Mark Blaudschun
By Mark Blaudschun
The world of college football has evolved tremendously over the past several years--not so much on the field. That continues to provide "the thrill of victory'' and "agony of defeat'' moments.
But off the field the sport is barely recognizable from as recently as 10 years ago.
Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) issues and transfer portal business head the chaos, but there is still ongoing possible change in conference configuration.
Who could have projected California and Stanford into an Atlantic Coast Conference showdown or Oregon and UCLA in a Big Ten match-up?
And there is the still changing post season College Football Playoff which now has a 12-team format with teams starting in early August and a few teams playing a 17-game schedule.
Other issues and terms such as salary cap and workman' s compensation are emerging as college football morphs into an NFL-lite version. But those are visible changes.
What is even more startling is the change in the power structure in college athletics and particularly in the upper tier of FBS football.
In the good old days (pre 2010) the power structure in college football generally started with the athletic director, whose main function was to hire coaches, with the FB coach being the most important position since CFB is the prime revenue producing sport.
At the major powers such as Alabama, Ohio State, Texas, Georgia, the football coach generally became the key figure, being paid the most and receiving most of the attention. The athletic director would also deal in administrative issues and running programs. Athletic directors also had to concentrate on fund-raising issues, but they still held the power.
Now, not so much.
As college football moves toward the NFL in all areas, a new power figure has emerged: college general manager.
What was once a novelty--Arizona State was a pioneer 11 years ago when it changed the administrative structure--the larger budget schools schools have general managers in football and basketball.
They make the calls, they do the hiring and firing.
Even schools who maintain their academic profile such as Stanford have joined the party, which was quickly evident when long-time athletic director Bernard Muir was fired and former Stanfofd quarterback Andrew Luck was hired as the General Manager.
After Stanford football coach Troy Taylor became involved in an issue in which he was accused of bullying members of the Stanford athletic department, Taylor was fired--by Luck.
Another example: When North Carolina hired NFL icon Bill Belichick to replace Mack Brown as its new football coach, North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cuinningham had little to do with the hiring process.
And when Belichick arrived, he hired a football general manager Mike Lombardi, whose experience was all in the NFL.
Luck is a Stanford guy and says his purpose is to watch out for his alma mater.
"I love this place,'' he said.
General Managers will continue to emerge in college football, as will player personnel directors and other jobs that are part of the NFL landscape that has seeped into college.
Salary cap and workman's compensation will rule college football.
Money, starting this summer, will become an even bigger issue when schools are obligated to put back $20.5 of their annual revenue into compensation for their players.
Some schools are adjusting, such as Alabama, which has 52 people in its football staff directory, including a player personnel director and such titles as FB Creative and Player Production and 12 FB analysts, whose job description remains vague.
Change at warp speed is upon us and schools will either adjust or they will flounder, wondering what happened to the good ol' days.
They are gone.
This is not to say that the future won't be greater, with a higher entertainment value on the field.
It will just be different.
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