFL).

The relationships (and power dynamics) are dramatically different IMO.

Because the best players will force coaches out. No team is going to pick a coach (e.g. Harbaugh) over a marquee player (e.g. Jackson).

And even if the player doesn't have the clout to force the coach out, they can just leave. Because they aren't captives to the team like they were in the 70s.

What the NIL does is make it so that college teams will have a harder time exploiting the big name college players...especially QBs. Coaches will have to coach instead of just recruit (and have a stable of highly ranked recruit on the bench just biding their time praying they'll get a shot).

Marquee NCAA football and basketball players absolutely should be millionaires before they make it to the NFL. How much money did a guy like Tebow make Florida? But when he gets to the league he sucks (yes, I repress the memory of THAT game). Guys like that should be compensated for value they bring to their college teams IMO. Instead of just subsidizing their college coaches, NCAA sports that no one cares about, and the Universities in general.

 

Or as Tomlin used to say "I treat them fairly, but not equally.".

Very obviously if some barely got a helmet guy tried to punch a fan in the stands, he's off the team the next day.

But DK does it and we keep him going into the next year of his contract.

Because talent matters.

Just like if a low-level player had Midgeville like rumors swirling around them they'd be off the team in a second.

And it's not just a Tomlin thing. If the 50th guy on the roster (or practice squad player) has the same motorcycle accident Ben had he's released with a non-football injury. Not only would they get cut, if they had language in their contract about not participating in dangerous activities (like riding a motorcycle...which is probably pretty common in the NFL), they'd have their contract voided.

But when it's a start QB who (at the time) looks like they could be the GOAT, you just give him time to heal up and get him back on the field as quickly as you can. With a stern conversation about not doing stupid **** like that again.

 

This doesn't seem new, right?

I was in college in the 00s.

I had a buddy who went to school for tennis in some mid-level university.

They had classes like "Athlete Appreciation" where if you couldn't read the questions on the test, the TA would come over and read it to you. With very strong emphasis on the answer that was correct.

And that was at a mid-level school in a sport that probably doesn't really make the university any money.

But I also know a guy who played at Michigan when Woodson was there (and Brady was a backup). Not a starter, but did dress occasionally. He's got a national championship ring. And he's an MD PhD doing research and treating patients at a top 5-ish medical school in the country.

 

I am against college athletes getting huge paydays, but only if the administrators and coaches get their paydays severely cut back too. Schools are firing coaches before the contract expires, and still on the hook for tens of millions of dollars? Ugh.

 

I think if they are getting millions, they should decline their scholarship or pay it back.

 

I respectfully disagree with most of your comments, but I really appreciate your beliefs, your tone and calm demeanor.

 

One of thing with this NIL insanity. If a program like say Ohio State as an example steals a player off of a G5 program through the portal, these power programs should have to financially compensate the G5 school. It's not fair that schools that can spend $40 million can steal players from G5 schools that can only spend $1 million on players. It's ruining college football for half the nation.

This is resulting in players jumping into the portal every single year. It's creating a selfish me first attitude. Don't we have enough of this in the NFL?

I'll continue saying it, you people have no idea how bad this situation will be in a few years for the NFL. You'll have players coming into the league with no moral compass at all. If you think we have a lot of troublemakers in the NFL, just wait, you'll see how this will ruin the quality of football and the quality of human beings entering the league. The reports I'm hearing about it through my contacts are despicable to say the least.