I think it’s harder than you or I will ever realize.

Imagine getting to a place of success that earns you several millions of dollars. You spent 2 decades climbing that mountain and for at least a significant chunk of that, your duties were calling plays. Exclusively. So yeah, why would you want to give that up once you’ve reached a place in your career where you make life-changing money to be the face of a major university.

But as Lane Kiffin and Josh Heupel can attest to, sometimes, it’s OK to dial that back. The job practically requires it. With all the duties that come with being the CEO at a Power 5 program, it’s unrealistic to demand that a coach handle all play-calling duties.

That’s the juncture that Jimbo Fisher and Eli Drinkwitz have reached in their respective careers. Consecutive years of disappointing offenses brought them to this point. That is, the point where they had to fire themselves as primary play-callers and bring in someone else to take those duties full-time.

Again, I believe that’s a challenge. I also believe it was an absolute necessity in order for Drinkwitz and Fisher to show that they deserve to be at their respective programs long-term.

Don’t get it twisted. Fisher could stuff Bobby Petrino in a locker, call fullback dives every play and A&M would still probably be hesitant to fork over a $76.8 million buyout for him to leave. And Drinkwitz could make Kirby Moore his personal water boy, call 40 screen passes a game and still probably have Mizzou on the fence about paying his $20 million buyout.

But what they can learn from Heupel and Kiffin is that you can be an elite offensive mind and recognize that it’s OK to have a little extra help.

Fisher absolutely needed it. He’s trying to lead A&M to its first top-30 offense since 2018. That’s actually Fisher’s only top-30 offense of the post-Jameis Winston era. Fisher can’t execute up-tempo offenses. In that same timeframe (2015-22), Fisher had just 1 season in which his offense ranked in the top 40 nationally in total plays. Compare that to his 4 seasons ranked No. 97 or worse in that department.

Drinkwitz’s problem isn’t about tempo. Since 2016, his offenses always ranked in the top half of FBS in total plays. It’s more about his efficiency issues. Well, and the fact that his 3 Mizzou offenses haven’t ranked better than No. 60 nationally. But since he became a head coach, his national ranks in yards/play have gone in the wrong direction:

  • 2019 (Appalachian State): No. 31
  • 2020 (Mizzou): No. 67
  • 2021: No. 67
  • 2022: No. 87

That’s really the source of frustration with Drinkwitz and Fisher. It’s regression. They’re both coming off their worst offensive seasons as head coaches. Mizzou averaged 19.2 points per game against Power 5 competition, and it failed to score 30 points in those 10 opportunities. Dating back to Nov. 2021, A&M went 13 consecutive games without hitting 30 points against FBS competition until that streak was finally broken in the 2022 regular season finale against LSU. So from 2021-22, Fisher (4 of 18) and Drinkwitz (3 of 19) dialed up a combined 7 games with 30 points against Power 5 competition in 37 opportunities.

Compare that to Heupel (15 of 20) and Kiffin (10 of 20), who hit 30 points a combined 25 times in 40 matchups against Power 5 competition during that stretch. And if your argument is “well, they had more talent,” I’d remind you of the post-Jeremy Pruitt squad that Heupel had to work with while also pointing out that Kiffin inherited a post-sanctions Ole Miss team who was 20-28 in the 4 seasons prior to his arrival.

Heupel and Kiffin both had help executing their up-tempo styles. Jeff Lebby was that guy for Heupel at UCF and then for Kiffin at Ole Miss. When Lebby left UCF for Ole Miss, Alex Golesh stepped into his play-calling role with Heupel in his final year at UCF, and then he followed him at Tennessee, where he was the primary play-caller for 2 years until he got the head coaching gig at USF. For now, Golesh is calling plays at USF, and he doesn’t have an offensive coordinator, much like Drinkwitz during his first 3 seasons at Mizzou.

And to be clear, it’s not impossible to handle offensive play-calling duties and be a successful Power 5 coach. Steve Spurrier and Mike Leach famously took on that responsibility, and Ryan Day is coming off his 4th consecutive top-6 finish, yet even he is now having public discussions about perhaps relinquishing play-calling duties for the first time in his career as a head coach. Mind you, that’s for a guy who just led consecutive top-2 offenses.

Of course, the guy who led the No. 1 offense was Heupel. He made the decision to promote Joey Halzle to fill Golesh’s role as the primary play-caller. It was similar to what Kiffin did after Lebby left for Oklahoma. Kiffin didn’t make an in-house promotion, but he went back to Charlie Weis Jr., who had been his OC in his last 2 years at FAU. Before Weis Jr., it was Kendal Briles who had full play-calling duties under Kiffin in 2017.

That’s an underrated part of Kiffin’s comeback after the USC fallout — he gave up some offensive control. In his 6 seasons as a head coach at FAU and Ole Miss, he’s never been the lone play-caller. Kiffin might’ve had more control with Weis than he did with more established offensive coaches like Briles and Lebby, but the approach was tweaked after getting left on the tarmac in 2013.

Fisher might not have been left on the tarmac, but could he have been left on the proverbial tarmac if not for his $86 million buyout after 2022? Absolutely. A preseason No. 6 ranking turned into a 5-7 year.

Fisher’s fit with Petrino is going to be one of the top storylines in all of college football because of how unprecedented this is for both parties. Fisher has been an offensive play-caller dating back to his days as the OC at Cincinnati in 1999 while Petrino has been a head coach in every role he’s been in since 2003. Both have been the head coach for a Heisman Trophy winning quarterback in the last decade and both have struggled to recapture that magic since having to replace that generational talent.

It’ll be a different dynamic than the one at Mizzou, where both Drinkwitz and Moore are 30-something offensive minds (Drinkwitz will turn 40 in April) who are probably going to need a bit of a feeling out period. Moore, who is the younger brother of former Boise State star and current Los Angeles Chargers offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, needs to inject life into the Mizzou passing game. It’s as simple as that.

Fisher and Drinkwitz now have to put faith in their hires and not micromanage them. There’s give and take. If done right, it’ll free them up to address the other areas of need within their respective programs. It can be done. Heupel and Kiffin have taught a masterclass in that. Whether Fisher and Drinkwitz can take their hands off the offensive steering wheel and ride shotgun remains to be seen.

Dare I say, their futures depend on it.