What’s the diff between coaching college and coaching pro?
NIL
Jim Harbaugh just won the National Championship at Michigan. Then, he left for the NFL. Nick Saban won six Championships at LSU and Alabama. He retired. Is this the normal game of musical chairs or is something bigger going on? That something is nil. And, it’s big.
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Only three coaches won a National Championship and a Super Bowl. Jimmy Johnson (Miami) and Barry Switzer (Oklahoma) in Dallas. Although, as a life-long Cowboys fan, I give Jimmy all the credit for building Barry’s team. And, Pete Carroll (USC) in Seattle.
Many great college head coaches can’t win in the pros. The game is the same. The power is different.
In college, you coach people who want to be seen as great, so they can get drafted and make big bucks. The coach holds all the power. You can start them or sit them. You can say nice things when scouts call. Or, you can suppress their chances. I’m not saying most coaches do this. Or, even many. But the power is there.
That’s why NIL is so big. NIL is name, likeness, and image. In 2021, the NCAA allowed players to cash in and still play college sports. It means Nike can sign a Michelle Jordan before she’s the GOAT.
And, Nike is doing just that. A few days ago, Nike signed two high school basketball stars to NIL deals. AJ Dybantsa may be drafted first overall in the NBA in 2025. Jerzy Robinson is considered the best female basketball player in 2026 class.
Pay blunts power. It’s one of the reasons we’re seeing college football players switch teams. Or, in an extreme case, why so many star players sat out Florida State’s bowl game in December. Money from Nike and others give them the power to do that.
Who loses? Coaches. It isn’t nearly as easy to coach college sports now. It’s going to be more like coaching pro. So, if you’re Jim Harbaugh, you may as well go pro.
There’s one thing I think I know when it comes to money, once you change something this big. Other things are going to change. Here’s my shooting from half-court at the buzzer beating idea.
It’s a few years from now. A superstar is rising through the ad ranks. She walks into a pitch with Amazon and drops this genius…
“Hey, remember how they called Karl Malone, The Mailman? Mail. Pfft. Update it for today… picture this… Giannis Antetokounmpo…the Amazon… because… He. Always. Delivers. The beauty of this is we just start dropping it into social. It goes viral. Everyone starts calling him that. Amazon gets all benefits. And, the best part is we pay nothing. That’s right. We associate our idea with a player. Like Baby Ruth did with that baseball guy. It costs you NIL.”
