First Down Kentucky: Unlimited Coaches?

Changes to the sport of college football are happening on a weekly basis. We could see the next one coming to a Kentucky sideline at Kroger Field this fall.

The NCAA Division I Council is meeting tomorrow and Wednesday in Indianapolis to vote on various proposals. The most noteworthy item on the docket is expanding the role of quality control analysts in college football.

Most Power Four programs deploy an army of staffers (see: Florida’s GameChanger Coordinator) who work for the team but are faced with restrictions. They are not supposed to provide instruction on the field, rather serve as advanced scouts and assistants to the assistant coaches. The new rule, which is expected to pass, would allow for all of these support staffers to provide technical and tactical instruction during games and practices.

In 2017, the NCAA moved to expand the number of assistant coaches to 10. If the rule passes this week, it will go into effect for the 2024 college football season. There would still be restrictions limiting who can recruit off-campus, but programs can designate staffers to recruit in the place of an acting assistant coach.

The change makes sense. The old rule was unenforceable. You don’t think any of those staffers were providing coaching to players during games and practices? There’s no room for naivety in college football.

The new model will closely mirror the pro model. In the NFL there’s typically one position coach and an assistant position coach for each group. It should provide more opportunities for young coaches to begin climbing the coaching ladder.

Vote of Confidence

Before Oklahoma plays its first game in the SEC, the Sooners’ head coach inked a contract extension. Brent Venables signed a four-year extension, a raise worth approximately $400,000 a year through the 2029 season. Oklahoma hit the transfer portal hard to find linemen who can withstand the physicality of the SEC. This contract extension shows they’re willing to give Venables a little extra rope as he tries to navigate life in the challenging new SEC.

Imagine Two NFL Teams in Kentucky

Would this ever happen? Of course not, however, it’s the summer. Let’s get silly and dream big. That’s exactly what ESPN’s Bill Barnwell did in a fascinating exercise that rethinks how we consume professional football.

The premise is simple: if England can support 92 professional soccer clubs, surely the United States of America could support 100 pro football teams. Instead of focusing on how promotion and relegation would work between divisions, he simply redrew a map for professional football in this country. In this hypothetical scenario, Louisville and Lexington each have a professional football team.

“With two teams about 80 miles away, there’s a chance the two potential fanbases could cannibalize one another and be too small to support either team. With nearly a million people between the two cities, though, Kentucky has enough people to support two professional football teams, even if some fans decide to stick with Joe Burrow & Co,” writes Barnwell.

See the full map of 100 professional teams, with one in Alaska and Hawaii!