It's The Winter Time...And The Livin' Ain't Easy
For the past 25 or 30 years college football has become a year round pursuit for coaches and players alike. There is no “off” season. It begins right after a team’s bowl game, if they go to one. (Of Note: Roughly 2/3 of teams go to a bowl game--if men’s basketball had the same standards for the NCAA Tournament it would include roughly 230 teams). The football offseason is broken down into 4 distinct segments each with its own goals: 1. Winter Workouts—improve individual stre
Pigskin Perks: Annual Coaches' Trip
Being a head football coach at a big-time college football program comes with a lot of perks. Coaching contracts include lots of throw-ins like free use of cars, private airplane hours for personal use and cash and free merchandise from apparel sponsors. For coaches whose schools are under contract with Nike there is an annual coaches’ trip in February. It gives Nike a chance to hear from the coaches about the issues of the day, and gives Nike a chance to talk about upcoming
Stirring The Pot: Nike Equality Ad Makes A Statement
While this blog is to talk about football, there will be a few times when we veer very briefly into broader sports issues or sports business. Today is one of those days. Recently Nike, as they have throughout the company’s history, used an ad to stir the pot of discourse. The ad “Equality” features athletes and people representing different races, faiths, genders and orientation. Given the times, surely Nike anticipated many will react by stating that a company should not inj
An Earlier Signing Day? Why Not Later?
2017 recruiting just finished up a week and a half ago, and already teams have numerous 2018 commitments for players who will sign almost a full year from now. It is an insane recruiting acceleration for some players to commit before they’ve played one game in their junior season. But they are non-binding commitments subject to changing minds of both players and schools. At the 2017 American Football Coaches Association Convention last month there was a lot of support for a f
There is No I in Team....But There Is in Recruiting
Once the college game becomes a nursery for professional gladiators, we shall have to plow up our football fields…... The day boys play with one eye on the university and the other on professional futures, the sport will become a moral liability to the colleges.” --Amos Alonzo Stagg 1929 After Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey and LSU’s Leonard Fournette announced they’d skip their bowl games to focus on the NFL Draft there was a predictable amount of hand-wringing. Would these
