Greg McElroy believes Chip Kelly move shows difficulty of being a head coach

UCLA head coach Chip Kelly shocked the college football world last Friday when it surfaced that he’d be accepting a job within the Big Ten Conference to become the next offensive coordinator at Ohio State.

The decision was an interesting one that represents a step down in the coaching ranks, but it’s also no secret that being a head coach at the collegiate level has recently changed drastically thanks to NIL, the transfer portal, and how the two intersect. Which college football analyst Greg McElroy recently discussed on Always College Football.

“I think it’s a reflection of how hard it is to become a head coach and how hard it is to maintain the quality of the program over the course of time,” McElroy said regarding Kelly’s decision. “And I look at where we’re at right now and these coaches, and you talk to people that are in it. They’re like, ‘Man, it’s so hard right now to get guys to buy in. I have to re-recruit my roster every day.'”

Various moves this offseason have hinted and pointed toward the new struggles that come with being a college football head coach as the job at large has appeared to be less appealing. From Nick Saban‘s retirement to Jim Harbaugh and Jeff Hafley taking their talents to the NFL, it seems like more head coaches than ever before are moving on from the college game.

That paired with the lack of uniformity and rules that are greatly desired by coaches surrounding college football’s new changes only make new circumstances even more challenges for head football coaches.

“And partly because there are no rules and regulations, they can do very little as far as being able to manage the NIL aspect of it and guys are basically holding out and guys are entering the portal only to kind of leverage that against their own school,” McElroy explained. “And I’m not saying the players shouldn’t have freedom, coaches leave all the time, players should have freedom. I’m totally supportive of it.

“But we also at the same time have to acknowledge just how difficult the head job has become and that so many of these guys got into the game because they love the challenge of preparing for Saturdays.”

McElroy also added that the head coaching job is getting further and further away from what head coaches got into the profession for in the first place. Highlighting that most coaches find most of their enjoyment in the game planning, the X’s and O’s, and preparing their teams to perform at the highest level possible for game day.

“What they don’t love doing is the administrative work that now comes with being a head coach,” McElroy said. “So to see Chip Kelly leave a head coaching job in the Big Ten for a coordinator job where he can focus on just putting those 11 players in the best position to be successful is pretty shocking. But also at the same time it’s really not that surprising when you think about what the job description is as a head coach in the Power Five.”

Buckeyes’ head coach Ryan Day stepped down from his offensive playcalling duties this offseason, which Ohio State’s bowl opponent Missouri‘s head coach Eli Drinkwitz did last offseason as well to shift his focus to the various assortment of new responsibilities head coaches possess. Another trend we can likely expect to see with head coaches as the college football landscape continues to change during this unprecedented era of evolution.