Norm Chow's Most Excellent Adventure

Being an assistant in many jobs can be a pretty good gig. For instance, I know a couple of physician’s assistants. They make a good living and get lots of respect. They even get called doctor sometimes.

Assistant attorney general, assistant commissioner and personal assistant to a movie star seem like good jobs, too.

But it would be hard to imagine a better assistant job than assistant football coach – specifically offensive coordinator at a major college football program.

What got me thinking about it was the news regarding UCLA offensive coordinator Norm Chow’s contract extension. Reports say he’ll make $340,000 this year and between $400,000 and $500,000 the following two years. According to USA Today, there are five college assistant coaches making a base salary of more than $600,000.

Assistant coaches, not head coaches.

Anyway, more power to Chow. He’s fashioned a great career as an understudy. When he left BYU, he was under some criticism. BYU’s program was a little uneven and Chow took the burnt of the heat. (BYU went 6-5, 9-5 and 8-4 his last three years in Provo.)

Chow had spent a career at BYU (1973-99), and it seemed he would finish up there. Instead, he left for North Carolina State, then USC, the Tennessee Titans and UCLA.

He is often mentioned as the best offensive coordinator in the game.

Yet Chow has never been named a head coach, though he has been named in connection with numerous jobs. Explanations for that vary. Timing and his willingness to take certain jobs surely figured in. He also has a reputation of being temperamental at times.

My guess is that he’s turned down head coaching jobs he could have had, while other times he got passed by. I do recall his name coming up in connection with the job at Utah, years ago, when Chuck Stobart got fired. He told me he wasn’t all that interested in the Utah job, even though he played there collegiately.

I’m still not sure whether Utah was serious about Chow or not.

Either way, Chow is proof a coach can do very nicely as an assistant coach. No need to be the big man. You make great money, don’t have to worry about full responsibility and you get to skip the press conferences.