With the coaching carousel off and running, I sometimes get the question:
Why do athletic departments use search firms?
And just as often, the follow-up: Isn’t that the athletic director’s job?
Those are fair questions. Search firms are often discussed with a negative connotation, as if bringing one in means an athletic director is ducking responsibility or passing off one of the most important parts of the job. But that is usually too simple a view for a very complicated process.
Every opening is different. Every institution is different. A football search at an FBS school is not the same as a men’s basketball search at a mid-major. An athletic director search is not the same as replacing a softball or volleyball coach. Some searches need speed. Some need secrecy. Some need a wide net. Some need a very targeted one.
This is a complex topic, but it is worth walking through a few of the biggest reasons athletic departments and presidents continue to use search firms.
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Privacy
The first, and probably biggest, is privacy.
That works on multiple fronts. There are millions of dollars at stake in many of these hires. There are reactive fan and donor bases. There are coaches who may quietly want to explore an opportunity without their current employer, players, recruits, or community knowing they are even listening. Sometimes even the smallest sign that a coach is looking elsewhere can create issues for the coach, the school with the opening, and the institution the coach currently works for.
A third-party firm creates a layer of separation.
That matters because athletic directors almost always have lists ready. They know names. They know who they like. They know which sitting head coach, coordinator, or administrator they want to learn more about. But handing that list to a firm and letting the firm make contact can save a lot of awkwardness. It creates a buffer. If somebody is not interested, if the interest is not mutual, or if the word starts to leak, there is at least some distance between the school and the initial outreach.
In some cases, that buffer turns into plausible deniability.
Schools can gauge interest from sitting coaches or agents without the school making direct contact, which could look messy, sound like tampering, or create problems if the deal falls through. Candidates and athletic directors can truthfully say they have not spoken directly because the firm served as the intermediary.
Then there is the public records side.
At many public institutions, internal conversations are subject to open records requests. Using a third party can reduce what might surface through those channels. That does not mean everything disappears or that secrecy is absolute, but it does mean there are often fewer university officials, staff members, and boosters directly involved in the early stages. Fewer people involved usually means fewer chances for leaks. Sometimes the open records piece alone is viewed as worth the price.
Talent
The second major reason is that search firms can attract talent.
At their best, search firms are relationship businesses. They are constantly tracking who may want to move, who may need the right resources, who wants a bigger platform, who may fit a certain region, and who is happy where they are. Good firms are not just collecting resumes – they know the market well.
If the right opening comes up, they may already know which names could be interested and which may be a strong fit before the school even starts making calls.
That matters because athletic directors are busy. There is always something happening in college athletics, and often multiple major issues are moving at once. In some cases, an athletic director may be managing multiple searches simultaneously.
That is where the heavy lifting comes in.
Sometimes the role of the search firm is not to “pick the coach.” Sometimes it is to build the search. Drum up interest. Filter names. Gather background. Sort the serious candidates from the casual curiosity. Hand the department a comprehensive, useful list with real notes, context, and feedback attached.
Search firms can also become an extension of the athletic director or department. Even on the candidate side, there is value. It is often easier for candidates to ask questions, gather information, and test the waters through a firm than to directly bog down an athletic director during a busy, sensitive process.
That leads to an important point: Search firms do not hire coaches.
They do not make the final call. Ultimately, the decision belongs to the athletic director, the president, or both, depending on the institution’s structure. The search firm is a resource, not the person signing the contract.
Networking
The third reason is networking, and yes, this is where things get a little more uncomfortable.
Nobody is going to stand at a podium and say it outright, but relationships matter in this industry. College athletics run on relationships. Search firms know that. Athletic directors know that. Presidents know that. Coaches know that. There is a reason certain firms keep showing up around high-profile openings and with the same people.
That does not automatically mean something shady is happening. But it does mean firms operate in a world where trust, access, and long-term relationship building are currency. Sometimes that helps schools reach candidates they would not otherwise reach. Sometimes it just means the right people get on the phone faster.
Specialization
The fourth reason is specialization.
This one is especially important through the lens of presidents and chancellors. Collegiate athletics is its own world. A president may be brilliant, highly accomplished, and deeply experienced in higher education while still having very limited experience hiring an athletic director or a high-profile coach. That is especially true if it is their first time overseeing one of these searches.
Search firms can help translate things in that world.
They can explain why the market, pressure points, and contract structure are more attractive than another, or why one candidate’s background raises flags even if the public-facing resume looks strong. Not every AD is an expert in football, men’s basketball, or whatever sport is driving the search, either. There are even smaller boutique firms that specialize in certain sports or certain leadership roles. That expertise can matter.
Process
The fifth reason is the process itself.
For schools making multimillion-dollar decisions, a six-figure search fee can be seen as an investment in getting the hire right. That does not mean every search is worth that cost, but it helps explain the thinking.
Most schools, especially public institutions, also operate within human resources systems that are not always ideal for fast-moving, highly sensitive, high-stakes leadership searches. A third party can create a more tailored process, structure outreach differently, and conduct rounds of vetting that do not neatly fit into a standard campus interview model.
And then there is the background work.
This is one of the biggest values firms can provide in the later stages. The deep dive can go far beyond a traditional reference check. Firms can make the calls that bring back the good, the bad, and the ugly. In some cases, those reviews may involve former investigators, FBI agents, or psychological evaluation tools. Schools are not just hiring for wins and losses. They are hiring for leadership, fit, risk, and long-term stability.
It also helps explain why search firms remain so common. In a 24/7 media cycle, in an era of flight tracking, social media rumors, and constant public speculation, discretion has value. Speed has value. Expertise has value. So does having someone else place the early calls to the biggest names in the sport without every move becoming public.
And yes, there is also a harsher truth here: If fans get angry or a hire goes sideways, it is easier to point at the search firm than to point inward. That may not be the official reason anyone hires one, but in the real world, it is part of the ecosystem.
So why do athletic departments use search firms?
Because privacy, time, relationships, and expertise all matter. In one of the most high-pressure corners of higher education, schools often want as much information and insulation as they can get.
That does not mean every search needs a firm, or that athletic directors are avoiding responsibility. It just means these searches are usually far more complicated than they look from the outside.
