Americans love college football. The fanfare, the spirit, the deep rooted localized pride. College football fandom is also fueled by the “amateur” myth, the sense that these kids are just playing for the love of the game; pure student athletes who play because of passion rather than money.
While this is a beautiful ideal, one that the NCAA spends millions to protect, more and more people are skeptical of pure college football amateurism. The business of college football is coming to the forefront of the American sports fans consciousness, with everyone from your neighbor to the president of the United States questioning the BCS system.
Now that people are beginning to recognize that college football is big business, we want to know more about what goes on behind the scenes.
On ESPN’s Outside the Lines, they did an investigation into the search firms that are being hired by major college programs to pick their next coach. These firms are paid around $40,000 a search to place a head football coach. Chuck Neinas is the leading college football headhunting service, with his noteworthy placements being Len Miles at LSU and Bob Stoops at OU.
Who is Chuck Neinas? Well, let’s take some highlights from his bio:
1) Neinas was executive director of the College Football Association from 1980 to 1997.
2) Neinas negotiated television contracts and administered a television plan on behalf of the CFA members from 1984 through 1995 that included ABC, CBS, NBC and ESPN.
3) From 1971 to 1980 Neinas was commissioner of the Big Eight Conference
Essentially, this guy has been in the business of college football since it became big business. Many would see this as no big deal, and view Nienas as an sensible investment who makes sure big colleges don’t make blunders with their major athletic investments. But, I there is a dark side:
The coach of your favorite team is picked by a man who is firmly entrenched in the good ol boy network of college football. It is hard to imagine that this well connected head hunter will push for diversity or risk when recommending head coaches to your favorite college football team.
The NCAA needs to watch out. People are becoming more and more skeptical of the idealized amateurism and the deeply rooted corruption in college football. We still love it, but that doesn’t mean we are buying what you’re selling.
Here is the link to the Outside the Lines report:
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4429850&categoryid=3286128
