LaMar Morgan details challenge of coaching in NIL, transfer portal era

• The landscape of college football has changed due to the transfer portal, NIL, and an expanded playoff.
• Coaches face challenges managing player expectations, as many high-end recruits want to play immediately.
• Michigan secondary coach LaMar Morgan emphasizes being honest with players about their roles and playing time.
• Morgan believes that mentoring players and focusing on their development helps navigate frustrations over playing time.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — We spend a lot of time talking about the college football players, because, after all, they’re the ones playing in games. But the game has changed — on and off the field. There are more of them with the expanded College Football Playoff. The transfer portal, which wasn’t really a think a decade ago, isn’t just there, but it’s open for anyone to go anywhere at pretty much any time (though that window has been shortened as of this offseason). And then there’s NIL.

College not only more resembles the pro ranks, it goes beyond it, with unfettered free agency, players looking for the most optimal situation at pretty much any time. It’s the opposite of Tom Brady working his way up from seventh on the depth chart to the greatest of all time.

With that part of the landscape changing for players, how do coaches deal with it? Michigan secondary coach LaMar Morgan shared the challenges that he and his colleagues face in the new world of college football.

“Yeah, I think everybody wants to play, right? You recruit these high-end kids, they get here, and they want to play as true freshmen. I got a room full of guys that want to play every game,” Morgan said. “And some of them get frustrated because they don’t get to play as much as they want to play. And I think at the end of the day, you’ve got to be fair, you’ve got to be honest, and you also have to understand kids got to maximize their role. 

“I’ll give you an example, Elijah Dotson. He doesn’t play as much on defense as he probably wants to. He probably plays the 10 to 15 snaps on defense a game. But he’s a four-course special teams guy. In the last couple of weeks, he’s been amazing. And I think we don’t recruit these kids to say they’re just going to do special teams, but there’s guys that have long careers there. So I just think guys that young players that are very talented, it’s hard for them to realize what their role is coming in here, right?

“One disadvantage, you have a freshman quarterback that’s a stud, right? So if you came in with that class, you see somebody that’s a freshman, they’re playing, and you’re not playing. Why did they get to play? Why did I not get to play as much? And I just think everybody has to be case by case. Some positions are different.”

So, how does he work it out? If there’s a player who thinks they should be playing, how does he keep them from having wandering eyes? Of course, it’s not that simple, but Morgan says the key is making sure they always know where they stand in all things.

“To me, I just think you just got to be as honest as much as possible,” Morgan said. “It’s hard to guarantee playing time because you don’t know how the game’s going to go. And I just think you just got to be truthful and fair and allow the guys to understand if you practice well, you have an opportunity to play, but there’s no guarantee. So, but that’s just kind of where it’s at. That’s why you see so many young freshmen, sophomores transfer. They go to a place they think they should start, they start comparing themselves to each other. And then they look up and understand that some guys just perform better than them. 

“Now we’re in the heat of the schedule. It’s hard to like just throw a guy out there and see if they can figure it out. Now, I mean, we got to win games, and that’s kind of where we’re at right now. So I think that’s just hard. I think college football, if you keep the main thing, the main thing, which I told you earlier is mentoring young men — no matter what their background is, making them a better person, teaching them a game of football, and making them grow. I think you can get through any of the hard times that they might get frustrated about playing time. And then the parents, when you call them, you got to tell them the truth sometimes, ‘Hey, your son is not practicing well. So it’s hard to trust them right now.’ But it is, it’s tough, man. And if you let society change how you think, then eventually you just be — it’s just transactional. It’s just, you know — this isn’t the NFL yet.”

Michigan is one of the better schools when it comes to retaining the talent it wants to keep. Though there’s usually a bevy of departures, many (though not all) are players who weren’t thought of as eventual starters, at least not in Ann Arbor. However, as the landscape continues to change, that could also change in a hurry.