Just a few months ago, a teary-eyed Urban Meyer resigned as head coach of the Florida football program, emphasizing that being a good husband and father was more important to him than his status as one of the best in his business.
Evidently, all is well on the home front. To no one’s surprise, Meyer is now a one-man attraction in ESPN’s off-season college football coverage, roaming the country as sort of a know-it-all nomad as he dissects and analyzes top-flight football programs nationwide.
There’s no harm in this, per se, but it sort of makes you wonder about his motivation. Meyer’s resignation news conference centered solely on his desire to spend more time with his family, particularly watching his daughters compete in athletics.
It’s not hard to understand the stress and time commitment that comes with running a football program, but right now, how much more stress would there be running Florida’s spring practice versus the workload he’s carrying for the cable network?
Of course, the former-coach-turned-instant-analyst is far from a new trend, and it usually happens when a coach gets fired. He takes the job to keep a hand in the game, maintain a public profile and, in some cases, it helps with leverage for a future job.
We see it happen all the time, as a well-known coach immediately has some street cred because of his knowledge of the game, and some turn into above-average analysts. I happen to think NBA playoff broadcasts are much more entertaining with Jeff Van Gundy behind the microphone than with others who came before him.
Even so, we are seeing more instances in which the coach-commentator gig is bordering on a conflict of interests. For instance, watching Wednesday’s profile of the Oregon program, you couldn’t help but wonder if coach Chip Kelly had to wince just a little at the prospect of being asked to share the secret of his program’s success with a former -- and no doubt future – colleague who could conceivably use the information to gain an advantage.
Rick Pitino’s moonlighting gig with CBS and ESPN during the NCAA Tournament is another example. At first I didn’t think much of it, mostly because Pitino’s insight helped the sometimes-dull broadcast.
But I couldn’t help but agree with some of the criticism that was levied for his decision. After all, the Louisville coach called his team’s first-round upset loss to Morehead State one of the most difficult he’s ever had to deal with. Two days later, he’s yukking it up with Charles Barkley amid jokes that Louisville’s demise ruined a lot of tournament brackets. You would think spending some time with the heart-broken players who laid it on the line for him might have been the more sensible move.
Mark Gottfried’s coach-for-hire campaign is another example. For what it’s worth, I’m glad he got the N.C. State job. Gottfried got a raw deal at Alabama and he was an outstanding studio analyst at ESPN over the past two seasons. Even so, it was no secret that Gottfried wanted to be back on the sidelines, and he made himself available to anyone who was interested.
Again, there’s no crime in this, except when you use the platform of one job to campaign for another. Right before the NCAA Tournament started, amid rumors that Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl was about to be fired, Gottfried stated on ESPN that he didn’t see any way Pearl could survive the turmoil at Tennessee. This isn’t to say Gottfried was asking for the job, but as a former successful SEC coach looking for work, he should have cited a potential conflict and declined comment on Pearl’s situation.
However, Pearl won’t be out of work for long. The studio now has an opening, and the seat Gottfried once filled should still be warm when ESPN puts the media-friendly Pearl in it.
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