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Listen to me, Steve The NFL? It's not anything like collegePosted: Wednesday January 09, 2002 3:29 PM
As a younger man, I used to be a big believer in college coaches moving to the pros. I thought the colleges were the incubators of talent and innovation, a fertile proving ground that could unleash fresh minds to tackle the stodgy problems of the NFL, the NBA, the NHL, even Major League Baseball if someone would ever give one of these guys a chance. Not any more. Listen to me, especially you, Steve Spurrier and anyone else who is ready to take that grand leap from the ivy of academic life for the fast, green, folding cash of the pros. A successful college coach is the last person who should coach a professional team in any sport. The new job simply has nothing to do with the old job. The salesman charm of a Rick Pitino or John Calipari or Leonard Hamilton, recruiting overpowering players to build overpowering college teams, simply doesn't matter in the pros. Different situations. Different talent pools. Different qualities needed. Everything you've learned in the past doesn't count. While the college coach can act like Gen. Tommy Franks, sending the boys over the wall to face the Taliban for the Big East title, the pro coach better have an entirely different approach. More like Dr. Phil. The pro game -- goodbye, Dennis Green -- is based on keeping the superstars happy. That's the game. Juggle the egos. Juggle the salaries. Juggle the long, nonstop grind. Juggle and juggle some more. So listen to me -- especially you, Steve Spurrier -- the new frontier might look inviting. But it's a whole new Barnum & Bailey world. Leigh Montville's commentaries appear regularly on CNN/Sports Illustrated. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer.
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