Professional advancement opportunities in the coaching profession make it challenging for any college program to experience long-term continuity, which often leads to sustained success.
Coordinators regularly leave for higher paying positions, so offensive and defensive systems are sometimes forced to change unless the head coach promotes from within the staff, or the head coach has such tight parameters for both sides of the ball that the new coordinator from the outside must learn the team's philosophy that has been developed over time.
For example, Mike Gundy forced Todd Monken and Mike Yurcich to learn what the Cowboys started on offensive under Dana Holgorsen.
New coordinators bring new philosophies, which means that certain players recruited to the old system don't always fit well in a new system. That's when you often see players transfer, especially quarterbacks.
Over the weekend at the Manning Passing Academy, I had a chance to talk extensively with NFL Network game and draft analyst Mike Mayock, who candidly described several reasons why it's critical for NFL general managers and head coaches to share the same vision for an organization.
Our conversation led me to think about which college football programs should be taking advantage of continuity.
You see, in the vast majority of the NFL, the personnel department, not the coaching staff, dictates the 61-man roster that includes eight practice squad players. Within numerous organizations, although the head coaches' opinion is often sought, the personnel department may even dictate the active 53-man roster for game day.
The bottom line is that organizations that experience the most consistent success are the teams that implement systems and then draft players that fit exceptionally well in those systems. Think about New England, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and Green Bay. You can go back to the Colts under Bill Polian.
Coordinators rarely stay in place for an extended number of years, but systems can outlast any one coordinator that leaves the organizaton.
It's one of the reasons why Alabama has experienced so much success. Nick Saban has an offensive system that he believes in, so losing Jim McElwain to Colorado State wasn't as detrimental as if could have been because Doug Nussmeier is running virtually the same system as McElwain, and the staff didn't have to alter their recruiting targets to fit a new philosophy or scheme.
As I see it, only about 1/5 of college football programs have recruited to the same system on both sides of the ball for at least the last three recruiting classes.
Alabama: Nick Saban has his system.
CoachingSearch.com lists other programs with systems in place...
Coordinators regularly leave for higher paying positions, so offensive and defensive systems are sometimes forced to change unless the head coach promotes from within the staff, or the head coach has such tight parameters for both sides of the ball that the new coordinator from the outside must learn the team's philosophy that has been developed over time.
For example, Mike Gundy forced Todd Monken and Mike Yurcich to learn what the Cowboys started on offensive under Dana Holgorsen.
New coordinators bring new philosophies, which means that certain players recruited to the old system don't always fit well in a new system. That's when you often see players transfer, especially quarterbacks.
Over the weekend at the Manning Passing Academy, I had a chance to talk extensively with NFL Network game and draft analyst Mike Mayock, who candidly described several reasons why it's critical for NFL general managers and head coaches to share the same vision for an organization.
Our conversation led me to think about which college football programs should be taking advantage of continuity.
You see, in the vast majority of the NFL, the personnel department, not the coaching staff, dictates the 61-man roster that includes eight practice squad players. Within numerous organizations, although the head coaches' opinion is often sought, the personnel department may even dictate the active 53-man roster for game day.
The bottom line is that organizations that experience the most consistent success are the teams that implement systems and then draft players that fit exceptionally well in those systems. Think about New England, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and Green Bay. You can go back to the Colts under Bill Polian.
Coordinators rarely stay in place for an extended number of years, but systems can outlast any one coordinator that leaves the organizaton.
It's one of the reasons why Alabama has experienced so much success. Nick Saban has an offensive system that he believes in, so losing Jim McElwain to Colorado State wasn't as detrimental as if could have been because Doug Nussmeier is running virtually the same system as McElwain, and the staff didn't have to alter their recruiting targets to fit a new philosophy or scheme.
As I see it, only about 1/5 of college football programs have recruited to the same system on both sides of the ball for at least the last three recruiting classes.
Alabama: Nick Saban has his system.
CoachingSearch.com lists other programs with systems in place...
