Samuel McKeown makes an interesting argument at nebraska.statepaper.com that sometime in the near future, an enterprising athletic director will hire a general manager to to oversee the football program. With the off-the-field problems encountered by Oregon, Michigan and USC, to name three, it seems only natural to take away some of the coach's responsibility and give it to an administrator. The GM, writes McKeown, "doesn't coach one player on the practice field, but manages the team's on-campus recruiting, organizes and spearheads the overall recruiting effort, erects off-the-field conduct standards and handles some media obligations."

Ultimately, the role breaks down into some combination of director of football operations, recruiting coordinator, compliance officer, disciplinarian and spokesman. McKeown points to Nick Saban as the perfect example of a coach who could easily transition into a GM role, and suggests that it might be the perfect situation for Urban Meyer and his health woes.

McKeown offers a long list of reasons why such a position makes sense, but acknowledges that current coaches won't take too kindly to suddenly being second on the totem pole. "Slowly, those coaches will opt for a life more ordinary, and a GM position is a perfect way to swallow up their expertise at a discounted price. It's a natural transition for the scions of the sport who hang on too long in order to stay close to the game."