Kirby Smart says pressures of recruiting have college coaches looking at NFL
Nov, 26, 2015
Pete Carroll and Chip Kelly have made successful jumps from college football to the NFL. Bill O'Brien, after spending two years at Penn State, went right back to the pros.
There's plenty of coaching movement both ways between the college game and the NFL, but Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart believes we may start seeing more college coaches looking to make the move to the pros for one simple reason -- to get off the recruiting trail.
"It never stops. It's 365 recruiting," Smart said in an interview this week on Sports Radio 680 The Fan. "That cell phone you've got, these smartphones are the death of college coaching. Every college coach I talk to won't say it on record, but everyone's thinking, 'should I go to the league?' Because you don't have the same requirements. It's different. The hours are different.
"The recruiting is non-stop. My phone? I'm on the boat today and it blows up non-stop."
Smart, generally considered among the top recruiters in the country, said coaches get some down time in the NFL due to rules set up in the collective bargaining agreement that limit their time with players. In college football, any time not spent with players is typically spent trying to find more.
"I've got recruits that will text and call and do everything in the middle of the night. And I'm thinking, I'm with my family. But you've got to dedicate time to that or you can't do it," Smart said. "I get a direct message on Twitter: 'Coach, I'm coming to Tuscaloosa in a week.' And I'm thinking, well I'm not going to be there. I'm on vacation. You've got to find somebody to cover up and go spend time with him. Because if you don't, somebody will.
"That's the part where I say college coaches are always looking to go, because if you're not a niche recruiter, or as you get older and less active as a recruiter, you become less valuable. ... It's constant and you always feel like it's fourth-and-1."
http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2015/07/kirby_smart_says_pressures_of.html
Nov, 26, 2015
Pete Carroll and Chip Kelly have made successful jumps from college football to the NFL. Bill O'Brien, after spending two years at Penn State, went right back to the pros.
There's plenty of coaching movement both ways between the college game and the NFL, but Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart believes we may start seeing more college coaches looking to make the move to the pros for one simple reason -- to get off the recruiting trail.
"It never stops. It's 365 recruiting," Smart said in an interview this week on Sports Radio 680 The Fan. "That cell phone you've got, these smartphones are the death of college coaching. Every college coach I talk to won't say it on record, but everyone's thinking, 'should I go to the league?' Because you don't have the same requirements. It's different. The hours are different.
"The recruiting is non-stop. My phone? I'm on the boat today and it blows up non-stop."
Smart, generally considered among the top recruiters in the country, said coaches get some down time in the NFL due to rules set up in the collective bargaining agreement that limit their time with players. In college football, any time not spent with players is typically spent trying to find more.
"I've got recruits that will text and call and do everything in the middle of the night. And I'm thinking, I'm with my family. But you've got to dedicate time to that or you can't do it," Smart said. "I get a direct message on Twitter: 'Coach, I'm coming to Tuscaloosa in a week.' And I'm thinking, well I'm not going to be there. I'm on vacation. You've got to find somebody to cover up and go spend time with him. Because if you don't, somebody will.
"That's the part where I say college coaches are always looking to go, because if you're not a niche recruiter, or as you get older and less active as a recruiter, you become less valuable. ... It's constant and you always feel like it's fourth-and-1."
http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2015/07/kirby_smart_says_pressures_of.html
