What a Five Year Plan Should Look Like For College Football Coaches

We have reached a ridiculous period in time, spurned on by the BCS and the so-called playoff foor college football, where pressure on football coaches, and in other sports, has grown to an over the top pitch. We now see coaches regularly fired for averaging 8 or 9 games per year, something we never would have seen prior to the BCS era that began the decline of major college football.

I don't know if it a wave of "we want everything now" brought on by millennials, or if it something else entirely, but we now have an era of win now, right away, or else, and it is ruining the game, and the coaching profession in general. Let us realize that there are 130 FBS football schools, and only 4 playoff spots. The odds of grabbing one of those spots is incredibly slim, unless you are in the already deck stacked SEC, or named Alabama, and then it seems that your entry is predetermined.

I have always believed, in any era of the sport, that when a school hires a head football coach, there should be a five year plan put in place to help ensure the success, or the failure, of any hired coach. Here is how it breaks down, and how it should be adopted for any administrator looking to hire a football coach, or again, a coach for any sport.

Year One
The goal for year one is to expect nothing. Do not worry about the win/loss total at all. Allow the new coach to break in his staff, and work solely on player development and getting the buy in from the players on the team. Allow time for recruiting processes to be put into place, and let the new coach feel his way through the process of basically changing a culture. Remember that change is often good. A fan base (real fans, and not your social media squeaky wheel types) should sit back and enjoy this part of the process, and look for the good in every week, especially in losses.

Year Two
Watch for further development. Pay a bit more attention to wins/losses, but not too much. Look for the evolution of key players. Is the team more competitive in losses? Is the team sneaking out some solid wins here and there? Is recruiting trending up or down? The recuiting question does not mean to say if the staff is getting 4 and 5 star players, but is the staff recruiting players that fit the system that the coach wants in place in all 3 phases of the game. Stars are often irrelevant. Fit is what matters. Has the staff stayed intact through 2 years? Are the players buying in more than they did in year one?

Year 3
The team has to become competitive in this year, which is the first of 2 crucial years in the plan. The team is making things interesting in conference play. Consistency is a week in and out trait. The team is recruiting players that are fits, and the payoff is becoming evident. A bowl game should be attained, and a turn around in culture is strongly noticeable on and off the field. It is more pleasing than not to watch this program weekly.

Year 4
This is when the first class of the staff comes to fruition as juniors and seniors. They should be fully developed, and underclassmen are learning and evolving. Mistakes of years one and two are no longer seen. This team has transformed. This team is legitimately a team that can compete for a division or conference title. This season is the fruit of the labor. If those key indicators are not met, it's time to show the coach the door.

Year 5
The culture is set, bowls are a regular thing, and conference title hunts are no longer laughed at. A year to year consistency has occurred when it comes to handling departures, key position assistants are ready for promotion if needed. A contract extension should be offered in year 4 or 5, if indicators are met that show the needed growth in the program. Seats are sold, butts are in seats, and there is a buzz around the program. If this has occurred, you have made a great hire, and the fan base should be plentiful in their joy. Donor money is starting to roll in, and your administration is happy.

If you follow these five key steps in a five year plan, you will succeed. If these markers are not evident in years 3, or 3 and 4, you have not hired the right coach, and the worst thing you can do at that point is to hold on for what is promise, and not reality. You further damage your program by hanging on too long because you do not want to admit a mistake. That is the wrong move. If you have the money to buyout the coach that is failing, you need to pull the trigger.

Remember that the worst thing your program can do is agree to a contract that necessitates a massive buyout if you fire the coach. If that is the demand, simply move on to your next candidate. Do not get held hostage by a diva coach who wants to be financially rewarded for failure. If you do so, you have already lost the fight.