How to do two coaching jobs during the College Football Playoff - ESPN

THE PHONE BUZZED and the voice on the other end sounded characteristically upbeat and cheerful, but also a bit worn down.

Collin Klein was a week away from calling offensive plays for Texas A&M in the school's first College Football Playoff game, facing Miami at Kyle Field. For coordinators, especially those like Klein at a top program such as Texas A&M, calling plays in the CFP is the ultimate responsibility. Crafting call sheets and game plans for the playoff are worth every waking hour of their energy and focus.

But Klein also was nine days into his tenure as Kansas State head coach, the ultimate dream job for a Wildcats legend who was the quarterback for the K-State team that won the Big 12 championship and reached the Fiesta Bowl in 2012, while becoming a Heisman Trophy finalist. When Klein left Kansas State's campus in late 2023 after seven seasons as an assistant, he was expected to return as head coach. Now, he had that job, at just 36 years old, but couldn't get back because he had to finish his other gig, which merely required him to coach in the biggest game of his career.

«It's just very strange and different,» Klein told ESPN. «The difference of hats is pretty stark. One day, you're doing one job. The next day, you go to the next one. You're like, 'Wait a minute. Is this even real?'»

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The reality is that college football's postseason, including the CFP, clashes with its coaching carousel, which places a growing group of coaches, like Klein, in enviable but hectic spots. This year's 12-team CFP field included two head coaches, Tulane's Jon Sumrall and James Madison's Bob Chesney, who