There is a famous scene in the pilot of the TV show “Mad Men.” Set in the era when smoking is first being linked to cancer, ad man extraordinaire Don Draper is trying to think up a new marketing strategy for the cigarette company “Lucky Strike.”
The owner explains to Draper the process of a cigarette — tobacco seeds are bred, planted in North Carolina, grown, cut, cured, toasted … “There you go,” Draper said, writing on a chalkboard: Lucky Strike. “It’s toasted.” “But everybody else’s tobacco is toasted,” an exec says. “No,” Draper fires back. “Everybody else’s tobacco is poisonous. Lucky Strike’s is toasted.”
That is marketing. Is it true? Sure. Is it the best articulation of what is actually being sold? Probably not. Which brings us to the title sweeping through college football, the job that didn’t exist two years ago and is suddenly the hottest position in the sport. The general manager. In sports, a GM was always thought of in the professional context.
They are high on the pecking order, often heavily involved in hiring and firing coaches, drafting players, choosing players to sign, deciding who to cut, making trades, negotiating contracts, etc. For decades, none of that was necessary in college athletics.
But as NIL and the transfer portal continue to dictate how rosters are assembled, some college football programs have decided that they need a general manager. They don’t just want someone who handles recruiting, but someone to do all that other stuff, too. And that has created this copycat trend. Southern Cal poached Notre Dame’s GM and reportedly paid him $1 million.
Oklahoma just recently decided to create the position, and hired Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy as GM with a starting salary of $750,000. Upon taking the job at North Carolina, Bill Belichick hired former NFL GM Michael Lombardi to the same role with the Tar Heels.
Back in August, Alabama GM Courtney Morgan was given a three-year extension averaging $825,000 after Southern Cal came calling. Among the 12 College Football Playoff teams from 2024, Notre Dame, Clemson, SMU, Penn State, Boise State, Texas and Ohio State all have someone with the title of “general manager.” So, is South Carolina soon to name someone as its GM? Not likely. Why the Gamecocks don’t love the GM title At all levels of the Gamecocks’ football program, there seems to be confusion over why this trend has become the sport’s newest toy. It’s not that they don’t believe someone needs to be in charge of recruiting and NIL and oversee personnel, but they seem to think that calling that person a general manager is like saying cigarettes are toasted. It’s sort of accurate while not being a perfect descriptor. “Right now, the big, fancy word is to hire a general manager,”
USC athletic director Jeremiah Donati said on his “Gamecock Talk” podcast. “Well, I’ve got news for you, the general manager in the pro world is also the boss of the coach. So, no (NFL) coach is hiring a general manager. It’s a fun word — or fun title — but I think it’s probably also a way to put some salary dollars behind it because it’s so official.” South Carolina football coach Shane Beamer said almost the same thing back in January, that GMs in the NFL run everything and the head coach, well, just coaches.
That’s not the reality of college football, Beamer said, adding that he speaks with NFL general managers and their worries and responsibilities are not the same as a “GM” in college. And Beamer isn’t alone with his thoughts on GMs. Georgia coach Kirby Smart said on Wednesday that the Bulldogs won’t hire a general manager, making it clear, “I’m not ready to run off and go hire somebody that’s just going to make all the decisions for what goes on on the football field.” Said Beamer: “I think people are sometimes quick to throw out just the word GM and think it’s just like the NFL. And it’s not like the NFL.” Who runs the personnel duties for South Carolina? That is not to say South Carolina is unwilling to adapt.
No, the Gamecocks have someone who is in charge of recruiting, negotiates NIL deals, identifies targets in the transfer portal. He’s just not called a general manager. And, well, USC director of player personnel and recruiting Darren Uscher doesn’t want the title. “It’s about the work you do, not the title,” Uscher told The State. “And so, it’s all the same — and we’ll see how those guys adapt, some of those NFL guys.” As Uscher speaks, you can almost sense his frustration with the “general manager” term. To him, being called a GM devalues the work he’s doing.
A professional general manager is, essentially, an executive who wears a suit and tie, doesn’t have deep relationships with players and is at the center of trade requests and contract disputes. That is not what he does and certainly not what he wants to do. “Relationships still matter, and there’s never a time where I just want to sit and make decisions and not be a part of the whole entire process,” Uscher said. ”One, I think it’s a strength of mine. But two, like they’re still high school kids and their parents still want to feel comfortable with everyone in the entire building that their sons are around.
“If one person is making a decision on their value, how can — I couldn’t rightfully make a decision on their value without getting to know them. Because that matters, too.” If, as expected, the House settlement takes effect in July, Uscher’s job will evolve. So, too, will South Carolina’s personnel department. Beamer told Gamecock Central in February that Uscher is “doing the job that a lot of schools have three or four people doing.” Presented with a hypothetical of adding two people to his staff, Uscher quickly said he’d hire someone whose sole job would be to evaluate players who could enter or are already in the transfer portal. The second would be a No. 2 to his position. “An assistant GM,” Uscher said. “Doesn’t really matter what it’s called.”
