BREAKING: Alabama gave its general manager a big deal. What’s making college football teams act more like pro teams

Birmingham, Alabama (AP) — Alabama gave general manager Courtney Morgan, one of Kalen DeBoer’s most important behind-the-scenes staff members, a three-year deal worth almost $2.5 million. This is a big investment by one of the best football programs in the country at a time when college teams are becoming more like professional franchises.

Morgan was DeBoer’s first hire in Tuscaloosa and is about to start his first season as head coach. On Tuesday, the deal was accepted by the university system’s compensation committee. Each year it brings in an average of $825,000, which adds up to $2.475 million.

The deal might set the standard for how much colleges pay the people who run the personnel offices. Coaches think this job will become more important when schools pay players directly. Several teams have already hired general managers to handle the payment for name, image, and character rights for their players or players they want to sign.

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In the last five or six years, most schools, especially those in the power conferences, have added someone to their staff whose job it is to handle recruiting new players. This is because there are more transfers and more money to pay for them.

There are now many general managers in college football. In the past, some of them were called directors of player operations.

The only change is that the job, which used to be mostly about recruiting high school players, now also includes scouting and keeping track of transfers in the portal. Season to season roster turnover is now much more dramatic, and handling that churn is becoming more and more valuable.

Free will

Rules that made it hard for college players to switch schools were loosened, which led to what is now called “free agency.”

Players can move around as much as they want right now. Teams still need to recruit players in high school, but they also need to keep an eye on present players so they can act quickly if one of their own enters the transfer portal.

People departments are growing, and in some places, staffs are being split into college and high school scouts. This is similar to how NFL teams look at players from both colleges and the league.

“This is what I would say: Your players are the most valuable thing you have in any program.” Alright? “Anything that affects players or helps get players should always be looked at there,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said. “I can see that those places are still growing.”

How to handle caps?

Now that college players can make no money at all, schools have to deal with the reality of handling roster budgets, even though NCAA rules still say that players can’t be paid real money.

NIL has taken the place of pay, and most of the money comes from groups called collectives that get money from boosters. Soon, players will be paid in a new way: revenue sharing, with a cap of about $21 million per school. This will begin with the 2025 season, if the antitrust lawsuits against the NCAA and conferences are allowed.

“Your company will need to have people who know how caps work and where the money should be, as well as what the percentage of money should be.” If you have to choose between this player and these two, who can help your team more? Coach Kenny Dillingham of Arizona State said. “I’m sure that the game is going in that direction off the field.”

Look at the pay

Morgan is in charge of the Crimson Tide’s roster and the recruitment and personnel departments. According to a composite score by 247Sports, he has helped put together the No. 2 recruiting class for 2025 so far.

Morgan’s deal is thought to be one of the biggest for a personnel staffer in major college football. Each of DeBoer’s directors makes more than $1 million a year. The offensive lineman from Michigan was DeBoer’s director of player operations at Washington for the last two years and also worked with him at Fresno State.

After hiring Morgan, DeBoer said, “He has great relationships across the country and is an essential part of helping us recruit and evaluate talent at the high school level and in the transfer portal.”

Morgan helps DeBoer keep track of the available players in the transfer portal and the contact with recruits. In an April interview with The Associated Press, Morgan talked about how loyal he was to DeBoer.

She said, “I like being in the foxhole with him.” “He respects people and is fair.” He helped me grow into the person I am now.

“I believe that to achieve success in this business, you need to have some kind of long-term stability,” he added. Even though the business is uncertain, I believe that to make a lasting impression, one must do well for a long time.