Tennessee coach Josh Heupel’s toughest opponent will be the NFL if things don’t change soon.
To be clear, the Vols don’t have an NFL game scheduled this season. However, there may soon be some NFL organizations with coaching vacancies that find some of Heupel’s assistants appealing. All college coaches are more apt to listen to such offers than they were a year ago.
Why? That’s easy. Two reasons: NIL and the transfer portal. Strictly from a time standpoint, there’s no comparing coaching in the NFL versus coaching in college nowadays. College coaches used to schedule their lone vacation in June and July. Now, there’s barely enough time to get away. June has become the most significant recruiting month of the year. That leaves only July and someone has to be on campus to mind the store.
Coaching in college football is much more difficult than it was a year ago when the sport was completely overhauled with NIL and transfer portal changes. Now, coaching in college is every bit as challenging as coaching in the NFL – if not more so.
College coaches now have to deal with money-hungry divas just like any other NFL coach, as well as a free agency system that only limits movement with a calendar that carries less weight than a feather.
There are also more coaches per player in the NFL. In college, schools are allowed 10 coaches for 100 players, including walk ons. In the NFL, there are as many coaches as an owner is willing to hire for a 53-man roster. Do the math on that one; that means an NFL coach has less to keep track of.
Unlike their NFL counterparts, college coaches still have to put on a “smiley” face when it comes to dealing with players. After all, they’re just “kids”. In the NFL, players are professionals and can get called out by their coaches in a media setting. That doesn’t happen for “amateur” players in college. A college coach would get lambasted by the media if he spotlighted a player that made a huge mistake.
As things currently stand without regulation, coaching in college is much more demanding than coaching in the NFL. There’s no comparison. Also, did I mention there’s more money in the NFL?
There’s yet another reason why coaches might want to move from college to the NFL. College coaches get little, if any, credit for excelling at the most important aspect of their job – recruiting.
Tennessee is a prime example and, perhaps, the best example in the country. The only number that gets thrown around with the Vols and recruiting is $8 million. That’s supposedly what five-star quarterback Nico Iamaleava agreed to in exchange for signing with Tennessee.
I certainly understand the newsworthiness of such a healthy pay day. However, the coaches on Tennessee’s staff spent countless hours working to recruit Iamaleava. Ah, who cares? He got paid. The boosters did more than the coaches, right? No, that’s simply not the case.
As I’ve pointed out before, there will be a financial incentive for any top prospect, like Iamaleava, as whatever school he chooses. Ultimately, good ‘ole fashioned recruiting will win most battles. Be elite on the field, evaluate well and work hard in recruiting. That’s the key to success. The finances are just a part of the sales pitch.
If they decided for a more relaxed lifestyle, not all of Tennessee’s coaches, including Heupel, would currently be a great fit for the NFL. Starting with the head man, there are elements of Heupel’s spread offense in the NFL. However, his offense is predicated on speed and a fast tempo. That’s the key to Heupel’s success.
Until Heupel proves he can manage the clock with a more controlled offense, he won’t be a prime NFL candidate. Defenses in the NFL can’t keep up with their offensive counterparts if they get off the field in less than a minute. Heupel knows that. For the betterment of his own program, he’ll implement a style of offense that will better manage a lead and give his defense a break when needed. That will likely happen this fall.
However, there are coaches like Rodney Garner, who heads up Tennessee’s defensive line, recruits with a passion and seems like a lifelong college coach. It would be stunning if he opted to go to the NFL one day. However, there are no guarantees that the other coaches on Tennessee’s staff are as committed to college coaching as Garner, especially with the extra challenges they presently face.
There is also a much larger picture that includes Tennessee, but doesn’t revolve around the Vols. As we discussed with Mike Farrell, the best coaches will bolt for the NFL if some legislative body doesn’t change things quickly. Is there still an NCAA?
With conferences realigning all of a sudden, it seems that any kind of regulation will be years away. It looks like the college football world is just now discovering itself and has been for the past year.
Heupel and his fellow head coaches need to have a retort ready for assistant coaches that see the NFL as a better opportunity. For a program on the rise like Tennessee, fending off NFL advances is the next great challenge if something doesn’t change soon.
