There is a managerial challenge in college football that the likes of McKinsey, BCG, Goldman Sachs, BAML, Deloitte, PwC, etc. all face with their junior staff (college grads and MBAs). The talent that drives the engine turns over really quickly and goes elsewhere. A lot of time and effort is spent to train them so they can perform, but everyone knows that most of your talent will be gone in a few years. What do they do about it? They try to appeal to those kids to convince them to join their team. They promise good salaries, but offer cultural perks to appeal to these people. They pull out all the stops because they realize that at the end of the day, all the best companies have great training programs and leaders. However, the best companies have both great leaders and training PLUS great talent.
I mention this analogy, because I've just got through reading how Dan Mullen and Brett Bielema were wearing Nike and Adidas shoes to SEC day and posting pics on Twitter about their new kicks. In fact, Mullen even referenced Kanye West in his post.
Mullen: http://lostlettermen-prod.elasticbeanstalk.com/swagged-up-dan-mullen-wears-yeezys-to-sec-media-days/
Bielema: http://lostlettermen.com/bret-bielema-engages-in-sec-media-days-sneaker-war-with-air-force-1s/
Why does this matter? Because they are trying to attract TALENT to their programs and pulling out all the stops to get it. That Kirk and crew don't try to appeal to the cultural elements of youth athletes in America makes their jobs easier. Remember when Pete Carroll would invite Dr. Dre and Andre 3000 to the sideline? It wasn't because they are great fans. It is because he wanted to appeal to young athletes that looked up to these people.
Carroll: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/pac10/2005-12-29-usc-stars_x.htm
Like it or not, this comes down to a game theory payoff matrix. If a coach doesn't want to do this stuff, he/she better be:
A) WAY smarter than the other coaches (see Nick Saban);
B) run a rogue program full of criminals (see Jimbo Fisher);
C) be prepared to pay kids (see Gene Chizik at Auburn); or
D) be both smarter, run a rogue program and pay kids (see Urban Meyer).
Pay kids: http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2014/4/10/5594348/college-football-bag-man-interview
Iowa had the opportunity to take the moral high ground and not cheat to win when they caught lightning in a bottle. The aww shucks we are Iowa attitude killed us. U of I has a ton of resources to pitch to kids. The football facilities are fantastic and the war chest of cash is deep to build more and more for the football team. The coaching staff has a history of sending kids into the league. Iowa City is a ton of fun. Google Barstoolsports. It's a sports blog dedicated for college aged kids and young adults. They are in locals such as NYC, Boston, Chicago and surprise, Iowa City. Why? Because Iowa City wins party college of the year regularly. It's a complete gong show that college aged kids all over the country are aware of.
My point, market Iowa to its fullest potential. Walk into the head of Marketing at Tippie and challenge them to come back with a playbook for convincing 14-19 year old kids all over the country that they want to go to Iowa.
I mention this analogy, because I've just got through reading how Dan Mullen and Brett Bielema were wearing Nike and Adidas shoes to SEC day and posting pics on Twitter about their new kicks. In fact, Mullen even referenced Kanye West in his post.
Mullen: http://lostlettermen-prod.elasticbeanstalk.com/swagged-up-dan-mullen-wears-yeezys-to-sec-media-days/
Bielema: http://lostlettermen.com/bret-bielema-engages-in-sec-media-days-sneaker-war-with-air-force-1s/
Why does this matter? Because they are trying to attract TALENT to their programs and pulling out all the stops to get it. That Kirk and crew don't try to appeal to the cultural elements of youth athletes in America makes their jobs easier. Remember when Pete Carroll would invite Dr. Dre and Andre 3000 to the sideline? It wasn't because they are great fans. It is because he wanted to appeal to young athletes that looked up to these people.
Carroll: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/pac10/2005-12-29-usc-stars_x.htm
Like it or not, this comes down to a game theory payoff matrix. If a coach doesn't want to do this stuff, he/she better be:
A) WAY smarter than the other coaches (see Nick Saban);
B) run a rogue program full of criminals (see Jimbo Fisher);
C) be prepared to pay kids (see Gene Chizik at Auburn); or
D) be both smarter, run a rogue program and pay kids (see Urban Meyer).
Pay kids: http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2014/4/10/5594348/college-football-bag-man-interview
Iowa had the opportunity to take the moral high ground and not cheat to win when they caught lightning in a bottle. The aww shucks we are Iowa attitude killed us. U of I has a ton of resources to pitch to kids. The football facilities are fantastic and the war chest of cash is deep to build more and more for the football team. The coaching staff has a history of sending kids into the league. Iowa City is a ton of fun. Google Barstoolsports. It's a sports blog dedicated for college aged kids and young adults. They are in locals such as NYC, Boston, Chicago and surprise, Iowa City. Why? Because Iowa City wins party college of the year regularly. It's a complete gong show that college aged kids all over the country are aware of.
My point, market Iowa to its fullest potential. Walk into the head of Marketing at Tippie and challenge them to come back with a playbook for convincing 14-19 year old kids all over the country that they want to go to Iowa.
