Over the last ~year, it’s become increasingly common to name a “General Manager” of a college football program. Michigan, Alabama, and other schools have hired a GM in the last several months. It’s akin to the NFL GM role and viewed as increasingly important given the nature of contemporary college football programs with NIL, transfer portal, more complicated “roster management, fundraising support, etc. In some cases, the football coach still runs the show but in many cases the position is inserted between the AD and the football coach. And, given how important football is to revenue and brand/perception, some schools may have a dashed reporting line (or solid line) to the University President.
This morning Andrew Luck was named Stanford football’s GM – probably the highest profile person named to the new role yet. His role is clearly above the football coach – which makes sense given his name recognition. Time will tell how effective he is since he’s never worked in a “front office” role. (Some details are in the reporting here.)
Given all off the speculation about Carla/Tony and the future of the football program, it makes me wonder if UVA will head in this direction and hire a football “General Manager”. Given the pressure to improve the on-the-field results and seeing more and more schools add this role, I assume UVA will name one in the not too distant future. Assuming that's the case, I wonder what the preferred candidate credentials would be.
This morning Andrew Luck was named Stanford football’s GM – probably the highest profile person named to the new role yet. His role is clearly above the football coach – which makes sense given his name recognition. Time will tell how effective he is since he’s never worked in a “front office” role. (Some details are in the reporting here.)
Given all off the speculation about Carla/Tony and the future of the football program, it makes me wonder if UVA will head in this direction and hire a football “General Manager”. Given the pressure to improve the on-the-field results and seeing more and more schools add this role, I assume UVA will name one in the not too distant future. Assuming that's the case, I wonder what the preferred candidate credentials would be.
