Ruthless reality of coaching in college football on display in the Big 12 with two October firings
AMES — Matt Campbell was barely 30 years old and an assistant at Toledo when Jon Heacock showed him how the coaching profession worked.
Heacock had spent nine years at the helm of Youngstown State, leading the Penguins to the FBS national semifinals, winning two conference coach of the year awards and becoming a national coach of the year finalist.
Then, after going a combined 10-13 in 2008 and 2009, Heacock was unemployed.
It was then he got Campbell’s attention.
“We had a great conversation for about an hour,” Campbell recalled earlier this fall about his defensive coordinator, “and I’m like, “Geez, this is one of the best football coaches that I know,’ and there was some reality to the coaching profession for me at this time.
“This guy that was coach of the year and now he’s out of a job. It was like, ‘Woo.’ It was a lot for me to think about.”
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The profession’s cutthroat side was on display in the Big 12 last week with Texas Tech terminating third-year coach Matt Wells while, more brazenly, TCU parted ways with its head coach of 21 years, Gary Patterson.
“It’s crazy,” Campbell said. “We live in a crazy time.”
For Heacock, it underscored the trajectory of the job during his near-40 years doing it.
“Early on, 30-some years ago, I thought it was a great profession,” Heacock said. “I think now it’s becoming a business, and that’s a little bit disappointing to me. It’s part of what’s going on.
“I’m not sure where it’s all headed, but I feel like it used to be a profession and you worked at the business part of it. Now it seems like it’s become more business, and that’s a little bit disappointing to me through all the years I’ve been in this thing, but that’s how it’s going.”
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It’s certainly the business of college football that has sped up timelines and shortened patience. It’s also what has facilitated Iowa State paying Campbell north of $4 million a year and put Heacock’s 2021 salary at $925,000, neither of which are anywhere near the top of any national top-paid coaches lists.
The business has made the Cyclone athletic department close to a nine-figure a year operation, and generated billions across the industry nationwide.
No one is likely to be giving dollars back as the sport continues to be a big-money enterprise, and sympathy for even genuine drawbacks will be hard to find.
That money, though, has a cost to the profession, Campbell and Heacock said.
“Our profession is at a very interesting crossroads right now,” Campbell said. “Obviously with the jobs, I get that, but also with what are we really doing with 18-to-22 year-old young people? Have we lost our way? I don’t know. It’s a challenging time and I think a very interesting time.”
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With how fast the coaching carousel spins, fewer players finish a career playing for the same coach with which they started. Eased transferring restrictions blunt that impact on players, but it still inserts increased uncertainty to careers and lives.
“For the players involved, those are sometimes the guys we lose sight of,” Heacock said. “They’re kids, and I think continuity for kids is awesome. I sure hope that that happens, but I’d say that I’m concerned at this point.
“The more continuity and consistency they can have in their lives, the better it is.”
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Perhaps the most pertinent question to ask for Iowa State about the state of the profession is will there be coaches like Patterson, Bill Snyder or Kirk Ferentz who stay at non-destination jobs for decades in the future?
“I don’t know,” Campbell said. “That’s a great question. We’ll see. It’s such a fascinating time right now, and where our profession is going and what it’s looking like.”
While schools’ incentives to move on from coaches is clear — avoiding an immediate loss of revenue — it's perhaps worth pondering what those abrupt decisions do to coaches’ evaluations of their own career decisions.
Is job-chasing or job-hopping the better career decision when schools may pull the plug quickly ala Wells or dump you unceremoniously after decades of unprecedented success like Patterson? Are the intangible and psychic benefits of longevity worth less if a graceful exit isn’t guaranteed when you’re no longer as useful?
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Does the NFL, without any pretensions of being anything other than a business, draw more coaching talent away from college?
TCU, after all, built a statue of Patterson outside its stadium, but still saw fit to essentially fire him in October after three-and-a-half seasons of mediocre results.
It’s an especially pertinent question at Iowa State, far from a traditional power that now has one of the most sought-after coaches in the profession in Campbell. Not to mention an uncertain financial and competitive future itself with conference realignment looming.
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Campbell, understandably, historically has offered little clarity on his long-term career plans and goals, but he was clear this week in his admiration of Patterson’s TCU tenure.
“Anybody in this profession that can do this job for the length of time, especially at one place,” Campbell said, “boy, the character of those people and what those people have the ability to sacrifice to do, because it’s hard. It’s an imperfect sport week in and week out and you’re dealing with 18-to-22 year-olds, but I think coach Patterson did such a transformational job at TCU.
“There are certainly some guys that have done it the right way for a long time. I have a real appreciation for those people.”
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If nothing else, it signals a sport undergoing massive change at nearly every level.
“What even will college football look like in three years?” Campbell said. “It’ll be fascinating to see.”
With the shape of the immediate future murky, Campbell can at least rest assured he knows his destination. Asked Tuesday if he would be coaching in another 30 years, Campbell was quick with a laugh and a response.
“I’ll be on the beach somewhere.”
Travis Hines covers Iowa State University sports for the Des Moines Register and Ames Tribune. Contact him at thines@amestrib.com or (515) 284-8000. Follow him at @TravisHines21.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Reality of coaching on display with two October firings in the Big 12
