Addazio Endorses Cap On Number Of Coaches On Staff

If you look around college football you may notice that different football program’s have varying number of coaches on their staff. NCAA rules allow for an individual program to have up to 10 position/assistant coaches, but there is a loop hole, as programs are allowed to have infinite amounts of quality control, recruiting and video. These coaches are not allowed to work hands on with the athletes, but can help prepare film and get game preparation materials ready.

This loop hole has allowed for some programs like Clemson to employ 25 people in a variety of coaching positions, while all the way on the other end Boston College (who has the fewest in the ACC) has 9. Average amounts on an ACC program vary between 12-15.

Boston College Head Coach Steve Addazio is in favor of putting a cap on the amount of coaches a team can employ according to an article in the AJC :

“There shouldn’t be any reason why one Power Five (conference) team or staff has more staff,” Addazio said. “I mean, they regulate how many (graduate assistants), they regulate how many full-time coaches you can have, they should be regulating all this other nonsense, all the quality controls, interns and whatever else they call this.”

On the other end of the aisle is Jimbo Fisher, who thinks that college football programs should be able to hire as many coaches they want, saying “the more the merrier”. He feels that employing these lower level assistants allow him to give these younger coaches a foot in the door and opportunity to start a career.

This is a tough situation, because I sort of want to agree with Fisher, if you have the money you should be able to spend it anyway you want. And yes, it’s great to give young coaches a starting point. If Clemson or Florida State has the resources to support a bloated staff of 25, and the fan base is fine with it. Who are we to say no.

But on the other hand Addazio brings up a good point. College football is increasingly become disparate in terms of resources and access. If the NCAA wants to prevent schools from giving up on football, because there needs to be level playing fields in some areas. This seems like a bit of a loophole that the bigger schools are exploiting to their advantage, and something that NCAA oversight commission may want to consider closing.