Why Fired College Coaches Still Seek Employment

Coaching major college football is a high risk, high reward business.

Head coaches are provided celebrity status. They perform CEO duties at the football company and receive many perks including large salaries and high-priced country club memberships.

But that is only the beginning. With such a large investment, the head coach’s win-loss ledger becomes the main measuring stick of continued employment and applause. And the measuring stick seems to become less and less in terms of chances.

Gene Chizik lasted four years at Auburn. His team won the national championship in 2010 with mostly the previous coaches’ players. Some say Chizik couldn’t master the head coaching role. It will be interesting to watch if Chizik lands another head coaching job in the near future.

Chizik doesn’t need another job. He’s made plenty of money in coaching plus he received an additional large sum in the Auburn buyout process. In TV game-show terms, Chizik received lovely parting gifts.

The average Joe might wonder why Chizik (or a host of other college coaches) want to resume the coaching job hunt after landing in the unemployment line.

Former Colorado football coach Bill McCartney told me once that “coaching is intoxicating.” That is why Chizik and other college coaches want back into the game after being dumped. They cannot help themselves; it’s in their blood.

For Chizik and others, these guys cannot find pleasure in the high risk, high reward business unless they are actually playing.